Future Colorado Rockies: Albuquerque Isotopes August 4 Update

The Colorado Rockies’ top minor league affiliate in Albuquerque got a little bit of big league talent and an exciting new prospect in the past week. 

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The Albuquerque Isotopes lost a prospect on the mound — Jon Gray goes to Denver to pitch for the Colorado Rockies — but they returned Wilin Rosario, who won Pacific Coast League Player of the Week after killing the ball for five days upon his demotion. (We’ll have more on that in another slide or two.)

Let’s jump in on the ‘Topes…

The last week (2-7): The Isotopes had a difficult week; the 7 of 9 losses go back into the previous week when the ‘Topes lost both ends of a doubleheader to Sacramento, too. The ‘Topes allowed 69 runs in their last nine games, and there’s not much of a break coming up any time soon.

The club, entering play Tuesday night, will play through Sunday, get their only August off day on Monday the 10th, and then play every single day the rest of the month with no break, including a week long road trip to Memphis and Nashville beginning August 15.

Overall, the Topes are limping to the finish line a little bit, sitting at 48-62, thirteen games back of the PCL Southern division leader Las Vegas and a measly 3-7 in their last ten while on a current five game losing streak entering play Tuesday night.

Talk about the dog days of August! Welcome to minor league baseball. OK, let’s go over some ‘Topes news and notes…

Next: Trending Up And Down For ABQ

Jul 26, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; A general view during the fifth inning between the Colorado Rockies and the Cincinnati Reds at Coors Field. The Rockies won 17-7. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Trending up (Wilin Rosario): The recently demoted Rockie came on like gangbusters this week, and actually won the Pacific Coast League Player of the Week. In the last four games, Rosario is now 12-for-19 with five runs, seven RBIs and four home runs.

Of the seven outs he’s made, he has struck out in six of them, but a 12-for-19 outing in four games is a pretty solid way to make your presence felt in AAA. All told, in two stints in Albuquerque this year spanning 13 games, Rosario is now .444/.455/.833 with nine doubles and four home runs in 54 at-bats.

The only downside? Fifteen strikeouts against just one walk. Nevertheless, you’d have to believe he’d come back to Denver very soon, if not for the fact that there just doesn’t appear to be much of a position for him with Ben Paulsen having asserted himself as the first baseman.

Expect the Rockies to trade Rosario this winter… right?

Trending down (Roger Bernadina): This is an interesting one — I’ve written very positively about Bernadina and his role with the Isotopes before. Of course, the second I write about him, he hits the skids, and his last few weeks have been tough, bringing his numbers down as a whole.

Over his last ten games, Bernadina is just 6-for-31 (.194). On the plus side, he’s walked five times, still managed to hit two homers, and he’s scored seven runs, but his year-to-date slash line is now .252/.367/.453. A hot August would go a long way to earning him a big league Spring Training invite somewhere next season.

Next: Isotopes Notes