Divisional rivals are fun. Wheeeee! The games can bring out a certain energy that's missing from, oh, Giants/Brewers, especially when it's a close divisional race. The Rockies should be good this year. Hopefully the Giants will be too. They're about to play a three-game series with Playoff Ramifications in a few months. Sounds swell.
But I'm absolutely sick of the Rockies. This is only the second series of the year between the two teams, so this is a different rant. Usually I complain about interleague play after the 41st series between the Padres and Giants in July. Every pitching match-up is Clayton Richard vs. Barry Zito, and it's always like watching The English Patient with the sound off. Maybe on. Can't remember which way is more boring, but whichever way is more boring, that's what it's like to watch the Padres play the Giants over and over and over.
The Rockies are an interesting team -- Troy Tulowitzki, Ubaldo Jimenez, Carlos Gonzalez when he's right -- much more so than the Padres. Still sick of them. This has nothing to do with Coors Field, which I'm also sick of. It's just too much Rockies. It's a cumulative effect, and it's starting to reach critical mass.
Since 2001, the Giants have played the Rockies as much as they've played any other team, and more than most of the teams in the National League. Every year, there's Rockies in the spring, Rockies in the summer, and Rockies in the fall. Rockies Rockies Rockies. Then Diamondbacks.Then Rockies. Padres Padres Padres. Diamondbacks. Seven-game home stand against the Dodgers. Rockies Dodgers Padres. Reds! Padres Rockies Rockies.
I understand the argument for it -- there's a pretty good chance that in the last two weeks of the season, there will be two NL West teams playing each other in hyper-meaningful games. The counterargument: I just watched ten games with the Nationals, Pirates, and Mets, and I'm still not looking forward to the Rockies. If that didn't do it, nothing will.
It should be a good series -- the games in San Francisco usually are. But I'll probably have to think of Jorge De La Rosa again, and some poor Rockies fan will have to think about Aaron Rowand. Shouldn't be like that.
Hitter to watch
I'm fascinated with Jonathan Herrera. He's the Rockies' Brock Bond. He puttered around the minors, walking a bunch without any power, and when he got to the majors he got better. Hopefully Bond gets it going in Fresno soon so we can create a situation of mutually assured base-on-balls annoyance.
Pitcher to watch
It's always interesting to watch Ubaldo Jimenez, but this is probably where I should point out that there are three relievers in the Rockies' bullpen with the first name of "Matt." This is unacceptable.
Prediction
Rockies. Again. And next week or so, more Rockies.