Phoenix – A lifetime .334 batting average reveals that Todd Helton is one of the better hitters in major-league history. But manager Clint Hurdle’s lineup shuffle Saturday made it clear Helton is no longer the Rockies’ best hitter.
At least not this season.
“Right now, our best hitter is Garrett Atkins, and I think from start to finish our most consistent guy has been Atkins,” Hurdle said.
Which is why Atkins hit third Saturday night, and why he’ll continue to do so for the foreseeable future. When Atkins hit a two-run, 417-foot homer in the first inning against Arizona, he made Hurdle look like Albert Einstein. Atkins has hit safely in 13 of his past 15 games (.383) to raise his average from .305 to .315.
Helton, who had hit third in 531 of 532 starts dating to the beginning of the 2003 season, will bat fifth.
“It’s not that big a deal,” said Helton, who had a talk with Hurdle about the move. “It’s still about getting on base and moving guys when they get on base.”
Helton is 7-for-42 (.167) over his past 11 games to drop from .304 to .284. Friday night, after going 0-for-4, he foreshadowed the move, saying, “It’s obvious we aren’t getting much production from the three hole.”
Including Saturday’s game, Helton is a career .347 (205-for-590) hitter from the fifth slot, with 41 homers and 123 RBIs over 157 games.
Atkins, who leads the team with 62 RBIs, figures the move was simply Hurdle’s way of jump-starting a stalled offense.
“I think this is just a way to get us going and try to get us some more runs,” Atkins said. “I’m fine with it. I’ve hit fourth before and fifth, so I’ll do whatever is best for the team.”
“We just have to do some things to get us going,” Hurdle said.
There’s no doubting that. The Rockies, now losers of 11 of their past 12 games, entered Saturday ranked sixth in the National League in batting average (.268), but were 12th with runners in scoring position (.261).
They also have struggled at hitting when they have two out. The Rockies were 1-for-10 on Friday night with two out, and the team’s .233 two-out average is the third-lowest in the majors.
Footnotes
The Rockies still could work a trade to send reliever Ray King to Boston in exchange for reliever Rudy Seanez. King said Saturday he just wants a resolution to his situation. “If I’m traded, fine, but I keep hearing so many different things. I just wish (the Rockies) would get off the fence on this.” … The Rockies have no interest in reliever Cliff Politte, recently released by the White Sox and also have cooled on Baltimore reliever LaTroy Hawkins….Catcher Danny Ardoin was hit on the hand while batting and pulled from his rehabilitation assignment for his knee injury. He will resume his rehab Monday or Tuesday, with a new 20-day window allowable before a decision must be made. Infielder Kazuo Matsui is expected to return at that time from a back injury. Matsui will need three weeks of consistent playing time for the Rockies to know whether he can help them in September. …Reliever David Cortes pitched 1 1/3 innings and picked up a save for Triple-A Colorado Springs on Friday night.
Rockies recap
Manager Clint Hurdle briefly toyed with the idea of moving Todd Helton from the third slot in the batting order to second. Instead, Hurdle moved Helton to the five hole Saturday night, in large part because shortstop Clint Barmes, showing more patience and selectivity, is hitting much better in the No. 2 spot. Barmes’ first-inning single Saturday extended his hitting streak to a season-best 10 games. More important, he drew two walks Friday night for the first multiwalk game of his career. Going into Saturday, Barmes had nine walks in his past 19 games after walking just five times in his first 66 games of the season.
HELTON’S HEAVE-HO: When he got tossed for arguing with plate umpire James Hoye during Friday’s game against the Diamondbacks, it marked just the second time in Helton’s big-league career that he was ejected.
The only other time was July 15, 2000, during a game at Coors Field. Helton was ejected then for his participation in a brawl that broke out after Reds pitcher Scott Sullivan plunked the Rockies’ Brian L. Hunter. Helton was ejected Friday after striking out and then turning to argue with Hoye over what Helton thought was a checked swing. “It wasn’t a cordial conversation, that’s for sure, but I’ve said a lot worse and not gotten run,” Helton said.
