Colorado Rockies Rundown: Prospects, Playoffs, And More

Sep 23, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder A. McCutchen (22) (left) and Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder S. Marte (6) and outfielder K. Broxton (60) celebrate the win over the Colorado Rockies. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The Pirates party at Coors Field

(via Twitter)

The Pittsburgh Pirates had a little celebration at Coors Field when they defeated the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night:

Of course, the Pirates were celebrating the fact that for the third year in a row, they’d clinched a playoff berth. In fact, for the third year in a row, they clinched a playoff berth on September 23. So I guess you could say that’s a lucky day in Pittsburgh sports history.

[ Related: The argument for the Rockies to retain Walt Weiss in 2016 ]

The Rockies helped them out a bit:

For some reason, this took on a lot of controversy among Rockies fans and followers. Why? What’s wrong with being happy for a ball club that won a playoff berth at your stadium?

That doesn’t mean bending over backwards to make them look good at your own expense, but it also doesn’t mean ignoring a celebration like this and being… a jerk. I dunno. Am I wrong?

Besides, the Pirates held Andrew McCutchen at third base in the ninth inning when he could’ve easily scored their 14th run of the game, and then the Bucs had a very muted on-field celebration just with handshakes instead of the proverbial mob scene after clinching. They did it classy on the field, so the Rockies get to do it classy after the game. Makes sense to me.

Next: Baseball America ranks the minor leagues

Mar 14, 2014; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Colorado Rockies shortstop P. Janish (10) brings his broken belt to the dugout in the fourth inning. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Rockies prospects make another set of rankings

(via Baseball America)

The folks over at Baseball America are evaluating all the prospects from every minor league as 2015 has come to an end, and they are going league by league — beginning with the rookie leagues — to put up a top-20 prospect list.

In the rookie league lists, the Pioneer League has four guys from the Grand Junction Rockies listed in the top 20: Javier Medina (20), Tyler Nevin (10), Peter Lambert (5), and Brendan Rodgers (1).

[ Related: 2015 Albuquerque Isotopes Top Prospect Trevor Story ]

Obviously, as BA continues to update their prospect lists, we’ll update you on the Northwest League, South Atlantic League, and everywhere else that the Rockies have minor league affiliates.

We are also in the middle of our own end-of-year minor league recaps and player awards, so if you like that kind of stuff, you should stick around on this site for the next couple of weeks…

Next: The Rockies' plan with Tom Murphy

Sep 23, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies catcher T. Murphy (30) singles on a bunt in the fourth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

What to do with Tom Murphy?

(via Purple Row)

Purple row has a nice piece up about Tom Murphy, and what the Colorado Rockies’ plans may be for the catcher next year.

Starting with this:

The Rockies, on the other hand, are in a very different place right now. Rather than being focused on wins and losses, they are primarily focused on individual performances right now as prospects from their deep and talented farm system begin to trickle into their Major League team. Tom Murphy is one of those prospects! He hit his third home run of the season Wednesday night and in his extraordinarily limited sample size — just 21 plate appearances — he has put up an impressive .300/.333/.750 slash line and has looked solid defensively behind the plate, leaving the Rockies with three different options to maximize his value as we head into the 2016 season.

…the piece then goes into three options the Rockies have for Murphy (have him in the big leagues from day one, promote him about two months into the season, or wait until later in 2016 to have him called up).

[ Related: 2015 Albuquerque Isotopes Season In Review ]

Service time concerns aside (which would be why you promote him two months into the season), I like having Murphy up as the backup catcher from day one in 2016, assuming he does well enough this winter and during Spring Training.

Let him learn behind a good, capable veteran in Nick Hundley, so that when 2017 rolls around, Murphy is ready to roll as the Rockies’ starting catcher.

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