Colorado Rockies protect seven players from Rule 5 draft

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Wednesday was the deadline for the Colorado Rockies and every other Major League team to add players to their 40 man roster and protect them from being exposed to the Rule 5 draft. Per the Denver Post, here are the seven player the Rockies added, bumping their total to 39 players on the 40-man:

• LHP Tyler Matzek
• RF Kyle Parker
• LHP Jayson Aquino
• LHP Kraig Sitton
• RHP Raul Fernandez
• INF Rosell Herrera
• OF Kent Matthes

Of that group Matzek and Parker are the big names, with Herrera and Matthews probably getting a little bit of attention as well. Patrick Saunders focused on Matzek in his write-up for the Denver Post, saying the following:

"Tyler Matzek’s baseball road has been mighty bumpy, but the Rockies are still hopeful that he’ll eventually produce as a big-league pitcher…“…Matzek, 23, was selected by Colorado in the first round (11th overall pick) of the 2009 draft out of Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, Calif. The 6-foot-3 lefty has struggled with mechanical issues and command. He’s been, at various times, a bright prospect and a disappointment.”"

Matzek’s name gets bandied about pretty freely in conversations about how the Rockies have failed when they spend high draft picks on pitchers (never ahead of Greg Reynolds, of course). Still, at age 23, there is plenty of time for him to develop into a big-time, first round kind of pitcher.

As for Parker, there have been murmurs that he might start spending time at first base in addition to right field. The Rockies need his bat first and foremost; he batted .278 with four home runs in this year’s Arizona Fall League (h/t Purple Row). But if he can become a viable first baseman while developing into the slugger that the Rockies envisioned when they nabbed him in the first round of the amateur draft, well, that would just be gravy, wouldn’t it?