Bleacher Report - Articles by Bryce Crawford

Jhoulys Chacin: The Bright Future of Colorado Rockies Pitching

Bryce Crawford — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:12:01 -0400

Those fourth and fifth-rotation spots look lonelier every day, but help is right around the corner! Well, help is a couple years around the corner, but on the way!

Jhoulys Chacin, one of the top prospects in the Rockies' farm system, has won the 2008 Minor League Baseball award for Best Starter.

Beating out top competition from affiliates of the Red Sox, A's, and Giants (who had three pitchers win in the Class-A category), Chacin was formally recognized for his stellar 18-3 season, a Rockies organizational record.

From MLB.com: "He's like a Johan Santana, but from the right side," said Asheville Tourists pitching coach Doug Linton. "He's not afraid to throw that changeup at any time."

The Maracaibo, Venezuela native used that changeup at two levels to lead the minor leagues with 18 wins, losing only three games all year and posting a 2.03 ERA. Opponents managed to hit just .221 against the right-hander, which is no small feat considering he called hitter-friendly Asheville and the California League his home in 2008.

"You walk in and it's 297 down the line, 320 to the gap, it's definitely not a pitcher's ballpark" Linton said. "He took it in stride and he pitched. He challenged hitters, right-handers and left-handers, and that's one thing you have to do in this ballpark."

Eventually, the Rockies locked him down to five-inning maximums during his starts to help protect their investment. Chacin responded by pitching five quality innings to the tune of a 3-1 record and 2.40 ERA in 30 innings.

So keep your heads up Rockies fans, because this home-grown organization is staying the course and developing top-flight talent that is coming soon to a Coors Field near you.

Best Single Game Performer

Also of note was Bruce Billings winning the Class-A Best Single Game Performer award for the no-hitter he pitched for Asheville on July 22. The right-hander struck out eight, walked one, and committed one error.

From MLB.com, Billings gives his take on the day:

"Pitching a no-hitter has been a dream of mine ever since I was a Little Leaguer" he said. "What sticks out most in my mind about that day was the process. I reminded myself over and over during the game, 'If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.'"

Billings was the Rockies 30th pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.

Meet The Rockies: Fowler, Friedrich, Casey, Reynolds, and Jhoulys

Bryce Crawford — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 07:02:23 -0400

Meet your Colorado Rockies prospects, some of which we have already seen a little bit from last year. In no particular order:

Dexter Fowler OF

Fowler has the club salivating with his mix of speed, power, and gifted fielding - the ubiquitous five-tool player. He was brilliant at Double-A Tulsa, batting .335 with nine home runs, and 64 RBI while posting a .946 OPS in 108 games.

He was called up to the big leagues later in the year and in his first game, entering as a pinch runner, he was quickly picked off. Big things are expected from Fowler, however, and the Bill James Handbook, though known for being overly optimistic, projects Fowler with a .303 BA, .826 OPS, 10 homeruns, 95 runs scored, and 63 RBI.

Fowler was also a participant in the Futures Game at the 2008 All-Star Game, and a member of the Olympic medal-winning US Baseball team.

Christian Friedrich P

Friedrich is somewhat of an unknown right now, as most young prospects are. At Eastern Kentucky, he compiled a mark of 20-7 over three years, with his ERA never being higher than 2.09. His minor league numbers have been impressive as well. He split time between Tri-City and Asheville (both lower Single-A affiliates) and posted a 2-2 mark, a 4.31 ERA, while striking out 65 and only allowing 15 walks.

Jhoulys Chacin P

Jhoulys Chacin was a win-machine in 2008. Between Asheville and Modesto (the higher Single-A affiliate), Chacin was 18-3 with 160 strike-outs and 42 walks. Armed with a low-90s fastball that can touch 94 mph, as well as a curve and change that are both advanced for his age, Baseball Prospectus expects good things from this young Venezuelan.

Casey Weathers P

The Rockies first-round daft choice in 2007, Weathers is another prospect with high expectations, ala Dexter Fowler, whom he played with at the All-Star Futures Game, as well as on the US Olympic baseball team.

Spending most of his time at Double-A Tulsa, Weathers was projected to join a bullpen in sore need of shoring up, however it was recently announced that Weathers would be undergoing Tommy John surgery on Halloween, effectively ending any hope of seeing him next season.

Greg Reynolds P

I'm calling Reynolds a prospect, though he did spend some forgettable time with the Rockies in 2008, because he's still young and the lack of available pitching lead to the Rockies basically throwing him to the wolves.

Selected second overall in 2006, Baseball America ranks him as the fifth best prospect in the Rockies system, while ranking seventh the year before. He went 7-5 in the minor leagues with an ERA of 3.11. His time with the Rockies yielded significantly different results: 2-8, 8.13 ERA, 22 strike-outs, and 26 walks.

The 2006 draft also yielded Tim Lincecum and Evan Longoria, so pressure is high for Reynolds to produce.

All Hail Todd Helton: The Future of a Rockies Legend

Bryce Crawford — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:16:45 -0400

Todd Helton is the Colorado Rockies.

He’s been the face of the franchise starting during the waning years of Larry Walker, and has continued right on through the ascension of Matt Holliday. However, Rockies fans have had to face several difficult realities about our dear friend Todd.

The first is his declining productivity. In 2007, Helton played in 154 games, raked to the tune of .320 with 17 home runs, his third lowest home run total including this year, and pounded in 91 RBI. While Helton hasn’t been a 100+ RBI guy since 2003, the consistent drop is worrisome.

This year, Helton played in the fewest games of his career as a starter (83), mostly due to lower back problems that should be corrected by a recent offseason surgery. Rafael Furcal, who hit .258, with one HR and three RBI in 31 at-bats in the postseason, has recently undergone the same surgery, but with playoffs being such a small sample size results are inconclusive.

The second is the salary drain. Helton made $16.6 million in 2008, the biggest on the team by far, leading Matt Holliday ($9.5 million) and Aaron Cook ($5.125 million) by a substantial amount.

Now, everyone knows productivity has its cost and the Montforts have never been seen with anything even remotely approaching deep pockets. But this amount is completely unjustifiable based on Todd’s recent production. Certainly not for the clean-up hitter they thought they were locking down when the original contract was signed.

The hard and fast truth, however, is that Todd Helton is completely immovable: He’s stated before that he would like to finish his career in Denver, where the fans do still love him, and he’s got an ironclad no-trade clause in his contract.

Combined with his inflated contract, his ailing back problems, and the ever-advancing issue of age, Helton actually is likely to finish his career in Colorado. While this would by no means be a terrible thing, he has proven to be a drain on the offense, evidenced by losing his traditional spot of fourth in the lineup late last year.

This Rockies fan hopes Todd makes a clean recovery and comes back to us in the form that we love so much and have cheered for since 1997. Unfortunately, the hard truth is that he may be doing more harm than good out there on the field. Garrett Atkins was a more-than-adequate replacement at first base, and there just may not be enough space for an ailing legend.