Mid-season assessment of the positional players of the 2012 Rockies:

This review will start by going around the horn:

First base: (Helton, Giambi, Cuddyer, Colvin, Pacheco)
Where to start? Oh yeah, Helton. While Todd Helton bleeds black and purple, he has been the face of the franchise pretty much since his arrival in 1997 and put up Hall of Fame type numbers.  But in two of the past three years, he has stunk it up. Ok, maybe his back was ailing him in 2010, but this year, he's late on fastballs and has lost his patience at the plate.  Considering his $20M contract for this season, he's certainly not living up to his end of the bargain.  One thing that hasn't detoriated is Helton's glove which is still top tier.  Meanwhile, Jason Giambi is neither clutch at the plate, nor able to take any regular off days from Helton. He's hitting .240, and his glove doesn't give anyone much confidence.  Quite frankly, he's been lackluster and taking up a roster spot. Fortunately, Cuddyer has been serviceable at first base, but not spectacular.  Colvin should never be at first base again, yet in the upcoming years, I could see Pacheco at first base (he won't make many throwing errors from 1st).

Second base: (Scutaro, Nelson, Herrera)
The 2012 season has seen Marco Scutaro mostly at second base.  He's doing a decent job, but is prone to mental lapses and has just an average arm, noticeable when turning double plays.  Some nights his bat is consistent enough to get the job done; I'd like to see him work the pitch count more, especially since he's always at the top of the order.  Most likely he'll be traded in the 2nd half of the season to a playoff contender since his contract expires at the year's end, and he is 36 years old.  The younger Chris Nelson was drafted to be the future second baseman with an above average arm, but his hitting is very erratic.  If/when Scutaro is traded, Nelson would be the best choice to daily handle the 2nd base chores to gain more experience at that position. Jonathon Herrera has some decent games hitting, but more games in which he just fades into the background.  His baseball acumen is rather good, but his range is limited and his arm is below average which suits him best for 2nd base in a back up role.

Shortstop: (Tulowitzki, Herrera, Scutaro, Nelson)
When healthy, the position belongs to Troy Tulowitzki.  Keeping Troy on the field in the past few years has been the problem. Most seasons his bat is one of the best for his position, and his defense is exceptional (although he has 8 errors in 47 games this season).  His plate discipline needs some patience, but when he gets on a tear, no one is better. Fortunately Herrera, Scutaro and Nelson have taken turns at the shortstop position while Tulo has been on the DL.  Of the three, I prefer to see Nelson at SS because of his range and arm strength.

Third base: (Pacheco, Nelson)
Oooookay. Look, I think Jordan Pacheco is a great asset to this team because all he does is hit every day.  With every at bat, he makes corrections to his approach and learns from his mistakes.  Of course, Pacheco's biggest problem is his arm at 3rd base.  He doesn't make too many fielding errors, but usually once a week, he's throwing the ball to god knows where.  For this season, he's best suited for third base just so he can play every day and get regular plate appearances until Nolan Arenado comes up for Tulsa. In the long term, his niche may be at first base because of his throwing errors.  Once again, Chris Nelson is an adequate back up at this position.

Catcher: (Hernandez, Rosario, Nieves)
Clearly a weakness on this team is at one of the most important positions in the game, especially defensively.  The catcher is involved in every defensive play, calling a game for the pitcher, while throwing out runners and blocking pitches in the dirt. The Rockies brought in Ramon Hernandez to play spot-duty at the catcher position while grooming Rosario to develop a MLB approach to the game.  But as always happens, Hernandez has been a disappointment at the plate (.215 BA, .658 OPS), then wound up on the DL.  After that injury, Wilin Rosario was thrown in the fire to do the best he can. Baby Bull's bat has been exceptional (.247 BA, .800 OPS, 14 HRs).  As good as his bat has been, his defense is atrocious, currently leading the NL in errors (9) and passed balls (10), as well as dropping quite a few 3rd strike foul tips, extending innings.  Wilin does have an above average arm in throwing out baserunners, but lately has been off target, landing more throws in center field than at the bag.  He can only get better with practice and time, right?  Wil Nieves was called up to spell Rosario when he needs a rest, and has been below average in most facets of the game.  He has had 16 bases stolen on him (which isn't entirely his fault) yet only thrown out one runner.  That can not be tolerated.

Outfield: (Cuddyer, Fowler, Gonzalez, Colvin, Young)
Easily one of this team's strength has been the outfield, not just defensively but also at the plate.  While the signing of Michael Cuddyer brings veteran leadership and a decent bat to the lineup, his defense has been overlooked in right field.  He has pretty good range and an above average arm.  Lately Cuddyer's bat has gone into a funk; he still has good all-around numbers but not good enough to justify $10M/year contract.  Quite frankly he fits better platooning as a first baseman and has done a decent job there.  Fans were asking that Dexter Fowler be traded about a month ago when he went into a short slump.  Trading Fowler would be a ridiculous move, as no one can cover Coors Field outfield as well as him- no one.  Sure his bat is streaky, but this year, he's done really well, exceptionally well, hitting for average (.300 BA, .937 OPS) and with power (11 HRs, 9 triples).  Yeah, lock Fowler down for a few more years with a decent contract at the end of this year.  In right field, not much to be said that hasn't already been said regarding Carlos Gonzalez.  The 5-tool player can now add All-Star player to his wall of decorations, while being among the league leaders in BA, OPS, HRs, and runs.  The Rockies' biggest surprise this year has been Tyler Colvin.  His defense is just a bit better than Cuddyer's (who can forget that over the wall catch in CF?) but his bat has been scorching since June, forcing Jim Tracy to find a spot for him in the line up daily. Hopefully he doesn't mimic 2011 Charlie Blackmon and get hurt, never to heard from again.  The fifth outfielder is Eric Young Jr, love that dude's hustle.  Defensively, EY needs a lot of work on his reads off the bat and his arm strength; quite frankly, his speed doesn't translate well to outfield speed, but he always always hustles, and that's contagious to the dugout.  His ABs are more disciplined than previous seasons, and his speed is just amazing.

Summary:
First base has been subpar and have to consider a replacement for Helton.  Second base will be Nelson's after Scutaro is traded. Shortstop direly needs Tulo to return.  Third base is fine with Pacheco, but he'll need to improve his defense or get moved over to 1st.  Catcher position frustrates me almost as much as Jeff Huson doing a doubleheader, but it will improve as Rosario improves. The outfield is one of the better outfields in the NL thus far in the 2012 season.



Later, I'll write up some thoughts about the pitching and more, but I'm sure you've something better to do for now, and I'm out of coffee.