Many stars from the MLB are committing to their respective countries or heritages, as this may be the most profiled World Baseball Classic to date. Some stars include Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles (Dominican Republic), Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros (Venezuela), Adrian Gonzalez of the Los Angeles Dodgers (Mexico), and Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies (USA).

While most are excited that baseball is back and would rather wait for the MLB season to start, hear me out. The World Baseball Classic is a great opportunity to see a lot of great things. The WBC provides us with the opportunity to enjoy talent from other countries who do not play in Major League Baseball. In the past we have seen current MLB stars like Masahiro Tanaka, Jose Abreu, Yoenis Cespedes, and Kenley Jansen play in the WBC before they were signed to big league contracts. Fun fact about Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, who is arguably the best closer in baseball right now, played catcher for the Netherlands in the 2006 WBC. Here is a GIF of Jansen throwing out Ryan Braun from his knees.

Another opportunity that the WBC presents is competitive baseball in March. In the month of March, spring training games are just merely for the players prepping themselves for the season. Most of the game’s best players are out of the game by the fifth inning. With the WBC, the game’s premier players are in game action for nine innings. More star studded players as mentioned previously are going to play in the Classic.

Lastly, the WBC has an incredible fan atmosphere. Like the Soccer World Cup, the fans of international teams are loud, rowdy, excited, and prideful for their team. A sense of nationalistic pride comes together in one tournament, on one diamond, in between the foul lines, 60 feet 6 inches away with the winner-take-all in LA.

The first game for Team USA is on Friday, March 10 at 11 AM against Colombia, while the first official game of the WBC is between Israel and South Korea, which begins Monday, March 6 at 4 AM CT in Seoul, South Korea.

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Notable Additions:

Kyle Kendrick SP

Nick Hundley C

Notable Losses:

Josh Rutledge IF

Michael Cuddyer OF

The Colorado Rockies are one the most frustrating teams to talk about in all of baseball. They have incredible hitting talent led by Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez. They had more talented bats than they knew what to do with last season. They undoubtedly bring potential except for one key spot… pitching.

The Rockies starting rotation was the worst in baseball last season finishing with a 4.84 ERA collectively. Their starters managed to produce only 70 quality starts throughout the season. Only the Chicago White Sox issued more walks than the Rockies in 2014. The Rockies staff also finished second to last in the strikeouts category. Do you see where this is going? The Rockies pitching rotation is among the worst no matter what category you are looking at.

This staff is led by Jorge De La Rosa who finished the 2014 season with a 4.10 ERA over 184.1 innings of work. Next is Jhoulys Chacin who posted a 5.40 ERA over 63.1 innings. Do I dare continue? Kyle Kendrick is a new face in the rotation who hasn’t been very effective over the past few seasons. He finished with a 4.61 ERA in 199 innings of work for the Phillies last season.  The fourth spot in the rotations should go to Jordan Lyles who has a career ERA of 5.09 through his first four seasons. The final spot in the rotation goes to Tyler Matzek. The 2014 rookie showed signs of promise as he ended his first campaign with a 4.05 ERA. The rotation might improve slightly in 2015 solely because it’s hard to finish worse than they did in 2014.

Troy Tulowitzki is arguably the best player in baseball when healthy. Tulo was having the best year of his career in 2014 before his season was ended prematurely due to injury. Through 315 at bats, Tulo owned a .340 batting average, 21 home runs, a .603 slugging percentage and 52 RBI’s. Tulowitzki has struggled to stay on the field throughout his entire career. He has played in 150+ games only twice in his career. He will likely be involved in MVP conversations if he can figure out how to stay on the field in 2015.

The Rockies outfield is one of the most exciting trios to watch when playing at Coors Field. Why do I limit the excitement to just Coors Field? Take a look at these splits for the three starting outfielders in 2014.

