The Rockies have sent 22-year old righty starter/reliever Jhoulys Chacin back to the minors so that he can go back to starting again. He has had some issues pitching out of the pen for the Rockies this year. Chacin has pitched in 19 games (12 starts) for the Rockies this year and he is 5-8 with a 4.04 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. He only gave up 70 hits in 82 1/3 innings for the Rockies this year and he has whiffed 89 batters showing what kind of stuff he has. Chacin still has to tighten up his control a bit as he has walked 38 batters this year. When he fixes his control then the Rockies will have a #1 or #2 type starter in the near future.

The Rockies have two All-Stars. 25-year old shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and 26-year old righty starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez are the two guys. Tulowitzki has played in 62 games this season for the Rockies and he is 72 of 235 (.306 avg, .877 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 9 homers, 34 RBIs and 7 RBIs. He will have to miss his first All-Star Game appearance due to injury. Ubaldo Jimenez deserves to be the N.L. starting pitcher in my opinion despite his recent performance. Jimenez has pitched in 17 games (all starts) for the Rockies this year and he is 14-1 with a 2.27 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He has only given up 84 hits in 119 innings pitched so far this season as he has been downright nasty. This will be Jimenez’ first appearance in the All-Star Game.

So far this season there hasn’t been a better pitcher in baseball than Ubaldo Jiménez.  Jiménez, who is currently 7-1 with a 1.12 ERA, has steadily improved for the Colorado Rockies ever since he made his major league debut near the end of the 2006 season.  His first full season was in 2008, where he went 12-12 with a 3.99 ERA in 34 starts.  Those are pretty good numbers for a rookie, and the Rockies knew Jiménez could continue to develop into an ace.  Well they were right, because everything has come together for Jiménez so far this season, especially on April 17th when he threw the first no-hitter in Rockies’ history.  He has some of the best stuff in baseball, with superior velocity to go along with his full arsenal of pitches.  He can easily hit 100 mph on the radar gun with his four-seam fastball, his two-seamer tails and sinks like crazy, and his change-up looks like a sinker.  He also mixes in a hard slider as well as a 12-6 curveball at times.

With the full arsenal that Jiménez possesses, it’s easy to see why he is already one of the best pitchers (if not the best) of the 2010 season.  Another key to his success is that he keeps the ball on the ground.  Pitching in the homerun friendly Coors Field makes it important for pitchers to produce ground balls, which is what Jiménez has done.  He has given up only one homerun in eight starts so far.  The Rockies knew that Jiménez had this kind of potential, which is why they signed him to a four-year contract before the 2009 season.  The only knock on Jiménez is his control, since he walks too many batters.  In 56.1 innings pitched so far this season, he has 21 walks.  He had 6 walks in his no-hitter, but the good thing for he and the Rockies is those walks aren’t turning into runs.  Ubaldo Jiménez is the early favorite for the NL Cy Young this season and with his stuff, it looks like he will be a perennial threat to win it.

The Rockies are getting solid pitching out of 33-year old lefty reliever Joe Beimel and 34-year old lefty reliever Randy Flores so far this season. Beimel has pitched in 13 games (0 starts) for the Rockies this season and he is 0-0 with a 0.77 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. Beimel has only allowed 8 hits in 11 2/3 innings thus far for the Rockies. Randy Flores has pitched in 15 games (0 starts) for the Rockies this season and he is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.63 WHIP. He has been a specialist as the Rockies don’t let him pitch against right hitters and it’s paying off so far as he has only given up 3 hits in 8 innings this season. The Rockies hope both of these guys keep up the good work.

Ubaldo Jimenez and the recently called up Jhoulys Chacin are throwing seeds for the Rockies right now. Jimenez has already tossed a no-hitter this season and there is no reason to think he can’t throw another one this season based on how well he is pitching right now. Jimenez has started 7 games for the Rockies so far this season and he is 6-1 with a 0.93 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. He has only given up 28 hits in 48 1/3 innings this season while whiffing 49 batters showing just how dominating he has been. Jhoulys Chacin is showing why Baseball America said he was the Rockies’ #4 rated prospect coming into this season. He has pitched in 3 games (2 starts) for the Rockies this season and he is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.78 WHIP. He has only allowed 7 hits in 15 1/3 innings while whiffing 16 batters so far this season. The Rockies are going to get on a good run soon with the starting pitching they have been getting.