When the defending AL champion Cleveland Indians stopped by Denver for a short visit this week, manager Terry Francona had nothing but nice things to say about the Colorado Rockies, stopping short of saying he thought they were a daunting opponent, despite only seeing them in Spring Training so far this year.
In particular, he said he’s been impressed with what the front office has been able to do to help this team make a complete 180 from last season.
“When we play a team twice and you see maybe four starters [in Spring Training], I remember looking at the roster thinking, ‘Wow, this is pretty good,'” Francona said. “With some of the moves they made – Holland is on pace for over 50 saves. I know they had Reynolds, but they brought him back on a minor league deal, and then when Desmond gets hurts, he comes in hitting like 1.000 OPS in at-bats, so they’ve had some things go really right.”
Francona believes the talent doesn’t stop there, as some of their veterans have been providing a big push in the right direction of late.
“Besides having a really deep team, they have a leadoff hitter that’s got 50 RBIs, that’s amazing,” he said of Charlie Blackmon. “They’re deep. They’re good, and they’ve always been able to swing it, but now they got some of this young pitching. They’re a good team, and I’m happy for them.”
While the Rockies run deep this season, Francona’s camaraderie with opposing manager Bud Black runs a little deeper.
“I don’t want them to beat us, but I’m happy for Blacky,” Francona said. “He’s one of my better friends and, I don’t want to say [he was] stuck in San Diego, but they just weren’t at a point where they were winning, and I don’t ever think it was his fault.
“Now he’s at a team that can play, and all of the sudden he’s smart,” he added with a facetious smirk. “I think he was that way all along.”
So far this year, the Rockies have far eclipsed what the defending AL champs have been able to do. They sit first in the NL West with a 37-23 record, and barely trail the Washington Nationals for a similar honor in the entire National League. The Indians, on the other hand, sit with just 29 wins to 27 losses and trail the Minnesota Twins by a game in the AL Central.
