The bullpen should be a team strength for the Rockies in 2008. 25-year old righty Manny Corpas will be the stopper again this season. He pitched in 78 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 4-2 with 19 saves, a 2.08 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. Corpas will likely be one of the league leaders in saves this season.

32-year old lefty Brian Fuentes will be the top set-up man for the Rockies this season. He pitched in 64 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 3-5 with 20 saves, a 3.08 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Fuentes lost his job as the stopper after hurting his back last season but the Rockies won’t lose many games in which they have a lead after 7 innings as they now have two stoppers.

33-year old righty Luis Vizcaino will likely be the 7th inning guy for the Rockies this season. He pitched in 77 games (0 starts) for the Yankees last season and he was 8-2 with a 4.30 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. Vizcaino would be a much better pitcher if he just would throw more strikes as he walked 43 batters in 75.1 innings last season.

38-year old righty Matt Herges is back to give the Rockies solid relief early in games. Herges pitched in 35 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 5-1 with a 2.96 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP.

33-year old lefty Micah Bowie will be one of the first pitchers in when the starter has issues. He pitched in 30 games (8 starts) for the Nationals last season and he was 4-3 with a 4.55 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP.

28-year old righty Ryan Speier was the final cut before the season opener. He will start the season in AAA but he will likely be the first reliever recalled by the Rockies when they need help. He pitched in 20 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last year and he was 3-1 with a 4.00 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. Speier also pitched in 50 games in AAA last season and he was 1-4 with 33 saves, a 4.38 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: A

27-year old lefty stepped up last season for the Rockies and he became the ace they thought he would. He started 34 games for the Rockies last season and he was 17-9 with a 4.22 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Look for Francis to build off his success of last season as he will have another solid year in 2008.

29-year old righty Aaron Cook will be the #2 starter for the Rockies this season and they need him to stay healthy. He started 25 games for the Rockies last season and he was 8-7 with a 4.12 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. He has the potential to win 12-15 games if he can just make all of his starts in 2008.

24-year old righty Ubaldo Jimenez has big time potential as he has pure nasty stuff. He started 15 games for the Rockies last season and he was 4-4 with a 4.28 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Jimenez has not had a lot of success in his minor league career so the Rockies will have to be careful with him.

22-year old, flame throwing lefty Franklin Morales won the #4 starting job in spring training. He probably has the most upside on this pitching staff. He started 8 games down the stretch for the Rockies last season and he was 3-2 with a 3.43 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. As long as he throws strikes he will be really effective in 2008.

34-year old lefty Mark Redman won the #5 starting job in spring training. He pitched in 11 games (8 starts) last season for the Braves & Rockies and he was 2-4 with a 7.62 ERA and a 1.84 WHIP. But, he was much better with the Rockies at the end of last season as he pitched in 5 games (3 starts) for them and he was 2-0 with a 3.20 ERA.

31-year old righty Kip Wells will be the first pitcher from the bullpen to join the starting rotation if the Rockies have some trouble. He pitched in 34 games (26 starts) for the Cardinals last season and he was 7-17 with a 5.70 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. He has much better stuff than his record indicated.

26-year old righty Taylor Buchholz will start the season in the bullpen but he has been a starting pitcher his whole career so he may move into the rotation at some point in the season. He pitched in 41 games (8 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 6-5 with a 4.23 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP.

26-year old righty Jason Hirsh will start the season in the minors but he will be up at some point this season for the Rockies. He started 19 games for the Rockies last season and he was 5-7 with a 4.81 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C

This number kind of shocks me based on the play of the Rockies last season. Las Vegas must think that the hot streak the Rockies had to end the season was a fluke. I am not along with that line of thinking. The Rockies have a super deep bullpen and they can hit the hell out of the baseball so I’m thinking the Rockies win way more than 83 games. In fact, I might be willing to bet the house on it.

29-year old lefty swinging Brad Hawpe has turned into the player everyone always thought he could be. He played in 152 games for the Rockies last season and he was 150 for 516 (.291 avg, .926 OPS) with 80 runs scored, 29 homers and 116 RBIs. He didn’t play as well on defense as he made 6 errors in 142 games in RF while showing below average range. Look for another big year from Hawpe with the bat in his hands.

Ryan Spilboroghs will also likely get some playing time in RF as he played 20 games there without making an error but he showed poor range.

27-year old righty swinging Jeff Baker will also likely get some P.T. in RF this season. He played in 85 games for the Rockies last season and he was 32 for 144 (.222 avg, .643 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 4 homers and 12 RBIs. He also played in 13 games in RF without making an error while showing above average range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: B+

26-year old righty swinging Willy Taveras will get the bulk of the time in CF for the Rockies in 2008. He played in 97 games for the Rockies last season and he was 119 for 372 (.320 avg, .749 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 2 homers, 24 RBIs and 33 stolen bases. He’s also a solid defender as he made 4 errors in 86 games while showing above average range.

28-year old righty swinging Ryan Spilboroghs got to play a lot in CF last season when Taveras was injured. He played in 97 games for the Rockies last season and he was 79 for 264 (.299 avg, .848 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 11 homers and 51 RBIs. He played in 46 games in CF last season and he made 1 error while showing poor range.

28-year old lefty swinging Cory Sullivan is also a solid CF. He played in 72 games for the Rockies last season and he was 40 for 140 (.286 avg, .722 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 2 homers and 14 RBIs. He played in 51 error-free games in CF for the Rockies last season while showing average range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: B-