SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — They call him The Chief. Question is, when are they going to call Ubaldo Jimenez into Jim Tracy’s office to tell him he’s the Rockies’ opening day starter?
“I haven’t heard anything,” Jimenez said. “Opening day is getting closer. Hopefully, they’ll let me know soon and I’ll be really excited about it. I’m going to be calling my mom.”
With that, Jimenez let out a laugh. Why not? It’s a joke to think anyone else would be on the mound for the Rockies on April 1 against the Diamondbacks.
Jimenez is the Rockies’ ace and looked the part Saturday afternoon, mowing down 12 consecutive San Diego hitters in four innings, giving him nine scoreless Cactus League innings. He struck out four, including the Padres’ Nos. 3, 4 and 5 hitters.
“I was playing with my velocity,” Jimenez said. “I was pulling back and sometimes I let it go.”
The radar guns told the same tale. Jimenez was clocked at 89-96 mph with a slider that hit 86-87. That’s electric stuff for most pitchers, but it amounted to an acoustic set for Jimenez, who needed only 41 pitches to get 12 outs.
“All my pitches were working good,” Jimenez said. “I threw everything. Hopefully, my next start I get the pitch count up so I can get ready for the start of the season, whenever it’s going to be.”
Quote, unquote.
Jimenez on facing ex-teammate Brad Hawpe, who went down swinging: “He’s probably the most humble and best guy you’re ever going to meet. And then he got to the plate and I was like, ‘Oh, this is Hawpe.’ . . . You have to go after him; it doesn’t matter who.”
Footnotes.
Seth Smith grounded a single to right off Mike Hampton in the nightcap of the Rockies’ split- squad double-header, his fifth hit vs. a left-hander in 13 at-bats. . . . Jonathan Herrera robbed Jason Bartlett of a double with a diving backhanded stop in the opener. Said Tracy: “I hope our pitching staff is playing very close attention. . . . If you get the ball in play, we’re going to catch it. That’s all we’ve done all spring. We’re very good at it.” . . . Todd Helton’s hit parade continues. Helton singled in his first at-bat in the nightcap, giving him five hits in a row. . . . Eric Young Jr. and catching prospect Wilin Rosario made their spring debuts in the opener. Young struck out in his only at-bat and Rosario popped up. . . . The Rockies are excited about Felipe Paulino in his new role in the bullpen. Paulino worked a scoreless inning and struck out Cameron Maybin on a nasty slider. . . . Jimenez — yes, Jimenez — was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a single. Tracy: “We want the message out there. We’ve preached it to our pitchers: I want them to be athletes.”
