Colorado Rockies: The top 25 players under 25 years old

Last season, Drew Creasman, my former colleague at BSN Denver, and I started a 25 Colorado Rockies players under 25-years-old list. You can view last year’s list here and please check out Drew’s work because he is a very good follow for Rockies information.

This list was released today in conjunction with Minor League Opening Day. Happy Opening Day!

This list is not a clear prospect list, meaning it operates differently than others, so here are the parameters:

1. The list was created entirely by me and my sources, with some input from Creasman and other media members.
2. While giving credit for overall (or trade) value, there is a priority put on an ability to help the MLB club win immediately.
3. In accordance with this, there is also a priority on players with fewer question marks but potentially lower ceilings.
4. Statistics were considered with a skew towards level and information regarding such  statistics with scouting reports in addition to some field reporting being added into the equation.
5. The player must be 25 or younger on Opening Day 2018.

Honorable Mentions

The Rockies have a very young core. Jon Gray and Nolan Arenado just graduated from this list but there are still many players already in the Majors or Major League-ready on this list. That means many good quality prospects who will impact the organization in the coming years.

These are the players that just missed the list and a small piece of information about them (listed alphabetically):

Colorado Rockies

Willie Abreu: Left-handed 23-year-old right fielder with a big 6-foot-4, 225-pound frame. He will start this season with High-A Lancaster. Last season, he slashed .283/.321/.463 with 14 home runs and 78 RBI at Single-A Asheville. The 2016 sixth-round pick from the University of Miami is someone to watch on the farm in 2018.

Ben Bowden: The 2016 second round pick from Vanderbilt was near MLB-ready when drafted from Vanderbilt. The big lefty could be a very good big league reliever if he gets healthy. He missed the entire 2017 season and it’s currently unclear where he stands within the organization.

Omar Carrizales: The center fielder’s first full season at Double-A Hartford was not terrific or horrible. He was very impressive in 2016 at High-A Modesto. He has played in the Venezuelan Winter League the past two seasons and this could be his make-or-break season with the Rockies as he’s Rule Five eligible after the season.

Parker French: He just turned 25 and he is headed back to Hartford for the second straight season. The left-handed throwing French never had an ERA over 3.72 at any level in the minors. That was until last year where he was 8-11 with a 6.37 ERA and a strikeout rate and walk rate that went in the wrong direction. There is still hope for him and his repeat year may go way better, which could push the Longhorn through the system quickly.

Josh Fuentes: The 25-year-old corner infielder is the forgotten part of the Arenado family. In two straight seasons, the right-handed hitting California native has hit .307 as he rose to High-A in 2016 and spent all of 2017 in Double-A. Smacking 15 homers and 72 RBI, Fuentes had a very impressive year which he parlayed to nearly 200 at-bats in the Mexican Winter League. He starts the year in Triple-A Albuquerque but is unlikely to make the Majors this season.

David Hill: The fourth-round pick in 2015 draft out of Cal State Long Beach did not pitch in 2017. His last playing time came with the Tourists in 2016 where he was pretty solid in 14 starts. If he gets healthy, the 23-year-old is someone to watch.

Mike Nikorak: Rox Pile wrote about him earlier this week. The 27th pick in 2015 draft is only 21 years old and has a ton of high-end potential. He has yet to get out of rookie ball and is currently recovering from Tommy John.

Wes Rogers: The 24-year-old right-handed outfielder is a speed demon. Stealing 70 bases for the High-A playoff-bound Lancaster JetHawks, he also slashed .319/.377/.488 with 82 RBI. He could make the big leagues this year just based on speed but he’ll work on his game this year starting in Double-A.

Chad Spanberger: The big Razorback who played first base for Rookie-level Grand Junction last year. He OPS’d .985 with 19 homers and 51 RBI in 60 games. He’s a long ways away but it looks like he can hit.

Robert Tyler: Another pitcher with a lot of potential, who did not throw in 2017. The 2016 first-round pick out of Georgia disappointed in his first five pro outings at High-A before being shut down. Tyler will start 2018 at Single-A Asheville.

Forrest Wall: For the third straight year, the 2014 first round pick will start at High-A. It looked like the now 22-year-old second baseman turned outfielder had finally figured it out. He suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. He was once a top 100 prospect in the game and grew up in Florida playing middle infield with Rockies top prospect Brendan Rodgers. This is a huge year for Wall and, if he gets right, the Rockies farm system may have its next top prospect.

24 Garrett Hampson

The 2016 third-round pick from Cal State Long Beach has had two good seasons in the low minors. Last year for the playoff-bound Lancaster JetHawks, he not only stole 51 bases, he slashed .326/.387/.462 with 70 RBI while bouncing between shortstop and second base,

Hampson, like Wes Rogers, starts at Double-A and could quickly advance through the system to reach the majors this year based on his speed. Unlike Rogers, Hampson has a a lot more potential.

