Colorado Rockies: Memories of Key Players at Double-A Tulsa

Tim Wheeler

2011 for Tulsa: .287 average, 33 HR, 86 RBI in 138 games

Best game: May 26 at Midland, 3-for-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI

“I thought he would’ve gotten to the Majors. I thought he would’ve found similar success or even be a fourth outfielder for the Colorado Rockies but he just never got there. When he suffered that broken hamate bone, he never regained the power. He wasn’t a player who hit for high enough average so when the power was gone, that was tough. It really was a case of ‘what might have been.’

Chin-hui Tsao

2003 for Tulsa: 11-4, 2.46 ERA, 18 games (all starts)

2004 for Tulsa: 1-1, 2.77 ERA, 2 games (all starts)

Best game: April 3, 2003, vs. Frisco, 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER

“He came into the 2003 season hyped so much. He had a great season for the Drillers and then had a great debut for the Rockies. The sky seemed to be the limit for him. It’s amazing to think that today he has just five big league wins. It’s also amazing to think he’s still plugging away in Triple-A (with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in Oklahoma City) and that he’s still potentially an option for the Dodgers to call up.

“There are two things that really stand out to me about him. First, in Tulsa, he was a really good athlete who could also handle the bat pretty well. Second, he not only pitched in the very first game for the Rockies organization in Tulsa but also for the Dodgers organization when they debuted in Tulsa 12 years later. What are the odds of that?”

Next: The Top 5 Catchers in Colorado History

Note: Chin-hui Tsao went 0-1 for Tulsa with a 7.20 ERA in four games in 2015. He was also a more highly regarded prospect than Matt Holliday in 2003 and made history by being the first Driller to be called up by Colorado. He also became the first Taiwanese pitcher in MLB, going 3-3 for the Rockies in nine games in 2003.