Ubaldo Jimenez News

Although the Colorado Rockies have long been known for developing a homegrown crop of talented young hitters, they appear to be expanding that reputation to the mound as well.

The 2009 season was one to remember for the Rockies, with the team falling 12 games under .500 on June 3 before going on a tear the rest of the way to clinch the third playoff berth in franchise history.

Let's get to a discussion of the NL Gold Glove voting from a St. Louis perspective: * Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina deserved to win the NL Gold Glove for the second consecutive season.A A And this should be Molina's 4th in a row, but at least the NL managers and coaches who do the GG voting have finally caught on to Yadi's brilliance.

If you had to pick just one player who must improve in order for the Rockies to win the National League West in 2010, whom would you choose? Perhaps a healthy Jeff Francis, winning at least 15 games and filling the void of the departing Jason Marquis? Maybe Dexter Fowler, striking out less, showing a little more power and building on his ...

Several Rockies players watched the World Series with a keen eye. It is, in many ways, a signal of how everything has changed in Colorado.

The Colorado Rockies are getting that look again. Garrett Atkins and Jeff Baker homered and drove in three runs, Ubaldo Jimenez turned in another terrific start and the Rockies pounded the Cincinnati Reds 11-0 Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

Coming into my 2009 drafts, I found a very interesting article over at www.thebaseballanalysts.com which categorized pitchers by their K/9 and GB ratios.

After covering a tremendous distance in 2009 -- from 18-28 to the National League Wild Card -- the Rockies find themselves trying to figure out how to take the next difficult step.

Scenes from a ballpark . . . Eleven-year-old Abriana White-Hulce from Children's Hospital, bundled up in her wheelchair on the field, receiving a pregame hug from Troy Tulowitzki.

Cliff Lee has heard all the talk about how tough gripping the ball could be in the cold weather and the challenges of pitching at Coors Field.

I compared the two lineups, discussed the three-man rotations each team would employ, and analyzed the differences between bullpens.

News: Updating a previous report, Phillies' reliever Scott Eyre has been diagnosed with a sprained ankle, according to MLB.com. Eyre says he will be able to pitch Monday if needed, but manager Charlie Manuel believes he needs some time to recover.

Anyone who has read the book Moneyball knows that one of the basic theories or principles of Billy Beane and Bill James is that any pitcher can be a closer.

Cliff Lee will take the hill for the Phillies Monday night to try to propel his team into their second-straight National League Championship Series.

It's do or die now for the Colorado Rockies, who trail the Phillies two-games-to-one in the NLDS.

The fans at Coors Field will be treated to Game 4 of the NLDS between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Colorado Rockies when they take their seats on Monday.

UPDATED: After the Angels' come-from-behind win today, Major League Baseball announced games times for the remainder of the Phillies-Rockies series.

Given a chance at a do-over, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel's change of heart about his starter for Game 3 was a wise decision.

News: Ubaldo Jimenez looked like he was going to cruise through his outing in the NLDS opener, but the wheels came off in the fifth inning and the Rockies fell 5-1 to the Phillies in Game 1. Troy Tulowitzki News: Troy Tulowitzki drove in the only run the Rockies could muster off of Cliff Lee in a 5-1 loss to the Phillies in the NLDS opener.

Philadelphia Phillies' Cole Hamels pitches in the first inning of a game against the Houston Astros.