I am going to have to make my first retraction after the Rockies performance last night against the Kansas City Royals. I was out at the game talking to my friend Kyle about the trade and mentioned that I did not think that bringing in Mark Ellis was a necessary move. That statement turned out to be a bit too soon. In his first three games in the number-two hole with the Rox, Ellis has gone 8-for-15, with five runs scored, two home runs and seven RBI.
While sitting in the Pavilion seats at Coors Field, I watched him crank out three RBIs and a home run in his debut. Then Saturday afternoon, he drove in two more guys while getting three hits out of five ABs. Along with Ellis being money, the team has had two days of nine-run ball after beating the Royals 9-0 on Friday and then 9-6 on Saturday. The Rockies couldn’t complete the sweep on Sunday, getting blasted 16-8. But Ellis remained hot going 2-for-5 with a two-run homer.
Juan Nicasio had a fantastic outing on Friday, and I was disappointed to see him go when Jim Tracy replaced him after eight innings of three-hit pitching to bring in Edgmer Escalona to finish off the game. Nicasio’s pitch count was at 111, but I still think they should have let the guy get his first complete game shut-out — just saying.
Along with that revolving door bringing Escalona in, Chris Nelson and Eric Young, Jr. were sent back to triple-A. Nelson was seen coming out of Jim Tracy’s office earlier in the day, and the Ellis trade meant a second baseman was gonna have to go back down — and it wasn’t going to be Jonathan Herrera, who saw time at shortstop on Friday due to the blow-out.
A sweep today would be nice, and a 2-1 series win will be understandable. Monday night will have the Rockies rolling into the ATL with Ubaldo Jimenez pitching; the last time he was in Atlanta, he pitched a no-hitter. This next series will be a hard when facing a team at their house that is 14 games over .500.