The Rockies thought they ripped off the Indians in the Ubaldo Jimenez deal. Jimenez has really sucked since leaving the Rockies, but the two keys to the deal for the Rockies (Alex White and Drew Pomeranz) have also stunk it up. 23-year old Drew Pomeranz was the key to the deal for the Rockies. He has pitched in 19 games (all starts) for the Rockies so far this year and he is 1-9 with a 5.06 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. 24-year old righty Alex White has been even worse. He has pitched in 20 games (all starts) for the Rockies so far this year and he is 2-8 with a 5.15 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. The Rockies need White and Pomeranz to turn things around in the very near future.

33-year old Jeremy Guthrie really had a hard time in the Rockies’ rotation. In his 11 starts for the Rockies this year, Guthrie was 3-6 with a 7.02 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP. He gave up 85 hits (15 homers) in only 59 innings pitched as a starter for the Rockies. They demoted him to the bullpen, where he has been really effective so far. He has pitched in 2 games (0 starts) out of the pen and he is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.79 WHIP. Guthrie has only given up 3 hits in his first 6 1/3 innings in the pen. Guthrie has pitched in 13 games (11 starts) overall this year and he is 3-6 with a 6.34 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP. He is firmly on the trading block for the Rockies.

The Rockies have sent 24-year old righty starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin to AAA. He has started 5 games for the Rockies this year and he is 0-3 with a 7.30 ERA and a 1.87 WHIP. Chacin gave up 31 hits (7 homers) and he walked 15 batters in his first 24 2/3 innings while whiffing 22 batters, and those are not good numbers as opposing hitters were running up to the plate with him on the mound. Chacin has now pitched in 73 games (58 starts) in his first four years with the Rockies and he is 20-29 with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. The Rockies will likely call up Chacin quickly if he gets his act back together in AAA.

UPDATE: (5/7/2012) - The Rockies rescinded Jhoulys Chacin’s demotion to AAA and they have placed him on the 15-day disabled list instead due to right shoulder inflammation.

26-year old righty Esmil Rogers has had a big chance to prove himself this year, but he has fallen on his face. Rogers has pitched in 14 games (11 starts) for the Rockies so far this year and he is 6-5 with a 6.26 ERA and a 1.84 WHIP. Rogers has allowed 89 hits in his first 69 innings pitched this year, while also walking 38 batters and whiffing 55. Those are very unimpressive numbers! Rogers has now pitched in 43 games (30 starts) in his first three years with the Rockies and he is 8-8 with a 6.14 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. He might be running out of time with the Rockies.

23-year old righty starting pitcher Alex White has had a rough time so far for the Rockies….but it’s really, really early. White has pitched in 3 games (all starts) for the Rockies and he is 1-1 with a 7.41 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. He has now pitched in 6 games (all starts) for the Indians and Rockies and he is 2-1 with a 5.63 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. White has had issues with his control as he has walked 19 batters in his first 32 innings in the majors. If he tightens up his control a bit, he will be fine for the Rockies.

32-year old righty starting pitcher Aaron Cook has been pretty awful for the Rockies this year. He has pitched in 11 games (all starts) for the Rockies so far this year and he is 2-6 with a 5.05 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. Cook has give up 77 hits and he has walked 25 batters in only 62 1/3 innings so far this year, which is pathetic. He also isn’t fooling many hitters as he has only whiffed 23 batters this year. Cook has pitched in 231 games (200 starts) in his first 10 years in the majors and he is 71-64 with a 4.44 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. The Rockies need Cook to start pitching like he did earlier in his career.

35-year old righty reliever Rafael Betancourt was awesome last season for the Rockies pitching in 32 games (0 starts) in which he was 3-1 with 1 save, a 1.78 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. But Betancourt has been nowhere near as good this season for the Rockies. He has pitched in 25 games (0 starts) for the Rockies this year and he is 1-1 with a 5.48 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. Betancourt has only walked 3 batters this season while whiffing 27 batters in only 21 1/3 innings so his stuff has been there. But he’s not missing enough bats as he has given up 28 hits already this season. I think Betancourt will get his act together soon because his major league track record shows it will.

The Rockies need Josh Fogg and Tom Martin to pitch better in the 2nd half of the season.  Fogg is 4-6 with a 5.36 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP so far this season.  Fogg will need to start missing more bats with his pitches if he wants to have more success in the 2nd half of the season.  He has allowed 105 hits and 12 homers in 87.1 innings this season and he will need to improve on that if he wants to keep his starting job.  Tom Martin must thank God everyday that he is left handed because that is the only reason he has pitched in the majors so long.  Martin is 0-0 with a 5.25 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP so far this season.  He has allowed 31 hits in 24 innings this season and that’s way too many.

Buchholz was part of the off-season haul for Jason Jennings, but he’s off to a rough start.  In 10 games (5 starts), Buchholz is 2-2 with a 5.94 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP.  In 33.1 innings, he has allowed 45 hits but he’s only walked 10 batters which is pretty good.  The Rockies need him to pitch better soon or they might need to go with someone else in the rotation.

Jeff Francis had a breakout year last season for the Rockies but this year has been a rough one so far for him.  Francis is 1-4 with a 6.19 ERA and a 1.84 WHIP and those kind of numbers will not get it done for the Rockies.  In 36.1 innings so far this season, Francis has allowed 52 hits, 6 homers, walked 15 batters and has struck out 20.  The team needs him to stand up an be the ace that he was starting to look like last season.