Proof of how much the offense misses Cruz and Markakis

[mdbdotcom]

The table below compares regular season stats for all of 2014 with 32 games played thus far in 2015 and the projected numbers based on those 32 games.

Obviously, these numbers will change (maybe we should update this each month), but this is where things stand now.

	R	H	BB	2B	3B	HR	TB	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS2014	705	1434	401	264	16	211	2363	681	0.256	0.311	0.422	0.73432 GP	151	285	81	53	6	42	476	145	0.266	0.324	0.444	0.768Proj.	764	1443	410	268	30	213	2410	734	0.266	0.324	0.444	0.768

[Frobby]

So -- that's proof of how much we don't miss them, right?

I'm pretty tired of this subject, to be honest. I've already concluded that starting pitching is going to decide our season, even though we didn't lose a single starting pitcher.

[canonfaz]

Jimmy has picked up the slack on this years offense (and Adam of course). If Pearce could get close to what he was last year we will have a dominant offense. As Frobby said though, starting pitching is going to dictate our season.

[mdbdotcom]

So -- that's proof of how much we don't miss them, right?

I'm pretty tired of this subject, to be honest. I've already concluded that starting pitching is going to decide our season, even though we didn't lose a single starting pitcher.

Why, yes, I guess the numbers do show that. Oh my!

I agree with your point about starting pitching and I'm tired of this argument as well. That's whey I posted data that shows we don't miss them at all and their departures have had nothing to do with the team's troubles to date..

[weams]

I'm pretty tired of this subject, to be honest.

Lets face it. Cruz is having a heck of a year. And we are in last place. We will hear about it more.

[Redskins Rick]

Lets face it. Cruz is having a heck of a year. And we are in last place. We will hear about it more.

And their team is losing too.

[Nevermore]

I've always thought that we should have re-signed Cruz. Just my opinion.

He's gone and that's all I plan to comment on this.

[Bahama O's Fan]

I only care about one stat when it comes to offense, runs scored. Don't care how they come, small ball, big bash, etc...

[Babypowder]

I've always thought that we should have re-signed Cruz. Just my opinion.

He's gone and that's all I plan to comment on this.

You do realize the numbers shown indicate the offense is better and they don't miss him at all right? You read that correctly?

[Redskins Rick]

The SP was not exactly sharp last season for the first two months.

[Aristotelian]

One could always make the claim that we'd be scoring even more. Who knows if Paredes even makes the team or gets a chance to play with Cruz here. BUT, if you take the best of all worlds having Cruz would certainly have made us better. Davis was a presence in the middle in 2013. Cruz in 2014. As nice a start as Jones and Paredes have gotten off to, we don't have quite the presence in the middle of the lineup this year. Maybe Davis gets it going.

What's tiresome is that everyone acknowledges that we'd be better wtih Cruz and Miller. Pretty easy to harp on it at this point. Let's see how it looks in year 2-3-4 or even later this summer. We still aren't a championship team with those guys with the current state of the starting rotation.

Davis is hitting 50 points better than last year and OPSing .821, about the same as his 2012 quasi-breakout year. He strikes out a lot but overall his production is just fine, and the plan to "replace" Cruz with increased production from CD and Manny is working out.

[Bahama O's Fan]

If you have Cruz, I guess you could make him play LF and Paredes DH, but he last the whole season having to play the field?

[Bahama O's Fan]

I agree with the point that Paredes and Machado have helped make up for the loss of Cruz. Not to be mean, but it doesn't take much to replace Markaki's offense from the last two years.

Young and Snider are more than replacing Nick's offensive production from last year.

[Redskins Rick]

Young and Snider are more than replacing Nick's offensive production from last year.

Nick was only a 2.0 WAR last year, so he was slightly better than a replacement player.

Now, he is a .2, granted, the season is young.

[Going Underground]

Need to clean up the defense a little and play better fundamentals. All about the pitching. Ubaldo and Tillman seemed to have reversed their roles this year. Gonzo and Chen seem like they will be solid. Norris will be the wildcard. He can be replaced.

The year Ubaldo almost won the Cy Young:

Through his first 12 starts, Jimenez had a microscopic 0.78 ERA, and the number didn't peek above 2.00 until his 17th outing. He was 15-1 at the All-Star break and was the first pitcher since the Braves' Greg Maddux in 1988 to have as many wins at the break.

In the second half, however, he was 4-7 with a 3.80 ERA.

n many of those starts, it was hard to fault Jimenez. Five times during the season, including three times after he tied the franchise wins record with his 17th on Aug. 4, the Rockies didn't score a single run with him on the mound. The Rockies' 6-5 victory over the Brewers at Coors Field on Aug. 15 should have gone under Jimenez's win column, but the normally dependable Clint Barmes misjudged an eighth-inning popup to allow Milwaukee to tie the game, and Colorado won it in the ninth.

http://m.rockies.mlb.com/news/article/16111966/