Carlos Gonzalez/RF: Home BA: .336 Away BA: .160

Corey Dickerson/LF Home BA: .363 Away BA: .262

Charlie Blackmon/CF Home BA: .331 Away BA: .241

This trend can be seen with just about every player on the Rockies.

Breakout Player: Tyler Matzek SP

Matzek was the one bright spot in the 2014 starting rotation. At the age of 24, he has room to develop and he held his own last year at Coors. He posted a 3.61 ERA while pitching at home last season. He has the ability to produce a quality amount of strikeouts and he does an excellent job keeping lefties off balance. Left-handed hitters were limited to a .147 batting average against Matzek last season. Matzek should continue to improve and will have to be consistent on the road for the Rockies to have just a sliver of hope for October baseball. If healthy I’m expecting:

181.2 IP, 3.72 ERA, 156 SO

Game Changer: Jorge De La Rosa SP

De La Rosa certainly has the stuff to be effective. In 2013 he finished with a 3.49 ERA through 167.2 innings. He’s not the typical ace but he has the ability to do just enough to keep his team in the game. If he can repeat what he did in 2013 or 2011, the Rockies will instantly be an improved team. We often see that both good and bad pitching is contagious. Just take a look at the 2014 Royals and Tigers. The Tigers bullpen was collectively awful whereas the Royals bullpen all performed at an exceptional level.

One player to keep an eye on is Nolan Arenado. The youngster will remain an exciting player to watch at third base. He’s not afraid to flash his leather and he found a bit of power in 2014. He finished the season with a .287 batting average and a .500 slugging percentage. Look for him to improve his offensive skills in 2015.

It’s pretty safe to say that the Rockies won’t be a major threat in the NL West in 2015. They will bring a strong offensive lineup into each game but will often fall short due to the inability of preventing the other team to score. Rockies fans can only hope that Troy Tulowitzki can stay healthy for the bulk of the season.

Make sure to check back in on March 31st for my complete standing predictions along with a few other fun pieces of news. Until then, you will be able to find a new preview of an individual team from March 1st through the 30th here at KRUI.FM

The post Colorado Rockies 2015 Preview Edition #2 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Final standings from the NL West in 2011:

1. Arizona Diamondbacks (94-68)
2. San Francisco Giants (86-76) 8 Games Back
3. Los Angeles Dodgers (82-79) 11.5 Games Back
4. Colorado Rockies (72-89) 21 Games Back
5. San Diego Padres (71-91) 23 Games Back

Team Break-Downs:

#5. San Diego Padres (71-91)
Losses: CL Heath Bell, SP Mat Latos, OF Ryan Ludwick
Additions: CL Huston Street, OF Carlos Quentin, SP Edinson Volquez, OF Mark Kotsay, P Andrew Cashner

The Padres struggled in 2011 to string together wins and really were forced to revamp their roster in the offseason. They still have Cameron Maybin, who is a center fielder with a ton of upside. The speedster played in his first full season for a Major League Ball club, batting 516 times in 137 games, with a .264 batting average, 82 runs scores, and 40 stolen bases in 2011. The Padres clearly were not happy with the production last season so they went out and snagged a couple of proven big-leaguers in OF Carlos Quentin, and former Colorado Rockies Closer, Huston Street, as well as OF Mark Kotsay. Street fills the void of Heath Bell who is now the closer for the Miami Marlins. Quentin is an under-the-radar acquisition for the Padres because although his numbers have started to decline the past few seasons from his MVP-caliber performances, Quentin is a winner, and has a great swing. He will bring power and high percentage at-bats to the line-up that struggled last season with those two categories.
San Diego will need to have a solid season at home if they want to be successful in this division. The pitching staff is sub-par because they are young, but with PetCo Park being a pitchers park, it could level the playing field if they are able to manufacture runs and get Maybin around the bases with Quentin and the young nucleus of Venable, Guzman, and Headley. The name of the game is confidence and experience. The Padres will probably have a long season unless they can get production immediately from Volquez, Stauffer and the rest of the pitching staff.