Hampson has a weird rep because he certainly is a speed guy and his offensive numbers have been good thus far … but I still haven’t mentioned the best part of his game. He was drafted because of his defensive ability. In fact, Baseball America named Hampson the system’s top defensive infielder.

Hampson is has a really good shot to be one of the big club’s utility infielders in 2019. The only thing left for him to do is take his low minors production to the high minors.

23 Tyler Nevin

The Rockies’ 2015 first-round pick out of Poway, Calif., the 6-4, 200-pound right-handed-hitting Nevin has a former MLB All-Star for a father (Phil Nevin). Tyler is no slouch himself. Unlike his Dad who won the Golden Spikes Award while at Cal State Fullerton, Tyler skipped college. He succeeded in his first pro season at Grand Junction and was bumped to Asheville last year.

Between those two acts though, he missed all but one game of the 2016 season with a hamstring injury. He missed some time with a bum hand/wrist to start 2017 as well yet when the corner infielder cameback he slashed .305/.364/.456 with 28 XBH and 47 RBI in 76 games.

The 20-year-old will start this season at High-A Lancaster and is being pushed to first base, which means he really is going to have to hit, which he can do.

He’s bigger and and more athletic than his father but he has a lot of time left in the minors. However, this may just be the first baseman of the Rockies far future.

22 Brian Mundell

If Nevin is the first baseman of the far future, Mundell may be a first baseman who impacts the club in the near future. Mundell doesn’t have anywhere near the power of Nevin and probably can’t start everyday in the majors at any point because of it. Yet Mundell is still a good hitter who split last season between Lancaster and Hartford.

Mindell slashed .300/.385/.472 with 15 home runs and 78 RBI between the two levels. He had a solid showing in the Arizona Fall League as well and will start right back in Hartford.

Mundell is lining up to be the classic Quad-A player with pop. He’s good depth for the Rockies and rates higher than some of the other players on or off this list because he can impact the big league club positively as soon as this season.

21 Colton Welker

The 20-year-old third baseman, Welker has put up two massive seasons in the low minors already. He is set to start at High-A Lancaster after a silly slashline of .365/.409/.532 over his first 242 plate appearances of the season for the Tourists. An abdominal strain kept him out for some time and his final 37 plate appearances weren’t as special.

Granted, the SALLY league is very hitter-friendly but he had 25 XBH in total of 67 games at a level where he was 2.5 years younger than the average.

The fourth-round pick from Stoneman-Douglas HS in Parkland, Fla., needs a lot more time to develop before he reaches the Majors. This season, Welker may reach the high minors (Double-A) and that’s a big step.

Welker profiles as future starting third baseman in the bigs. You just can’t call him the future third baseman of the Rockies given who is in front of him. Right now, MLB.com says Welker is the 8th best third base prospect in baseball and writes,

“With his advanced pitch-recognition skills and feel for the barrel, Welker rarely gets fooled and consistently makes hard contact. Once he adds some needed strength, the bat speed and leverage in his right-handed stroke could generate 20-homer power. He’s a below-average runner with decent instincts on the bases. Multiple Rockies officials have noted that Welker reminds them of a young Nolan Arenado because they have similar builds and put up similar numbers in their first two years of pro ball. While Arenado has made himself into an elite defender at third base, Welker still is learning the position after playing shortstop in high school. He has the hands and arm strength to be an asset defensively.”

Welker is a hard-swinging good hitter with a developing ability on defense. If this was a prospect list, he’d certainly be in the top 10.

20 Dom Nunez

On one hand, Nunez hung around the Mendoza line last year for the second time in his pro career then followed it up by going 4-for-44 in the Arizona Fall League. Nunez has fallen off many Rockies top prospect lists. He is already Rule Five eligible.

On the other hand, Nunez is a switch-hitting catcher who was the everyday starter at Double-A at age 22, which is 2.3 years younger than the norm in the Eastern League.

His good offensive years feel so long ago and the Rockies catcher of the future seems like a title that comes with the guarantee of bust upon attachment.

Reports love his arm behind the dish — he gunned down 34 percent of runners last year — his blocking ability — cutting down on passed balls big time — and the way he commands a staff.  Baseball Prospectus put it well, “I wouldn’t be shocked if Nunez only sees a cup of coffee as a third catcher or if he has a 15-year career.”

The offense may have dried up for now but that might not always be the case, what seems to be forever though is unez ability to be a backstop and that can get a pospect  to the big leagues.

19 Zach Jemiola

Jemiola was placed on the 40-man roster this offseason, which automatically accelerates where a player gets placed on the list. That’s because teams generally utilize their entire 40-man roster over the course of the season. Given that and the fact that Jemiola has already started 15 games in Triple-A, the math simply adds to you will probably see Jemiola in 2018.

