Plenty of moving parts http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-cliff-pennington-jersey , but still no Opening Day starter"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Scaling the RocksPebble ReportRockpileRockies Game ThreadsRockies Fan ExperienceRockies make a flurry of roster moves as Spring Training winds downNew,40commentsPlenty of moving parts, but still no Opening Day starter Rockies make a flurry of roster moves as Spring Training winds downSCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Colorado Rockies announced a flurry of roster moves today as Spring Training begins to wind down. First, they traded outfielder Mike Tauchman to the Yankees for left-handed pitcher Phillip Diehl. Next, Bud Black announced that reliever Carlos Est茅vez and infielder Pat Valaika had both been optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque, and Brett Nicholas was sent to minor league camp in the likelihood that he will be released. More to come on Nicholas. On the flip side Anthony DeSclafani Jersey , reliever DJ Johnson, first baseman Mark Reynolds, and outfielder Raimel Tapia will all be on the the Opening Day 25-man roster. With all of these moves, that leaves two spots left to fill. The first one is for the final bullpen spot, which is winding down to Harrison Musgrave and Jeff Hoffman. Musgrave is likely to win the spot as a long reliever, and Hoffman is still in camp mostly as insurance in case of injury to a starter before Opening Day. The second spot is behind the plate, with Chris Iannetta Adam Duvall Jersey , Tony Wolters, and Tom Murphy all fighting for two spots. Iannetta and Wolters did the bulk of the catching last year and Murphy is out of minor league options and would have to clear waivers before he can be sent to Triple-A.Today marks the final home game for the Cactus League Rockies before they depart to Albuquerque on Monday and then on to Florida to play the Twins on Tuesday and open against the 2019 regular season against the Marlins Thursday. The Houston Astros won 21 of 27 games in the month of September, best in baseball.Houston's opponent in the ALDS, the Cleveland Indians, went 14-14 in the last month of the season.Historically, teams that enter the MLB Playoffs on a hot streak haven't performed better than those playing badly. The Houston Astros finished the regular season winning 21 of 27 games. The hot September run helped the defending champions win 103 games, a franchise record.The Astros head into the postseason trending in the right direction Michael Lorenzen Jersey , but Houston鈥檚 opponent in the ALDS can鈥檛 say the same. The Cleveland Indians are the only 2018 MLB playoff participant to not have a winning record in September.The Tribe played .500 baseball to close out the season.MLB Playoff Betting Tips: 4 Trends Bettors Need to KnowRead nowIf you believe in clich茅s, it鈥檚 not the best team that wins the World Series but the team that gets hot at the right time. Does a team鈥檚 performance in the final month of the season correlate to postseason success?Using a team record in September (plus any regular-season game played in October), we checked the hottest and coldest teams entering the playoffs since the wild card expanded to two teams in 2012. That gives us a sample of 60 teams and 214 playoff games.The 30 hottest teams entering the postseason had a combined record of 568-292 (.660) over the final month of the season. That is equivalent to this year Boston Red Sox, who won 108 games and are the favorites to win the World Series.On the other end of the spectrum, the 30 coldest teams slid into the postseason with a 451-418 (.519) record. How did the hot and cold teams perform in the postseason?The hot teams compiled a 109-114 (.489) record, a steep decline from the level of play at the end of the season. The cold teams fared better, going 105-100 (.512).Even looking at the 10 best and worst teams heading into the playoffs doesn change the outcome. The 10 teams with the best record won 72.4% of games in the last month of the season but managed just a 48.1% win rate in the postseason.The 10 worst teams had a 45.8% win rate ahead of the playoffs http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-cliff-pennington-jersey , but when October rolled around, their win rate jumped to 54.5%.Houston is playing its best baseball heading into October, and Cleveland looks destined for an early exit. But the way a team finishes the regular season doesn鈥檛 say much about its playoff chances.