Future Colorado Rockies: Grand Junction Rockies August 9 Update

Apr 10, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; General view of Colorado Rockies hats and gloves during the eighth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Coors Field. The Rockies defeated the Cubs 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Trending up (Todd Helton): That’s right, Todd Helton!

The Colorado Rockies honored him this past week in Grand Junction:

So good for him — and the Baby Rox! This is a good get for Grand Junction, and something that the kids in the stands (and probably the kids in the Rockies’ dugout – heyooo!) will never forget!

Trending down (Brendan Rodgers): This one deserves a bit of an asterisk — he’s not really trending down, per se, though the first round draft pick back in June hasn’t had a monster season in Grand Junction or anything.

Rather, it seems he’s dealing with some general fatigue issues and trying to figure out how to navigate that in his first season of pro baseball after a long high school career that included tons and tons of showcases, an unbelievable amount of pressure, and a daily grind that all led up to the draft.

This is pretty normal for a newcomer to pro baseball, especially from high school, where the daily grind is very different in the Pioneer League than it is for a high school team. Not too much to worry about here — but it is worthwhile to make a note of it, as we’ll all have to see how he does next year when he really begins his professional career in earnest.

Next: GJ Rockies Notes

Apr 21, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; General view of Coors Field during the first inning of the game between the San Diego Padres against the Colorado Rockies. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

One to watch (Scott Firth): Firth was just assigned to the GJ Rockies on Saturday as part of a rehab assignment; he’s missed the last month and a half after starting the year and throwing fairly well for the class-A Asheville Tourists in the South Atlantic League.

The relief pitcher — a 2013 19th round draft pick out of Clemson University — put up a 1.30 WHIP and 4.01 ERA with 20 strikeouts against 10 walks in 20 appearances (24.2 innings) this season before his injury.

He won’t be in Grand Junction long on the rehab assignment (though he dominated here at his season level in 2013), but considering his minor league career numbers, it might be worth it to watch Firth as he returns to the Tourists.

That Tourists club is good, and getting better — and he’ll have plenty of opportunities to pitch in games that  matter as Asheville finds themselves in the midst of a pennant race in their final month of the season.

Quick hits: Jensen Park is still leading the team amongst qualifying hitters, slashing .355/.373/.570 with six doubles, four triples, and three home runs in 26 games … Parker French has been the best starter of the bunch, going 2-2 with a 4.19 ERA in seven starts, holding opponents to just 1.05 baserunners per inning in his 34.1 innings of work … Hunter Brothers has now struck out 27 in 24.1 innings, to go along with a 2-1 record, a 4.05 ERA, and 2 saves … A second baseman with some pop, Jonathan Piron leads the GJ Rox in home runs with seven after hitting three in his last eight games to leap from first baseman Collin Ferguson, who has six of his own … Overall, the Rockies are 22-25, but they’ve started the second half slow at jus 2-7 with a five-game losing streak entering Sunday. They’ll need to turn it on in the second half, too, since they didn’t win the first half of their division, finishing in second place at 20-18.

Socials:
GJRockies.com
@GJRockies
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