I spent almost six weeks in the desert watching Rockies baseball, talking with players and eating. My waistline tells me my priorities might have been in reverse order.
I came home early Friday morning to find a dusting of snow on the trees and the Rocky Mountains shining on the horizon. Scottsdale is nice enough, I suppose, and the weather is perfect for spring training, but it pales in comparison to Denver’s beauty.
OK, now that I’ve got that out of my system, I’ll stop waxing poetic and get down to it.
My reflections on Rockies spring training, 2015:
• Best moment: Watching in one Cactus League game against the Brewers on March 23, including a leaping throw from deep in the hole. It’s one of the prettiest plays in baseball — especially when Tulo makes it — but the moment meant more than that. It showed that Tulo’s hip is recovering nicely. If you love baseball, then you’re rooting for Tulo to stay healthy, because he’s a special player.
• Worst moment: The news that . He was not pitching well and his velocity was down, so I could see he wasn’t right early in camp.
Yes, cutting Chacin was a move the Rockies had to make. But it was brutally tough on manager Walt Weiss, and there were tears in Jorge De La Rosa’s eyes when he talked about his friend’s departure. Chacin was popular with his teammates and the media. He’s a class act. It’s a shame his Rockies career ended with a whimper.
• Best pitcher: Newcomer John Axford was impressive, and he throws the ball as hard as advertized, but the pitcher who caught my eye was right-hander reliever Adam Ottavino. He made some mistakes, but he was able to dig himself out of trouble. That’s an important talent for a Rockies reliever toiling at Coors Field.
• Worst pitcher: Considering what was at stake, it has to be Rex Brothers. The lefty made some strides from his horrific 2014 season, but not enough to avoid being .
What’s going on with Brothers? I believe it’s a few things. One, the Rockies tinkered with his tight, compact delivery last year and it messed him up. Two, he’s lost some confidence. Three, he’s pressing.
Can he still pitch? Yes, and I think he’ll figure it out and be back this season.
• Best hitter: Tulo scores again. As I write this, he has five home runs, including a 441-foot blast to left-center at Salt River Fields. He saw the ball well and hit it hard in almost every at-bat.
• First impressions: I finally got a chance to watch infield prospect Trevor Story play some significant innings. He’s a tough, gritty player with a good arm and excellent instincts.
• No-brainer: The Rockies’ lineup, if it stays healthy, will be formidable. Imagine being an opposing pitcher, hiking the mound at Coors Field and having to face the likes of Charlie Blackmon, Corey Dickerson, Carlos Gonzalez, Tulo, Nolan Arenado and Justin Morneau? Daunting.
The Rockies were 45-36 at home last season. There is no reason they can’t win 55 games at Coors this year.
The road? That’s worth another column.
• Biggest worry. Stop me if you have heard this before: The starting rotation, which remains unsettled as I write this, is really going to struggle — especially early on. New general manager Jeff Bridich said his No. 1 priority was to improve the starting pitching corps, but unless one of the young guns (Jon Gray or Eddie Butler) makes a surprising contribution, Bridich has come up short.
• I was wrong. About Wilin Rosario. I didn’t think he could cut it as a first baseman. I wasn’t even sure the Rockies would fully commit to him as Justin Morneau’s primary backup. But they did, and Rosario has been, to borrow a word from Weiss, “serviceable.”
I should also note that no player worked harder this spring than “The Bull.”
• I was right. When early on in camp I noted the infielder Rafael Ynoa deserved to make the roster. He’s a talented, versatile and unselfish player.
• Best meal: I’ll tell you what, the good folks of Arizona sure love to eat out. It seems like every restaurant I walked into was jammed. Every In-N-Out Burger drive-through was bumper-to-bumper.
I ate at a few high-end places and chowed down at some dives. But if I had to choose my very best culinary experience of spring training, it would go to … drumroll, please … Old Mexico restaurant in Old Town Scottsdale.
It’s not fancy Mexican food, but it’s very good and inexpensive. The beer is cold, the margaritas smooth and potent, the chips crisp and the staff incredibly friendly. The cozy patio is an oasis amid the more glitzy and trendy restaurants in Scottsdale.
Patrick Saunders: psaunders@denverpost.com or twitter.com/psaundersdp
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