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.
While most of the Rockies had Monday off to play golf, chill out or spend time with their families, starter Rodrigo Lopez was pitching a minor league game.
The results were not good for the former Orioles right-hander.
Pitching for Double-A Tulsa against Triple-A Colorado Springs, Lopez threw six innings, allowing seven runs on nine hits, including a homer. He walked two and struck out two. In three A-games, Lopez is 1-2 with a 9.00 ERA.
“He suffered the problem of consistently (not) being down in the strike zone,” pitching coach Bob Apodaca said today.
Apodaca also said that Lopez suffered from a minor-league letdown.
“It seems to happen an awful lot when major leaguers go down to minor league camp to pitch against the minor leaguers,” he said. “I know it happened to (Jason) Jennings two or three times last year. It happens a lot in baseball. But I don’t want to alibi for him. He just didn’t pitch well.”
Inside the game
Lopez is penciled in as the Rockies’ No. 3 starter behind Aaron Cook and Jeff Francis. And although Lopez has not had an impressive spring, Apodaca remains upbeat.
“He’s got better stuff than I though he had,” Apodaca said. “He has better off-speed pitches than I thought he had. He has a very good changeup. I want him to really emphasize that a lot because it’s of such quality. I think by doing that and using his two-seam fastball, it de-emphasizes the possible overuse of breaking pitches; of his slider.”
By the numbers: .214
That was the batting average for Rockies pinch-hitters last season, ranking them 12th in the National League. It was the Rockies’ worst pinch-hit average since 2001.
That lowly average is one of the reasons the club is taking a long, hard look at 36-year-old John Mabry and why he’s got a good chance to make the roster.
Staff writer Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
