Mark Redman (5-12, 4.61) vs. Aaron Cook (0-1, 6.97). Cook's nasty sinker once made him a well-regarded prospect, but he has been sidetracked by Coors Fielditis and an injury to his lungs that cost him parts of the last two season. He was activated from the 60 day DL late in July.
I wonder if Mark Redman views today's game as a pain because it's in Coors, or as an opportunity to get back on track because it's the Rockies. (Redman shut down the Rockies three starts ago in Pittsburgh, in between shellackings by the Padres, Braves, Astros, and Cubs. Look at Redman's last ten starts - they're not pretty.)
During yesterday's game, I was struck by the exceedingly small number of players the Rockies used who unambiguously deserved to be in the big leagues. With Todd Helton gone, Jeff Francis not pitching, and no reason for the Rox to use their high-leverage relievers, I'm not sure there were any.
The Rockies rolled out no-namer after no-namer, many of whom were non-prospects, like starter Jose Acevedo, relievers Randy Williams and David Cortes, catcher Danny Ardoin, and so on. The only real prospects they played were Garrett Atkins and Ryan Shealy, and neither of them look like great ones. Playing minor leaguers without having a reason to do so isn't likely to build a winner in the future, and it makes for bad, boring baseball in the present. It's hard to make Coors Field boring, but the Rockies have done it.