Jemiola’s regular-season numbers the past two years have been just okay but the 24-year-old (on Friday) ninth-rounder from Temecula, Calif., has done admirably in the Arizona Fall League each of the past two years.

He’s not really on any prospect lists and nobody talks about Jemiola … but he can pitch and he will reach the majors. It may only be a brief time period where Jemiola is a major league pitcher but I think he can parlay a very good changeup into a solid career as a reliever.

As of now he’s unassigned in the Rockies system and it’s unclear how his 2018 season will shake out, including if Colorado choses now to convert him to a reliever.

18 Riley Pint

The fourth overall pick in 2016 MLB draft, the 6-foot-4 flame-throwing Pint struggled in his first full season of pro ball. In fact, even after his 22 starts at Single-A Asheville, he starts this year as a repeat one as his 102 MPH fastball is right back with the Tourists.

Pint went 2-11 in 22 starts with a 5.42 ERA. He walked 59 and struck out 79 in his 93 innings of work in 2017. This may be the most silver-lining take on Pint but he was three years younger than the average in an extremely hitter-friendly league. Plus Pint rather famously is not used to throwing that much in season as Jeff Passan chronicled Pint in his book about youngsters who are two sport starts. While this might keep Pint from injury in the future, it’s almost a given that he was not used to throwing nearly 100 innings of pro ball in a season.

Now it wasn’t a success and if it was he would be starting in Lancaster but it was not the disaster that some have made it out to be.

Pint is still in the top 100 of every major baseball prospect list and almost everyone has him as the Rockies’ peak pitching prospect.

Basically every part of Pint is being changed besides his fastball … his arsenal, mechanics and more. This is being done while he has a leash on him so that explains the numbers if you still needed an explanation.

Pint could be an ace. He could be the best pitcher in the game some day. He also could be a player who never reaches the Majors. He has no command at times and that will be what separates if he can or can’t reach his potential. First, Pint needs to repeat his delivery and the command should follow. However, if you trust the raw stuff, Pint is imposing. He is also a long way from the Majors.

17 Jordan Patterson

A forgotten-about Rockies prospect who has been on the 40-man roster since 2016, Patterson is MLB-ready today. The left-handed hitting first baseman/right fielder has amassed 1,037 plate appearances over two years with a .288/.361/.512 slashline with 40 homers and 153 RBI. He’s proven he’s ready for MLB pitching but he also hasn’t really blown away Triple-A, especially considering what’s above him in the Big Leagues and factoring in David Dahl and Raimel Tapia, who are more highly regarded prospects ahead of him at the same level.

Patterson played in 10 MLB games in 2016 and was called up for one game in 2017. He did not play. What did happen was a conversation with manager Bud Black. To that point — about six weeks into the 2017 season — Patterson had slumped at Triple-A and was called up due to injury. After his talk with Black, he heated up for the ‘Topes. He rather surprisingly never got called up in September and starts this season right back in New Mexico.

He’s a good left-handed hitter with position flexibility. He profiles well as utility player and, in most organizations, he would probably already be that. For the Rockies, he’s stuck in a logjam and is just waiting for his opportunity, which will be tough to come by considering the Rockies only carry 12 position players. Their first baseman of the future, Ryan McMahon, jumped over Patterson last year and the Rockies have about a zillion left-handed outfielders.

Check out some of his highlights by clicking here.

16 Peter Lambert

Last year, the leash came off of Lambert at Lancaster and he did not take many Ls. Nearly throwing 150 innings, the 2015 second-round pick had a 9-8 record with a 4.17 ERA in the California League. The 20-year-old’s ERA actually went up last year but so too did his SO/9 sitting at 8.3 and his BB/9 dropped below 2. He did this all while being more than three years younger than the league average at one of the world’s worst pitcher’s parks.

Lambert begins 2018 at Double-A Hartford as he attempts to make the jump to the high minors at a very young age. In fact, it’s likely that Lambert spends all of this season at Hartford no matter what happens (unless he throws a no-hitter every time out, which I guess is technically possible.)

Keith Law of ESPN pushed Lambert to the third overall prospect in the Rockies system and No. 63 across baseball. I’m not quite as high as Law but I understand why Law is that high and I could be convinced.

Lambert is an extremely polished pitcher for his age. He has a clean delivery and great command. A mid-90s fastball and a great curveball will push Lambert to the show at some point. It’s matter of when and how good not if with Lambert.

15 Ryan Castellani

A second-round pick who hurls from the right side who spent his age 21 season at Double-A despite being three years younger than the league. Wait, we just wrote about Lambert. OK, so Lambert and Castellani are on the same track and Castellani is just a year older.