#4. Colorado Rockies (73-89)
Losses: 3B Ian Stewart, IF Ty Wigginton, U Alfredo Amezaga, P J.C Romero, SP Jason Hammel,
Additions: 3B Casey Blake, OF Michael Cuddyer, 2B/SS Marco Scutaro, C Ramon Hernandez, OF Tyler Colvin

The Colorado Rockies clearly threw the year last season at the break, dishing their best pitcher in Ubaldo Jimenez, but they did everything right this offseason, bringing in a good mix of veteran guys to surround their already quality lineup. The Rockies have 2 guys that could be MVP candidates in SS Troy Tulowitzki, and LF Carlos Gonzalez. Cargo and Tulo combined for 56 HR’s, 197 RBI’s, and each batted right around .300, Tulo hitting .302, and Cargo hitting .295. These will continue to play a huge role in offensive success for Colorado, but they need to get guys on base in front of them. Dexter Fowler is a speed demon, but struggled last year to steal quality bases and get across the plate, only scoring 84 runs in a line-up where he should be scoring 100+.
The additions will help compliment the young talent with Cuddyer Scutaro, and Blake each bring something to the table with solid averages, good defense, and the ability to be role players. The line-up will not be the problem for the Rockies.
The pitching staff will showcase Jhoulys Chacin and Jorge De Le Rosa as the top 2 starters and they will need good innings from each guy. Drew Pomerantz will need to blossom as a force to be reckoned with as well, because he is a quality young prospect, and is probably the number 1 guy that they acquired out of the Ubaldo deal.
The Rockies have a nice balance on their team of stars, and youngsters, but the lack of experience in the pitching rotation could prove to be their demise, or propel them to a division championship.

#3 Los Angeles Dodgers (82-79)
Losses: 3B Casey Blake, CL Jonathon Broxton
Additions: RP Todd Coffey, SP Chris Capuano, SP Aaron Harang, 2B Mark Ellis

The Dodgers had the best pitcher and hitter in the entire National League in 2011 in Cy Young winner, Clayton Kershaw, and MVP runner-up, Matt Kemp. Every season it seems that the Dodgers have the tools to win the division and things go awry early and often and they put themselves out of the division hunt. The only real consistent bat in the line-up is Kemp’s and although Andre Ethier has shown some incredible promise in the past, but inconsistency has plagued his career. James Loney has shown some promise, but his bat is known to take a vacation once in a while too. The Dodgers have the most drama surrounding them right now, with Frank McCourts lawsuit and bankruptcy, so it is extremely difficult to see this team impact the division race this season, with all of the other teams around them improving or remaining competitive in the free agent market, something that The Dodgers didn’t really do, by not addressing their need for hitting.

#2. San Francisco Giants (86-76)
Losses: IF Orlando Cabrera, UT Mark De Rosa, IF Miguel Tejada,
Additions: OF Melky Cabrera, OF Angel Pagan, 2B Ryan Theriot, RP Guillermo Mota

For the Giants, step one was simple. Avoid arbitration with Tim Lincecum. They succeeded in that sense, and actually in my opinion got a better deal than The Freak deserves, so that is good. The 2010 World Series Champs have a lot of rebuilding to do, but their offseason has been a good one. Avoiding arbitration with Lincecum is the biggest storyline, but acquiring strong role playing bats on offense in Melky Cabrera, Pagan, and Theriot will help them develop depth in the lineup. The Giants also get back phenom catcher Buster Posey, which should develop the dynamic of their offense and defense immensely. The rotation is still extremely strong, and remains one of the best in the league with Lincecum, Matt Cain (who will be playing in a contract year), Ryan Vogelsong (sparkled last season with a 2.71 ERA and a 13-7 record), Madison Bumgarner, and veteran Barry Zito.
Pitching is not the issue with Brian Wilson, one of the most elite relievers looming at the Closer spot, and probable set-up guy, Sergio Romo who posted a 1.5 ERA in 48 innings pitched last year.
The Giants success will live and die by their ability at the plate.

