Catch the daily spring training roundup each afternoon from Rockies beat writers Troy E. Renck and Patrick Saunders in Tucson. You’ll find insider information on players and what the team is working on as they get ready for the 2007 season. Check every afternoon for the Rockies Rundown.
This just in
Former Rockies third baseman Vinny Castilla is poised to become manager for Mexico’s national team when it competes in the Pan-American Games this summer in Brazil. However, the move must be cleared with the Rockies before it becomes official.
Castilla told The Denver Post last week that he’d been offered the position but was still working out details to make sure there were no scheduling conflicts with his job as a special assistant to Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd. ESPN Deportes also reported today that Castilla has been offered the job.
The desert scene
Matt Holliday’s grin was brighter than the desert sun this morning. The Rockies’ all-star left fielder became a proud papa for the second time when his wife, Leslee, gave birth to their second son. Ethan Holliday was born in Tucson at 9:10 a.m. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces.
“8-10 at 9:10,” Holliday said. “He and Leslee are doing well.”
No word if Ethan is swinging a bat yet. His big brother, 3-year-old Jackson, became a Rockies fixture last season, often taking batting practice against his dad and knocking a Wiffle Ball around the Coors Field clubhouse
Inside the game
After a frustrating 2006 season in which he hit just .220, shortstop Clint Barmes’ winter quest was simple: find his missing swing.
He believes he’s done just that.
“I was trying to regain my body position, that’s what I worked on all offseason” said Barmes, who’s competing with rookie Troy Tulowitzki for the starting job at short. “I felt like I was battling all last year. Even if I didn’t have two strikes, I was swinging at every pitch.”
The result was too many weak grounders to the left side.
Barmes is concentrating on seeing the ball better and being “selectively aggressive.”
“By keeping my body in the right position and letting the ball come to me, hopefully I won’t swing at as many bad pitches as I did last year,” he said.
Kid Rock
Right-handed pitcher Greg Reynolds, the Rockies’ 2006 first-round draft choice out of Stanford, was expecting a rougher ride in his first big league training camp.
“I am surprised at how great all these guys have been toward me; it’s been better than I expected,” he said. “Even the older veterans have been helpful, answering whatever questions I had.”
Not that Reynolds doesn’t get treated like a rookie.
“They make me move my car to the very end of the parking lot every day,” he said. “They just want to make sure I know where I stand and remind me that I’m a rookie.”
By the numbers: .9854
That was the Rockies’ overall fielding percentage last season, second in the National League behind Houston and sixth best in the majors. It was a big improvement over 2005 when the club ranked 27th in baseball with a .9806 mark.
Staff writer Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
