why will they not play my boy?

There is a travesty going on in Denver right now.  Actually, it’s been kind of going on for awhile now.

The Rockies are bullshitting around with my boy Ryan Spilborghs.  Thursday was his first start in 7 games.  He went 2-for-4 with 2 runs and a walk.  His last start (the one 7 games ago), he went 2-for-4 with 2 runs, a double, a homer, and 2 rbi.  What the hell does this guy have to do to get in the lineup?

Also, Thursday he hit fifth.  The previous start he hit leadoff- two pretty important positions in a baseball lineup, at least if the past 140 years or so are any indication.  So, when he plays, he’s respected enough by his manager as a hitter AND on-base guy.  He’s good enough to start today against Yovani Gallardo, but not good enough to crack the starting 9 for SEVEN games prior to today.  Oh and for his career he holds his own against righties, so it’s not like he’s a Bobby Kielty lefty-killer.

Yes, the Rockies outfield is “crowded.” But Spilborghs is part of that crowd, and should be one of the most if not THE most popular part of that crowd!  I know, Brad Hawpe is hitting .340 and is a mainstay, and Dexter Fowler just HAS to play every day.  Oh yeah, Fowler- still hitting leadoff despite his mediocre .349 OBP.  In fact, in 2009,

Fowler: .254/.349/.400

Spilborghs: .259/.323/.435

Spilborghs has had a subpar year so far and still has a higher OPS than Fowler.  Spilby by the way also had a .407 OBP last season and OPS’s of .848 and .875 the last two.  I am not disputing that Fowler has more potential than Spilborghs, but Fowler jumped straight from Double-A and Spilby’s been waiting and hitting his way to his short-lived starting opportunity this year.  Which reminds me, Spilby WON the starting job out of spring training by hitting .328 with 13 extra base hits and 21 rbi in only 64 ABs.  He hit in each of his first 4 games to start the regular season, and has never gone more than 2 straight starts without a hit.  When did he get outplayed for his job?  Admittedly I’m not big on fielding metrics, but can he really be that bad a fielder?  If he was I assume I’d have heard about it by now elsewhere or seen video of his follies.

After reading up on Seth Smith, I could see someone making a similar argument for him.  But then, I’m not a huge fan of Seth Smith,  nor is his name Ryan Spilborghs!!!  For God’s sake people, he is the ONLY baseball player in HISTORY whose name contains the letters “Spilb” in that order!  Carlos Gonzalez?  Yeah he’s the big part of the Matt Holliday trade return, but no one ever asked the Rockies to call him up.  I know I sure didn’t.

Oh well.  I guess Spilbs will just have to ride the pine, hit .300 whenever called upon, have good speed, decent power, a handsome and rugged face, and an awesome name.  And just live with it until such time that he can escape to another team and be buried unfairly as their 5th outfielder while players like Wily Mo Pena, Franklin Gutierrez, and Ryan Sweeney are given chance after chance to hit .258 with truckloads of strikeouts or virtually no power.

Note:  I drafted Spilborghs in 5 fantasy leagues this year.