2008 Colorado Rockies

The Rockies might not of won the World Series against the Boston Red Sox but their storybook finish took baseball by storm last fall. When all looked like another year and no playoffs the Rockies went on one of the scariest runs in baseball history. They finished the regular season winning 13 of 14 games with the last one coming in the one game playoff against the Padres for the NL wild card spot. They didn’t stop there as they swept the Phillies and Diamondbacks in the first two rounds to take the streak to 21wins in 22 games. They went on to have a poor showing against the Red Sox getting swept, but many believe that had to do with the team having to wait for the Red Sox to finish up their 7 game series with the Indians. The team didn’t do much in the off-season with the biggest signing coming in 2B Marcus Giles.

Pitching:

The Rockies have spent many years trying to find a group of pitchers that work well in the thin air of Denver, Colorado. While the pitching isn’t over whelming they have a pretty solid ace in Jeff Francis who was dominant last year going 17-9. While the rest of the rotation wasn’t very impressive they pitched good enough for the team to win down the stretch and in the playoffs. The other starters are Aaron Cook, Ubaldo Jimenez, Jason Hirsh, and Franklin Morales. Not one of these guys made over 25 starts and the team needs them to perform for a full season in 2008 if they want to get back to the World Series. They have a very promising closer in Manny Corpas who saved 16 straight games after taking over the closer duties in July.

Offense:

While there is no question that the Rockies will put a lot of runs on the board as they play half their games in hitter friendly Coors Field. MVP candidate Matt Holiday who hit .340 with 36 HRs and 137 RBIs leads the team. The team has power all over the lineup as 3B Garrett Atkins, SS Troy Tulowitzki, and RF Brad Hawpe all hit over 20 homers. The team also has While those three are all within a few points of hitting .300 they have even better contact hitters in 1B Todd Helton and CF Willy Taveras who both hit .320 last season. With the addition of Giles to the mix it’s hard to find a better offense in the NL.

Defense:

What many people over looked last year when the team was scoring runs left and right, was that they were probably the best team in baseball on the defense side of things. They were the best of both leagues in only having 68 errors. They didn’t have any Gold Glove winners last year, but almost every one of them played above average in the field. Todd Helton is a great defender with a Gold Glove award a few years back. C Yorvit Torrealba is impressive behind the plate calling an excellent game and does an average job throwing out runners.

Prediction:

While they are a fun team to watch and many people fell in love with them when they made their big run last year, we don’t see a repeat of it in 2008. We have the Rockies finishing 3rd behind the Diamondbacks and Dodgers. They are another solid pitcher or two away from being on top the West.

2008 Colorado Rockies Odds to Win World Series 25-1

For every team’s odds head over to Sportsbook.com and check them out. You can also go to Sportsbook.com to look at the odds for teams to win their division or league pennant. Feel free to leave any comments in the comment section.

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