FanHouse JasonHirsh

I guess you can safely hand Jason Hirsh the tough guy of the day award. I mean, it would be pretty tough to top what he did against the Brewers.

A line drive that hit the right leg of Rockies pitcher Jason Hirsh during the first inning of Tuesday night's 11-4 victory over the Brewers did more damage than originally believed. X-rays taken on Wednesday revealed a fractured fibula.
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J.J. Hardy's liner hit Hirsh's right calf. Hirsh picked the ball up and threw Hardy out at first base, then completed six innings during which he held the Brewers to three runs and improved his record to 5-7, with a 4.81 ERA.

There was even some speculation that Hirsh got picked off intentionally later in the game to keep him from running the bases. I doubt it. Well, the Rockies brass should only be too happy to hear this report; nobody can ever accuse Hirsh of not giving his all. Now they just need to make sure Hirsh doesn't miss significant time considering how close to they are in the top of the division, and that Rodrigo Lopez is done for the year.

The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Atlanta Braves (20-12) vs. San Diego Padres (18-15)-7:35PM Est.

John Smoltz has already pitched against his old friend Tom Glavine this season, and it's likely to happen again seeing as how they're both in the NL East, but he'll be going against Greg Maddux tonight for the first time in 15 years. The duo combined for 300 wins, a World Series title, and ten division championships during the 11 seasons they spent together in Atlanta. Smoltz dominated the Padres last season, pitching 23 shutout innings and picking up three victories.

St. Louis Cardinals (13-18) vs. Colorado Rockies (14-19)-1:10PM Est.

Things are going so bad for the Cardinals right now that the 4 runs they scored in their win over the Rockies last night is considered an offensive explosion. Of course, a couple of those runs might not have even counted if Clint Hurdle had his way. Adam Wainwright will go to the mound hoping to start a win streak for the Birds, and maybe start digging their way out of the NL Central cellar. Jason Hirsh gets the nod for the Rox.

Kansas City Royals (10-23) vs. Oakland Athletics (16-15)-8:10PM Est.

When you're 10-23, there isn't much going on that you can consider a positive, but thankfully for the Royals they have Gil Meche. Meche is 3-1 with a 2.23 ERA so far for the Royals, temporarily shutting up those of us who thought the organization was crazy for giving him a $55 million contract. It's going to be tough for Gil to get that fourth win though, because the Royals will be going against the 1.75 ERA of Dan Haren.

We here at the MLB FanHouse will be musing once a week until the end of the season on who we think leads the AL and NL Rookie of the Year award races. This is the first installment.

National League: Josh Hamilton

Considered an afterthought by many even after his hot spring, Hamilton has surprised everyone by showing off an uncanny amount of big-league power for a guy with almost no experience above the low minors. He wasn't originally expected to play everyday, but he's forcing his way into the lineup with six home runs in his first 51 at-bats, hitting .294/.400/.706 while looking every bit like the former first-overall draft pick he was.

Also in the mix:
Jason Hirsh, Rockies
Carlos Ruiz, Phillies

American League: Daisuke Matsuzaka

Dice-K has been solid, but he's the early-season favorite almost as much by default as anything he's actually done: Alex Gordon has been awful (.159/.284./.290) and Delmon Young has been good but not outstanding (.274/.290/.422 with three home runs and 13 RBI). Matsuzaka's countrymate Akinori Iwamura has actually put up the best numbers among AL rookie hitters (.339/.479/.482), but in the end I have to hand it to Dice-K for meeting expectations and then some with 31 strikeouts in 27 innings. His 4.00 ERA is hardly jaw-dropping, but it's skewed by one bad start against the Yankees, for which he'll have a chance to avenge this weekend.

Also in the mix:
Akinori Iwamura, Devil Rays
Delmon Young, Devil Rays

If you're like me, you're probably still having a lot of trouble adjusting to the new look Rockies team which is -- as odd as it is to say -- more of a speed and finesse team. Long gone are the days of the Blake Street Bombers which used to feature half a lineup of 30 home run hitters e.g. Dante Bichette, Andres Galarraga, Ellis Burks, Larry Walker, Todd Helton, and Vinny Castilla. So yeah, in case you haven't caught on yet, the Rockies are now built with speed at the top (Taveras, Matsui), average/speed/power in the middle (Atkins, Holliday, Hawpe), and good starting pitching. Really.

In fact, the 4-4 Rox have seen every single one of their starters throw at least six innings per start, with seven of those eight starts yielding two or fewer runs. The staff has a 3.34 ERA and has only allowed six home runs and 17 walks in eight games, and is in the top part of the league in several other categories.

Last year Colorado set a franchise record for lowest team ERA at 4.66. Between emerging youngsters Aaron Cook, Jeff Francis (pictured), and Jason Hirsh, as well as the resurgence of Rodrigo Lopez and Josh Fogg, the '07 team should blow that mark out of the water. Will they be as sharp as the season goes on? Probably not. But what really matters is that this is a completely rebuilt team, with a new look, and some pitchers that can truly keep the team in every game.

Nine days ago I told you I received verbal confirmation from Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd that Jason Hirsh would be the 4th starter in the Rockies rotation. Sure you laughed, joked, ridiculed, and doubted me. No way a blogger could actually get a scoop right? Not a chance that the guy from the Rockies FanHouse would be able to get some news before any of those legit media outlets! Well boo-ya-katcha...nine days later the big boys have caught up:

The Rockies official site says

The Rockies officially told rookie right-hander Jason Hirsh that he will be the No. 4 starter

and the Denver Post wrote

rookie Jason Hirsh was officially named the fourth starter

And let me remind you once again, that on March 11th, 2007, at 1:00am on this here Rockies FanHouse Blog, I, Larry Brown, respectfully submitted the following:

I happened to speak with Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd Saturday (and don't ask how -- for all you know it could've been while we were playing battlepiss at the urinals), and he was highly complimentary of pitcher Jason Hirsh's performance this spring, volunteering the news that HIrsh is their No. 4 starter.

Now, my only question is...do I categorize this post in MLB Awards?

Ordinarily a pitcher winning the fourth spot in the rotation of a team widely projected to finish last in its division isn't the sort of story that greases my keyboard. HOWEVA, when no other media outlets have reported said news, it warrants a post. That being said, I happened to speak with Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd Saturday (and don't ask how -- for all you know it could've been while we were playing battlepiss at the urinals), and he was highly complimentary of pitcher Jason Hirsh's performance this spring, volunteering the news that HIrsh is their No. 4 starter. And yes, this is worthy of a post because at last report, the Rockies official website said Saturday:

As a candidate for the rotation, Hirsh knows he needs to produce results.

The Denver Post said Friday:

With all signs pointing toward Jason Hirsh sticking in the rotation, Brian Lawrence could insert himself into the fifth-starter derby Saturday.

And the Rocky Mountain News said Thursday:

[Byung Hyun] Kim's inconsistency, though, makes it difficult for the Rockies to react too quickly with [Josh] Fogg: The two of them seem to be the most viable candidates for a spot in the rotation behind Aaron Cook, Jeff Francis and Rodrigo Lopez, and, based on how things have gone so far, Hirsh.

As far as I can tell, none of these outlets have officially billed Jason Hirsh as the No. 4 starter. So here you go guys, please see if you can confirm the news for me. Also, keep in mind that our conversation took place before Hirsh got bombed by the White Sox later in the day...but O'Dowd can't be that capricious could he?