Major League Baseball

Rockies ace Jimenez grows from 2010 ups and downs

Published Feb. 25, 2011 8:42 p.m. ET

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For several months last year, Ubaldo Jimenez was unstoppable, at moments unhittable. By the time he took the mound as National League starter for the All-Star game, he had already gone 15-1 and people were pegging him for the NL Cy Young Award.

Jimenez no-hit the Braves on the road in his third start April 17.

Then, after that fantastic first half, the Rockies' ace right-hander went 2-5 over his next nine outings and even lost three straight during one stretch. That included a 2-1, complete-game defeat at NL West rival San Francisco on Sept. 1.

What had suddenly changed for Colorado's powerful pitcher with the good-natured smile and unchanging demeanor? Nothing, really. Some of it was just plain hard luck.

''That's what happens when you play a six-month season. It's a long season. You're going to have good times and you're going to have bad,'' Jimenez said after a recent workout at the Rockies' new facility at Salt River Fields. ''It was wonderful. I never expected to win like that last year. I was like dreaming, somebody had to pinch me because everything was going perfect, especially the first part of the season.''

The 27-year-old Jimenez looks back now and realizes he learned so much from last season.

He wound up at 19-8, just missing becoming the first 20-game winner in the Rockies' 18-year history. He tossed eight shutout innings in his last start, a 1-0 loss at St. Louis - one of Colorado's 13 defeats in its final 14 games.

Jimenez still established Rockies records: 19 wins, 214 strikeouts, a 2.88 ERA. The no-hitter was the first in franchise history, too.

Those 15 wins by the break made him the NL's first pitcher to do so by the midway point since Greg Maddux had 15 in 1988. In the majors, David Wells had been the last to reach 15 victories by the break for Toronto in 2000.

''It helped me a lot to come to spring training with a lot of confidence. I was able to find a way to survive after I had three, four, five, six bad outings,'' Jimenez said. ''It gave the me the confidence that it doesn't matter what happens, I have to find a way to keep working and get better every day.''

He will take the ball to start for the Rockies in their Cactus League opener Saturday against Arizona at the teams' beautiful new ballpark at Salt River Fields.

Jimenez has been a popular figure there already. Rockies fans sport purple ''Ubaldo is Beautiful'' T-shirts that the pitcher has stopped to sign. He has a new commercial for New Balance, too.

When Jimenez faced hitters Wednesday for the first time, Triple-A Colorado Springs hitting coach Rene Lachemann let him have it - good-naturedly, of course.

''Now we've got to get the Cy Young guy,'' Lachemann hollered from behind the cage. ''We're not afraid. Last year's last year.''

Manager Jim Tracy considers it a treat to have Jimenez at the top of his rotation, which allows everybody else to fall into place behind him. With Jimenez leading the pitching staff and young sluggers Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez heading into the year with hefty new megamillion deals, the Rockies consider themselves not only in the running for the NL West title but a World Series crown.

Tracy rarely saw a change in Jimenez last season during the highs and lows.

''First of all, his demeanor doesn't change a lot. The Chief is a workaholic and you recognize that fact,'' Tracy said. ''When you have someone who has that type of work ethic and as a result of that work ethic you get the kind of performance that we have gotten, it's best served to be there for him, be there to talk to him if there's something we want to address, but beyond that, just leave him alone. Let him do his thing.''

Jimenez's 2010 record was hurt by poor run support and shaky defense. He was 2-6 over his last 11 starts despite allowing three or fewer earned runs eight times and two or fewer five times.

You won't find him pointing any fingers. It's not in his nature.

''Last year helped me a lot. It gave me a lot of confidence to be a better pitcher every year,'' Jimenez said. ''As the years go by, I'm supposed to learn. I know what I want to be, but I think I'm getting better every day. I think I'm getting close but I'm not there yet.''

Jimenez is using this spring to keep working on his mental approach each time he takes the mound, while also studying hitters to get a better feel for their tendencies. He knows there will be plenty of expectations for him to match or even improve on his sensational breakout season.

No doubt others have taken notice of his dominance.

''The scary thing is when you have guys like Ubaldo Jimenez, who pair ridiculous talent with ridiculous ability - raw tools,'' said Oakland Athletics pitcher Dallas Braden, who pitched an improbable perfect game last May 9.

Rockies veteran Jason Giambi doesn't see a limit for this guy.

''Ubaldo, I think he can get better,'' Giambi said. ''Last year was really his first year where I would say there was big-time consistency for him. I know he would have liked to finish a little bit better, being that 20-game winner, which I think will happen this year. Now he's hit that benchmark and he'll catapult past that, and we'll start talking about him as Cy Young.''

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