Good morning, everyone! Instead of recapping yesterday's results, let's look at the peaks and valleys of the roster.
↵Peaks
↵-Ubaldo Jimenez. 15-1, 2.20 ERA. While it's more of a competition for the Cy Young now than it was earlier in the season, Jimenez is still a leading candidate for the award.
↵-Miguel Olivo. As Jim Armstrong opines in an "All Things Rockies" blog entry (linked in the Starting Lineup), Olivo has been a godsend this season and is the team's offensive MVP. Can he sustain that production over the rest of the season?
↵-Troy Tulowitzki. A notorious slow starter, Tulowitzki has hit all season long. How well he meshes with the team when he comes back from injury will be a top storyline in the second half of the season.
↵-Jason Hammel. April was brutal, and then he went on the DL. Returning in May, Hammel turned things around and has lost only once in 11 starts since May. He went 4-0, 1.83 ERA in June.
↵Level Ground
↵-Jeff Francis is 2-3 with a 5.14 ERA in 11 starts. This would be a valley in other seasons, but Francis did not pitch at all in 2009. It's disappointing, but not a crash of ruin.
↵Valleys
↵-Jorge De La Rosa's absence from the rotation. He made four starts and went 3-1 in April before missing the next two months. Though he has since returned (July 9th start), the rotation during those two missing months was a gamble in the bottom three.
↵-Manuel Corpas. He was good in April and May, but June was a lost month. Despite six saves, Corpas allowed 15 runs in 12 2/3 innings. He had a WHIP of 2.053.
↵This is only a starting point for discussion. Bring up others in the comments.
↵On Tap For Today
↵-The Home Run Derby starts at 6 p.m MT tonight.