05/15/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Aaron Cook is responsible for 40 percent of his team's wins this season. Now raise your hand if you thought that would be the circumstance by mid-May.
If you did raise your hand then you're a liar because odds are Jeff Francis would have been the easy favorite. But that's not the case, at least so far this season, since last year's ace has yet to sniff a victory in the new campaign. Instead of Francis racking up the wins and breaking records early in the 2008 campaign, it has been Cook reveling in success.
Cook is 6-0 with a 1.90 earned run average in his last six trips to the mound. The six victories in six straight starts is a Colorado record, while Bill Swift, Pedro Astacio, Brian Bohanon and Jason Jennings each won five straight starts. Cook is 6-1 with a 2.26 ERA in eight total outings this season, and has pitched no less than six innings in each of those starts.
The right-hander certainly has caught the National League by surprise, especially after going 8-7 with a 4.12 earned run average in 25 appearances during the Rockies' run to the World Series in 2007.
"He's staying in a real good place in the game," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said of Cook. "Obviously, the string is most impressive and might be as impressive as anybody we had here."
Colorado (15-25) hasn't had many aces come through the organization, but the sentiments from Hurdle are very flattering for the aforementioned pitcher. Cook will face his biggest test of the season on Thursday against Arizona Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb. Webb is an impressive 8-0 through his first eight starts of the season.
Even though the team has struggled mightily this season, Cook has been much like Andy Dufresne from the movie 'The Shawshank Redemption.' Dufresne crawled through 500 yards of sewage to get away, sort of how Cook escapes the reality of losing on the mound for his ballclub. Dufresne came out clean as a whistle, which conveys exactly how Cook looks this year for a beleaguered ballclub that has lost four straight and 17 of its last 23 contests.
To stay on that losing note, Francis is sporting an 0-4 mark and a 6.27 earned run average in eight outings this season. He is 0-2 with a 6.52 ERA over his last five starts, including a terrible performance the previous time out on May 13 at Arizona. Francis lasted a season-low 4 2/3 innings and gave up a season-high eight runs and 13 hits in an 8-4 loss to the Diamondbacks. He began his career with a 7-1 record against Arizona, but has dropped his last four regular-season starts against the D'Backs.
The left-handed Francis is scheduled to take the mound again on May 18 versus the Minnesota Twins. Francis went 17-9 with a 4.22 earned run average in 34 starts during Colorado's run to glory a year ago.
ROCKIES MAKE A FEW ROSTER MOVES
The struggling Rockies have placed pitcher Ryan Speier on the 15-day disabled list because of a right shoulder contusion. The move is retroactive to May 12.
Speier, a right-hander, was injured on May 11 when he was struck by a line drive off the bat of San Diego's Tadahito Iguchi. He has a record of 1-1 with a 3.38 earned run average in 15 games this season.
Colorado then recalled lefty Josh Newman from Triple-A Colorado Springs to fill the vacant roster spot. Newman appeared in four games for the Rockies from April 25 through May 3, recording a 3.86 ERA with no record.
WHO'S HOT
Besides starter Cook, Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins is riding a 12-game hitting streak in which he is batting .383 with a home run, five RBI and five multi-hit games. Atkins leads the ballclub with a .337 batting average, seven home runs and 26 RBI this season.
WHO'S NOT
Francis is an easy choice for this category, but so is first baseman Todd Helton. Despite his .305 batting average over the last 10 games, Helton has just 11 hits with no homers and two RBI over that span.
ON DECK
The Rockies are 10 games below the .500 mark for the first time since the end of the 2006 campaign. After it wraps up a six-game road trip on Thursday at Arizona, Colorado will open a nine-game homestand at Coors Field versus Minnesota, San Francisco and the New York Mets.
Colorado is 7-10 as the host in 2008, while toting an 8-15 road ledger.
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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center Nick Mangold (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers Reggie Williams and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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