Colorado Rockies: How the 2016 Draftees Fared Last Season

The spring training home of the Colorado Rockies — Mar 20, 2016; Salt River Pima-Maricopa, AZ, USA; General view of the game between the Colorado Rockies and the San Francisco Giants at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Will Haynie – C – Round 16 – Pick 470

Haynie is only one of two catchers drafted that signed with the Rockies in 2016. He is a force behind the plate at 6’ 5” 225 lbs. He batted .224 for the Crimson Tide but he did lead the team with 10 home runs. In Boise he did not hit a home run and hit well below average at .210 and a .596 OPS. Haynie was seemingly drafted for his size and pop. The next step will be improving upon his appearances beside, and not behind, the plate.

Mike Bunal – P – Round 17 – Pick 500

Bunal ranked in the Top 50 prospects of Seniors by Baseball America as he was the America East Conference Pitcher of the Year setting the strikeout record at 87 batters at Binghamton University. In his first year in pro ball with the Boise Hawks that translated to 30 innings pitched with a 4.80 ERA with a record of 0-2. Not good but not bad either though. The sample size is small. The Rockies are stacked with right handers but look for Bunal’s ability to get the K to help him stand apart from his peers.

Hunter Melton – 1B – Round 18 – Pick 530

The Rockies happen to be in desperate need of a true first baseman. This former Aggie was picked before Bosiokovic but only hit for a .238 average with the Grand Junction Rockies. Five home runs in 51 games shows promise of more power to come. What is most impressive about his game so far is his .993 fielding percentage compared to Bosiokovic’s .979 in fewer games. To be fair the difference isn’t tremendous but above average defense at the major league at first hasn’t been around since 2013.

Jacob Bosiokovic – 1B – Round 19 – Pick 560

Two first basemen were picked back to back with the 18^th and 19^th picks of the draft. Bosiokovic had a good sample size playing 68 games. His OPS of .799 shows promise. Although he’s not a pitcher he sat out of for two seasons after receiving Tommy John surgery. He was able to bounce back his final season in college hitting eleven home runs tied for fourth in the Big Ten. Sitting out in college has fueled the fire to get back and he has some pop even just hitting four homers in Short A ball. Here’s to hoping he resembles more of Todd Helton than just the exceptional goatee in the future. The potential is enticing.

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