#1. Arizona Diamondbacks (94-68)
Losses: SP Jason Marquis, SP Micah Owings, OF/1B Xavier Nady
Additions: OF Jason Kubel, SP Trevor Cahill, RP Craig Breslow

The Diamondbacks came out of nowhere last year with a Cy Young performance from their Ace arm Ian Kennedy. They don’t particularly pop on paper, but they have great chemistry. Justin Upton is continuing to progress into the star they were hoping he would be, Miguel Montero is among the elite young catchers in the game, and they added some great players to help negate the additions by the other divisional teams. Trevor Cahill and Craig Breslow have both pitched at a high level for an extended period of time and Jason Kubel is a great veteran who has played in some big games when with the Twins. The Diamonbacks needed more youth and more experience and they go everything they wanted and more, without sacrificing anything significant.

Division Outlook:
The Diamondbacks will start the season as the favorite to take the division, and that comes as no surprise to anybody. They made some great moves in the offseason and the key players for them will be a year older, and hopefully a year smarter. They will need Ian Kennedy to continue to be elite, and that could prove to be the case, but we have to remember that Kennedy was a .500 pitcher in 2010, and then went 20-4 last year. Those numbers will probably drop off slightly. The D-Backs will need Cahill and Breslow to acclimate to Arizona quickly and have an impact right away. Justin Upton is capable of having an MVP caliber season and that should set them apart, but they are still a very young team with not a lot of experience, so that could play a role in the division this season.
The Giants improves a great deal and could make some great strides early. If they want to compete for a division crown, they will need to rely heavily on their pitching, but those same arms got them rings just a season ago.
The Rockies and Dodgers are very similar in the sense that they have incredible talent, but just need to get some consistency. The NL West has 4 MVP candidates in it in Upton, Tulowitzki, Cargo, and Kemp. Whichever of those players can get the guys around him to produce run support for the quality pitching staffs will have the upper hand.
Frankly, the Padres are probably out of it. They don’t possess a big bopper like 2 seasons ago when Adrian Gonzalez was their 1B. They have a long way to go and the fact that they dealt Latos and Bell shows the look of a rebuilding team.

My (Early) Prediction:
1. San Francisco Giants (92-70)
2. Colorado Rockies (89-73)
3. Arizona Diamondbacks (87-75)
4. Los Angeles Dodgers (74-88)
5. San Diego Padres (71-91)

Reasoning: This division should be one of the most fun division to watch in baseball because of the young talent that will dictate who wins. I pick the Giants based on the risk/reward factor for them. They added two solid players in Melky Cabrera and Angel Pagan. The Giants also get Buster Posey back and he will look to have another great season behind the dish. Between Posey, Cabrera, and Pagan, with Theriot, their Wins Above Replacement (WAR) combined equals 10.5, meaning that by adding those players it will propel them above the wins mark of the Diamondbacks last season. The D-Backs did add some players as well, improving their percentages, but with the addition of Posey and Melky Cabrera (each with a 3+ WAR), combined with the Giants incredible pitching prowess, the have an incredible advantage that Bruce Bochy will need to take advantage of.
Now, you probably are asking yourself, well then what about the Rockies. The answer is simple. The Rockies appeared to be giving up last season by dealing Ubaldo to the Indians, but in reality they were improving and playing for this season and the future. Adding the veteran leadership with Scutaro and Cuddyer to help Dexter Fowler (Who I believe will break out this year), should set the table for Cargo and Tulowitzki. Todd Helton is 38 years old, but “The Toddfather” is still playing at a high level, hitting .302 last season with 69 RBI’s. The Rockies also have questions in the rotation because of the lack of experience, but they have an opportunity to be the most improved team in the bigs, much like the D-Backs did last year.
This division has a lot of underappreciated fire power and the winner of the division could make a splash in the postseason, much like San Francisco did in 2010.

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