They’re thin on MVP winners in their history. Even lighter on Cy Young candidates.They wouldn’t mind a little altitude adjustment when it comes to conventional thinking at Coors Field. As it stands http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-b.j.-upton-jersey , sometimes they feel like hitters get penalized for hitting at higher elevation half the time and the pitchers don’t get rewarded highly enough.It’s a scale that doesn’t seem balanced.“Hopefully, that will start to go away a little bit more,” Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday said. “Because there are lots of good hitting parks around the league. For people to just single out Coors Field and write it off is unfair.”The Rockies have had 11 batting champions in their past and one MVP winner — Larry Walker in 1997. They’ve had one pitcher finish in the top-three in the NL Cy Young race, Ubaldo Jimenez in 2010.Part of the reason may be this: “It’s a challenge to evaluate the numbers in Denver,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler explained.And that’s the mile-high rub for a field situated at 5,200 feet and viewed as a hitter-friendly venue.Take, for instance, last season, when Charlie Blackmon won the NL batting title with a .331 average and set an MLB record with 102 RBIs from the leadoff spot. He finished fifth in the award earned by Giancarlo Stanton, who had 59 homers.This season, it will be hard to upstage Christian Yelich after the Milwaukee Brewers outfielder won the NL batting title (.326) http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-b.j.-upton-jersey , drove in 110 runs and hit 36 homers. Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado had quite a season with an NL-leading 38 homers, while Trevor Story became the first major league shortstop to ever finish with at least 40 doubles, 30 homers and 25 stolen bases. They figure to at least be in the running for the MVP.In Colorado’s history, dating to 1993, only five times has a player finished in the top-three in MVP voting. The last was Holliday in 2007, when he hit .340 with 36 homers and 137 RBIs. Holliday was edged out by Jimmy Rollins of Philadelphia.“For me, it shouldn’t matter — a guy’s got to go out and perform no matter where he’s at,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “It’s not his fault where he plays. It shouldn’t matter what field you play on, or if your home field is Coors Field. A lot of good players have played here and went elsewhere and did well.“If an MVP comes out of here, more power to them.”As for how much power is generated inside Coors Field? That remains a lively debate. The team installed a humidor room in 2002 to control the moisture level in baseballs, which helps keep them from becoming dried out and more hitter-friendly in Denver’s thin air.For all their power and pop through the years Danny Salazar Jersey , the Rockies have never led the majors as a team in homers (although they’ve led the NL several times). And maybe because of the spacious gaps in the outfielder, they’ve had six batting champions in the last 12 seasons.“To knock a guy just because he plays in a little bit thinner of air, I don’t believe is right,” Rockies left-hander and Denver native Kyle Freeland said. “In my eyes, I’d love to see everything be an even playing field through and through, no matter what park you’re playing at.”Or if it punishes hitters, reward pitchers accordingly.“I think context is always important,” Kapler said. “But I don’t think that there should be anybody eliminated from a postseason award based on where they play. I don’t think that’s fair or reasonable.”Freeland finished with a 2.40 ERA at Coors Field — the best mark ever by a Colorado starting pitcher. He could be in the mix for the Cy Young, which figures to go to New York Mets standout Jacob deGrom after posting a 1.70 ERA.Only Jimenez and Marvin Freeman (fourth, 1994) have finished in the top five for Colorado.“That’s kind of been what a lot of people have been saying this year, that if you’re going to be docking hitters http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-b.j.-upton-jersey , why aren’t pitchers being elevated?” Freeland said. “I don’t know if it’s because throughout the course of the Rockies history, we’ve had more dominant hitters than dominant pitching? I believe with this young core of pitching we have, we’re starting to turn that page, and have people recognize that just because it’s Coors Field, doesn’t mean anything.” LAS VEGAS (AP) — Naturally, Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash was the opening manager to speak at the winter meetings.Cash said Monday the Rays will stick with their revolutionary practice of using an “opener” next season.The Rays deviated from baseball tradition this year, regularly using a relief pitcher to begin games rather than a traditional starting pitcher. Tampa Bay went 46-38 with usual starters and 44-34 when utilizing the bullpen.“I think right now we’re discussing internally whether we do it two times through the rotation or three times through the rotation,” Cash said Monday at the winter meetings. “But the nice thing is we’ve got all that information last year and we have a bunch of candidates that we can fill in as a traditional starter if need be. Yonny Chirinos, Yarbs (Ryan Yarbrough), Wilmer Font, Jalen Beeks.”Tampa Bay’s innovation was copied by Oakland Edwin Encarnacion Jersey , which started reliever Liam Hendriks in the AL wild-card game against the New York Yankees, and Milwaukee. Brewers manager Craig Counsell used left-hander Wade Miley for just one batter in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, then brought in right-hander Brandon Woodruff. While Cash let opposing managers know when he was using an opener and would have a quick hook, Counsell sprung his move as a surprise.“Yes, it can definitely make it difficult. But I personally don’t see anything wrong with that,” Cash said. “Each manager, each club, each organization, they’re trying to get the best out of their roster. If they feel that’s the best way to do it, the opposition, you’ve kind of got to deal with it. It’s going to happen to us. We did it with other clubs http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-b.j.-upton-jersey , not that quickly, but playoff baseball you see different things.”Tampa Bay originally planned a limited use of “openers,” but was forced to expand their use.“I personally was not skeptical at all when we were discussing doing it one time through the rotation, potentially twice,” Cash said. “Then with the injuries when it got to three and four times, I don’t know if skeptical is the right word, it’s more concerning — like how are we going to keep guys fresh? How are we going to manage workloads in a long series? But we learned a lot through it. Now ultimately the players give you the buy-in. And we had success with it. They embraced it, enjoyed it and it’s a big credit to them.”