Here is a short interview I just did with a blogger who goes by the name of RockiesMagicNumber on Purple Row, an excellent Rockies website. He talks about Jim Tracy, the loss of Matt Holliday, and gives his prediction for the upcoming series. 

iSportacus: What’s the biggest difference between Clint Hurdle and Jim Tracy?

Purple Row: Clint Hurdle was a very hands-on, get-to-know-you kind of manager. He was with the team for the burndown and then rebuild with the young guys, and it seemed like a lot of the problem with Hurdle wasn’t even so much with his game decisions or lineups (because honestly, what manager doesn’t regularly make boneheaded decisions?), but that the relationship between him and his players had kind of stagnated to the point where it wasn’t that the players didn’t respect him, but that he didn’t light the spark under them anymore. So when the team stumbled out of the gate, the players were playing under the pressure of losing Hurdle his job, etc. So when he was let go, the 800lb gorilla was out of the room, and the team could go back to just playing ball.

Jim Tracy, as a contrast, is a far more hands-off manager. He doesn’t spend much time in the clubhouse and he doesn’t seem to have the close personal relationships with the players (well, yet anyhow). The way I see it is that Tracy is more like a boss to these guys now. Hurdle was a mentor, a developmental coach, and while he helped the young guys grow to MLB fruition, they needed to take the next step and approach the game not as young green players just trying to make it, but as professionals who are going to win.

iSportacus: How was this team able to overcome the loss of Matt Holliday?

Purple Row: Well, the question itself is a bit misguided. The “loss” of Holliday wasn’t as if he’d gone to free agency. GM Dan O’Dowd traded him to Oakland for Huston Street and Carlos Gonzalez, and Street has re-emerged as one of the game’s elite closers and Carlos Gonzalez is quickly developing into the 5-tool player that the scouts saw in him in the minors. Gonzalez is posting a .878 OPS in 317 PA, and while that’s hardly what Matt Holliday provided to the lineup, Gonzalez is also an elite talent defensively in CF. Also, with Holliday departing, it allowed Seth Smith to emerge as one of the next big stars for the Rockies, with a .889 OPS in 387 PA. So with the salary relief and the ability to now play 2 young, affordable, near-elite players, I’d say we’re doing just fine without Mr. Holliday and his agent.

iSportacus: What scares you the most about this Phillies team?

Purple Row: Frankly, the offense, but not that it’s so head-and-shoulders above ours. Philly and Colorado are 1-2 in the NL, and I wouldn’t give an edge to one or the other right off the bat. The reason the offense scares me a bit is that we just lost Jorge De La Rosa for the NLDS (or so it would seem), as Dan O’Dowd basically said this morning on KOA that DLR wouldn’t be ready. So losing one of our top pitchers – especially one with such devastating strikeout ability – is going to make this series a bit rougher.

iSportacus: What should Phils fans be most scared of facing the Rockies?

Purple Row: We have a deep rotation. Even without DLR, we have 3 solid starters in Ubaldo Jimenez, Aaron Cook, and Jason Hammel, and we may have to rely on Jason Marquis and Jose Contreras to get us a solid outing between the two of them. In terms of the lineup, we have a very patient lineup. You aren’t going to catch many of our bats fishing for balls out of the zone. Hamels, Lee, Happ, and Blanton (if he goes) will have to bring their A game, because this team is an excellent mistake-ball punisher.

iSportacus: What is your prediction for how the series will turn out?

Purple Row: It’s going to be a very tough series for both teams. The Phillies are the better road team, but Colorado was a winning team on the road as well, and we have the best home field advantage in the playoffs. Colorado will take 1 from Philly in the CBP, and then sweep at home. Rockies in 4.