Hurdle On The Hot Seat?

The Rockies fell yet again to Arizona, running their record to 1-6 against the snakes. Jeff Francis got touched for 6 runs in the first two innings, including giving up a double to Randy "I Swing With My Eyes Closed" Johnson. Despite scratching out 12 hits, the offense left 7 runners on base in scoring position.

19 pitchers have thrown in a game for the Rockies this season, the most in the majors. Colorado used a major league-record 30 pitchers last year.

Clint Hurdle said after the game:

"We have to find a way to stir some things up, and that comes down into my lap, my desk. We have to put a better product on the field."

What else can Hurdle do really? He's tried multiple combinations in the field and something like nine different pitchers have started a game. The whole season to this point has been one big shake up. If he wasn't forced to stir it up, then the Rockies would have a hell of a lot more than 15 wins right now.

All this pontificating about what's wrong with the Rockies would not even be necessary if the expectations weren't so high coming into this season. If we didn't know how good this team's potential is, would we really care that they are struggling? Not really. The fans would be resigned to another year of mediocre baseball and would be calling for changes, next year. We know this team can win with the personnel they have. It's just not working. And it makes me think that the team has stopped buying into Hurdle's system.

Hurdle has a career .465 win percentage, but he has coached some awful Rockies teams. My main concern about Hurdle though is if he can take a team to the next level. The Rockies were absolutely poised to do that this season. Yet, the team has regressed.

The litmus test which often gets applied to baseball managers is what kind of effort they can get out of their players. Are manager's restricting or holding back talent from full potential? Are they getting the maximum potential? Or are they coaching players to get play which even exceeds potential? At the end of last year, the Rockies were exceeding potential. I think that is clear from this year's effort, that the Rockies are at best a .500 team. Which also means that this year's incarnation is performing below potential. And when that happens the blame is going to be squarely shouldered by the manager.

One thing is for sure, the Monfort's won't let Dan O'Dowd buy his way out of this rut. This team is either going to thrive, be mediocre or struggle with the talent they have in the system. So for me it all comes down to what Clint Hurdle can do with the talent he has to try to salvage this miserable season.

If he's unable to invoke the winning spirit in these players, he probably should be out on his ass after the season.