Rockies Minors: The Lil’ Rox Week Two Report

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Ah, the minor leagues. The Rockies affiliates made news this week as Asheville debuted a waffle cone filled with chicken fingers and French fries and Jon Gray’s new strategy may just be to skip the first inning entirely. Yes, those are the two headlines from this week to remember, because minor league baseball is a dreamland of struggle and whimsy.

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Albuquerque Isotopes 4-3 this week, 9-6 overall

The big name in Albuquerque is and will continue to be top Rockies prospect Jon Gray. The former number three overall pick started once this week and once again struggled to get through the first inning. Laboring through his inability to miss bats, Gray gave up four runs in the first and a run in the second before settling in for three scoreless innings on a cap to his day. His command has improved, only one walk to six strikeouts and 57 strikes to 23 balls, but Gray’s struggles once again lay in bats catching up to his fastball. When he did get guys out, he got them out exactly how the Rockies want: on the ground or with no contact. The six strikeouts combined with eight ground outs and no fly ball outs is an encouraging sign, unfortunately the ten hits (including a three run home run to noted A-Rod replacement Cody Ransom) and overall inability to miss bats early is stressing. After the second, Gray settled in nicely and retired one Ace after the next which begged the question that maybe Gray should throw a simulated inning before the game to get dialed in quicker. Or at least limit some damage until he shows up all the way.

Outside of Gray, Tim Wheeler and the Isotopes offense had a big week. Wheeler went 10-for-25 this week including a two home run 5 RBI day against Tacoma on Tuesday. Wheeler’s big week pushed the Isotopes to some big run innings and games with wins of 11-2, 9-4, and 8-6.

Some other big news wasn’t by players in Albuquerque but by who’s about to join. Wilin Rosario was sent down earlier this week and as our own Troy Olsen wrote, there may not even be room for him. With the emphasis on Kyle Parker to be a first baseman, the Rockies have put him in a tough spot with Rosario set to be the everyday guy at first in AAA.

It seems no matter where Wilin is, he causes a log jam of issues. So someone has to start asking when (if ever) they’re going to trade a guy that seems to do nothing but get everyone confused.

New Britain Rock Cats 4-1 this week, 9-6 overall

A much better week for the Rock Cats who had big days from Trevor Story and Tommy Murphy and back-to-back great starts from America’s favorite Yohan, Yohan Flande.

Flande pitched 13 innings this week and kept opponents to a 1.50 ERA, allowing ten hits (eight in his first start, two in his second) and dropping one walk versus nine strikeouts. Flande was part of that 2014 Rockies rotation that people don’t like to talk about, but his last two starts in New Britain are encouraging to say the least. The 29-year-old isn’t going to win any Cy Youngs and he may never be effective in the majors, but continued success at AA is a start.

David Dahl, the Rockies number one prospect according to Baseball America, had a slow week. The recently turned 21-year-old was hitting near .300 before a 5-for-23 week dropped his average considerably. Dahl’s power hasn’t shown up in 2015 either, with only one home run and one double to his name in New Britain. No need to worry, a slow start in AA is really no indication of anything and Dahl will most likely get hot soon.

Modesto Nuts 3-4 this week, 6-9 overall

Modesto’s bats woke up this week with 13-1, 11-5, and 6-3 wins (along with an 11-8 loss) and were led by sweet swinging Raimel Tapia and OBP king Ryan McMahon.

Tapia’s 9-for-29 week isn’t insane but is par for the course for one of the best hitting prospects in the system. Tapia’s big night out was last Friday a 3-for-5 night where all three hits were doubles, knocking in five runs and scoring two of his own. The Nuts left fielder is showing all of the advertised tools early in Modesto and could find himself in Connecticut before season’s end.

McMahon meanwhile can’t stay off base. 13 of this 27 plate appearances this week ended with Ryan getting on base, that’s all but a .500 OBP or as we in the biz like to call it “video game numbers”. McMahon added a triple to his stat line on Sunday and continues to be a menace to every pitcher in the California League.

Antonio Senzatela had another magical start this week, pitching six shutout innings for his first winning decision of 2015. The 20-year-old righty lowered his ERA to 0.66 and over 13.2 innings has only allowed seven hits and two walks.

Asheville Tourists 1-6 this week, 6-8 overall

About as bad a team week as you could think of in North Carolina, at least on the field. The Tourists were swept by Hickory and dropped their opener to Greenville this week after splitting a double-header with that same Greenville team to start the weekend. Russell Wilson’s former team couldn’t find consistent play in any facet of the game this week and it showed.

18-year-old Kevin Padlo hasn’t quite found the swing at A ball, hitting .083 over the first two weeks, but his young age and high ceiling has a lot of people excited for when it hits. Padlo, the number 15 prospect in the system, hit .300 in Grand Junction last year and has the potential to be an everyday major league player if he can get his tools together. He hits for power well and has a decent ability in the field, it’s just on his development. With a few years to catch up to a lot of his counterparts in the minor league system, Padlo’s name might be one to listen for soon.

That’s the Lil’ Rox. May we now pray that Woody Paige and Les Shapiro never make a sports show about the Lil’ Rox.

Rockies Minors: The Lil’ Rox Week Two Report

With new and improved title!

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