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Lil’ Rox: The Weekly Rockies Minors Update: Week One

By Connor Farrell

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4/9-4/16

In an up and down week for the Rockies minor league system, we watched high-profile hitting prospects get off to hot starts, we watched Jon Gray struggle with his command, and then we watched Roger Bernadina do…whatever Roger Bernadina does. All four levels kicked off last Thursday and we survived snow outs, walk offs, and legitimately terrifying mascots to bring you this, the Lil’ Rox Weekly Report: Edition 1.

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Albuquerque Isotopes (AAA) 5-3 this week, 5-3 overall

In the highest circuit of the farm, the Isotopes had some celebrating to do. After a 1-2 start to the season, the squad won four straight including back-to-back walk off home runs and a late inning dramatic win last night. A 3-1 loss to Tacoma yesterday afternoon was placed squarely on the shoulders of Ramon Castro who gave up two runs in the eleventh inning of a 1-1 tie.

Jorge De La Rosa made two rehab starts for Albuquerque during the week, his last on Tuesday. In both starts, Jorge hung around the strike zone challenging hitters and of the 133 pitches he threw in Albuquerque, 87 were strikes. The biggest takeaway from DLR’s starts with the Isotopes, beyond his command, is his ability to keep the ball on the ground. 14 combined ground outs vs. three combined fly outs shows Jorge may be back to form in his tremendous ability to keep balls down and in the yard in Coors Field.

Beyond De La Rosa, top Rockies prospect Jon Gray pitched in two games this past week. Gray struggled to locate his pitches in both starts, especially his breaking pitches. His still developing change-up couldn’t hit enough of the zone to be considered a viable pitch at this point and even when he could hit the zone, Gray had a tough time missing bats consistently with his pitches. No need to panic on Gray, as Purple Row pointed out earlier Gray struggled early in the season last year before finding his groove. As he works to develop that change-up and locate his slider consistently, there may be nights where walks and runs happen. It’s not an indictment of his future or a glimpse into a major league bust.

New Britain Rock Cats (AA) 3-5 this week, 3-5 overall

The Rock Cats struggles are all but directly related to the team’s lack of prize pitching, so the record may not ever be good and the team may struggle to win games consecutively all year.

The Rock Cats boast one of the more potentially potent lineups in the system however, with David Dahl, Trevor Story, and Tommy Murphy all lining up every day for the squad. Those three along with developing bats in Tyler Massey, Mike Tauchman, and Pat Valaika should produce a few games where the bases get tired of people standing on them all night.

As a highlight, Story’s first week has been an absolute dream; the Rock Cat shortstop has opened with a .414/.514/.724 line, with a grand slam on Monday to catapult the team to a 14-4 win over Portland.

Dahl and Murphy certainly haven’t had the week Story has had, but the two have still shown flashes of dominance at the plate. Murphy especially, whose power continues to develop rapidly, three home runs and five doubles highlighted the catcher’s week.

Modesto Nuts (High A) 3-5 this week, 3-5 overall

Modesto was inconsistent all week; never putting together consecutive complete performances, scoring runs in bunches one game only to have the bats disappear the next day. With Dahl in AA, the outfield isn’t as exciting as initially hoped for the Nuts but Raimel Tapia and newly moved center fielder Rosell Herrera still pair well with big bat Ryan McMahon and steadily developing Jordan Patterson.

Tapia and McMahon had the best first weeks in California as the two anchored the inconsistent Nuts offense. After 102 RBI last year in Asheville, McMahon has five in the first week in Modesto. Looking to continue to develop his power swing and get more pop on the ball, McMahon had three doubles, one home run and a triple through the first eight games.

As the primary lead off weapon, Tapia has been increasingly aggressive at the plate. Through 33 at-bats Raimel drew zero walks leading his OBP to actually be lower (.324) than his batting average (.333) which, if that broke your mind, don’t worry I’ve had to google how that happens once every season for the last ten years.

Pitcher Konner Wade has been decent in his first two starts in Modesto, allowing a 3.00 ERA with 9 Ks and only two walks through both starts. Wade was overshadowed however by number 12 prospect and Modesto’s best pitcher, Antonio Senzatela. Senzatela didn’t win either of his first two starts but it wasn’t exactly his fault. The righty had a 1.17 ERA with six strikeouts and two walks. Through 7 and 2/3 innings, Senzatela has allowed only five hits and has shown glimpses of future big league stuff.

Asheville Tourists (A) 5-2 this week, 5-2 overall

Finally, we get to Wes Rogers gushing time. The outfield prospect barely cracks the Top 30 list in the system but his play this first week could see him making moves on that list if he keeps it up. Rogers posted a .385/.500/.577 slash lin from the lead-off spot, with a home run and a pair of RBI. On top of all that, speed kills. Ten stolen bases for Rogers in his first week and he was only caught once. If Rogers is on, he’s running and it’s worked extremely well for Asheville.

What Russell Wilson was before becoming a Super Bowl champion quarterback, Wes Rogers is nowa: a speed demon. He isn’t having any problems getting on base this first week, and if he keeps that up keep an eye on Wes. He also has one of the top five smiles in the org, pearly white dreamscape in that mouth.

Beyond Rogers, top Asheville prospect Forrest Wall has struggled to get his bat going so far. Not to worry, it’ll get hot and when it does the world will watch (I consider myself the world). The number six prospect in the system according to MLB.com, Wall was the number 35 overall pick last season, and he could see himself very quickly jumping rank in the system. Not even 20 years old yet, Wall is hitting .273 in North Carolina but has shown glimpses of power and the bat speed that scouts raved about before last year’s draft.

With Wall and Rogers, the Tourists should at least be exciting for the summer to come.

The Lil’ Rox will be fun this season, a top 10 farm system ranking is never an accident, but just how fun may be up to guys other than Jon Gray who could see the bigs by next month. Pitchers like Senzatela and (eventually) Kyle Freeland will highlight the summer but don’t forget Wes Rogers and his smile. When Wes gets called up and you see him in Denver and he smiles big, you can thank me for telling you about him and you can impress your friends about how you heard about his smile a few years ago.

It’s a good smile.

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