Colorado Rockies: The top 25 players under 25 years old

12 Yency Almonte

My favorite pitching prospect in the Rockies system since he was acquired in the Tommy Kahnle trade, Almonte was added to the 40-man over the winter. He impressed many this spring in big league camp and some even though he was a dark horse to make the roster.

Almonte starts where he finished last year, in Triple-A. He has two separate short stints on the DL with shoulder injuries that limited him to 21 starts and 111.1 innings. Almonte began the year in Hartford, where he was younger than league average. He tossed a 2.00 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and 8.4 K/9 rate in 14 starts. He was promoted in July to Triple-A, where he was not as good in a very difficult pitching league. Still, Almonte was selected to the Arizona Fall League, where he worked as a reliever and struck out more than a batter an inning.

That last part is very important because he might be pushed to the bullpen as he’s currently somewhere around eighth on the club’s starting depth chart. His small shoulder troubles and arm slot may fit better in the bullpen but his value is obviously higher if he can work into the rotation.

Almonte will use a mid 90s fastball which has touched the upper 90s with good life with a power slider sitting in the 80s to work his way into somebody’s rotation at some point. He has some consistency issues and shoulder issues aren’t really that big of a deal as he’s been durable throughout his six-year, three-organization minor league career.

Almonte has a ferice personality and should be a fan favorite as well. He is likely to debut in 2018.