Last year the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder, started 27 games to the tune of a 4.89 ERA in 157.1 innings. Castellani put together the same BB/9 (2.7) and K/9 (7.6) rates as he did in 2016 at High-A. He had a 3.99 FIP, which means he may have run into some bad luck.

He will start at Double-A in 2018 albeit could very much earn a mid-season promotion. His mid-90s fastball, polished mechanics and youth could very well have him as big league starter before age 23. More likely, he needs to work on consistency and him and Lambert get lumped together in the same prospect group, which is by no means a bad thing. Castellani and Lambert are two young arms that would be the talk of the town if the other young arms weren’t on this list.

14 Tony Wolters

The first current big leaguer on the list and the Rockies’ backup catcher, the left-handed hitting middle infielder-turned-backstop turns 26 in June so he just makes this list.

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He was the Rockies starting catcher in 2016 but had a rough time coming back after an early season head injury. The signing of Chris Iannetta shows the Rockies still have faith in Wolters because Iannetta is somebody who needs his backup to play at least 70 games a year.

I do not need to explain who Wolters is because he’s already played 155 games at the big league level … but I do need to tell you not to give up on him. He’s very young with very little experience as a signal-caller and he has shown a ton of potential in that area. He needs to learn how to read swing paths better and, in general, how to call a game on the fly. But his bat has been good at times and he has already shown he capable of handling a big league staff.

You can check out a montage of his highlights by clicking here.

13 Sam Howard

Added to the 40-man roster this winter and starting at Triple-A, Howard is MLB depth already. He has more potential than Jemiola but less than some of the arms to follow. Either way, the 25-year-old is pretty solid.

The 2014 third-round pick from Georgia Southern spent the last half of 2016 and the first half of 2017 at Hartford. He jumped to Triple-A midseason and, overall, his 2017 between the two levels amounted to a 5-8 record with a 3.32 ERA in 127.1 innings. He needs to work on a walk rate that ballooned on him from 1.9 per nine to 3.7 per nine after jumping levels.

The left-handed throwing and right-handed hitting Howard could be a spot starter this year if injuries take their toll to an extreme. The good news is that the Rockies have the depth where a young starter like Howard would not have his development stunted by such a situaion. He’s a well-polished lefty that most franchises would kill to say is their 10th option on the depth chart.

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.

11 Carlos Estevez

The “Wild Thing” had one of the strangest seasons out of anyone in the Rockies organization. Not only did he throw 67 innings as a reliever (which is a whole lot), he did so split exactly between Triple-A and MLB. Plus Estevez got in a literal fight with the Rockies pitching coaches over his mechanics … that he won. Oh yeah, and this all came a season after he was a 23-year-old big league closer.

Estevez is good and right now the only reason the 100-mph-wielding righty isn’t on the roster is because he’s on the DL with a left oblique strain.

He had a 1.34 ERA  with more than a strikeout per inning in his 33 games for the ‘Topes, meaning he’s succeeded that level already and is ready for the bigs. Unfortunately for him, the Rockies have a really good bullpen with many veterans who are not moving. Fortunately for him, once he does make the MLB roster for good, Estevez will be able to develop is great arnsal in lower stress situations unlike his first stint in the majors in 2016.

His personality is as good as his fastball and the Dominican will be a huge asset for the Rockies moving forward.

10 Pat Valakia

The right-handed hitting utility man is 25-years-old and is a winning player. That’s not a great term because it can mean something else to every single player. For me, it means whatever team Valaika is on, that team succeeds. It’s been that way for Valaika from UCLA to his first season in the majors.

He’s extremely clutch and it’s fair to say he was one of the best pinch hitting rookies in baseball history in 2017. He had 13 homers and 40 RBI playing pretty much everywhere on the diamond. Bud Black fell in love with the way he plays and it became clear that he is going to be a solid depth piece throughout the Rockies contention window.

His middle name is Ryne which is reference you should all get and he could be the future everyday second baseman if DJ LeMahieu leaves after this season. He needs to work on his defense to get to the level of Sandberg but he still has a bright future and has already contributed valuably to a playoff run.

Click here to see some Valaika highlights.

9 David Dahl

Finally healthy, the once Rockies top prospect will start this season in Triple-A. He came on big time towards the middle and end of Spring Training and it appears that he may be back for good.

In the back half of 2016, he tied the longest hit streak to start an MLB career and carried a .315/.359/.500 slashline through his first 63 games.

He has plus tools in almost every area of the game and it’s only a matter of time before the just-turned 24-year-old left-handed hitter will be an everyday player for the Rockies. The only question for Dahl, as it’s always been, is health. If he answers that, he’s a future All-Star.

8 Raimel Tapia

The completely unique — in today’s game — contact speed duo is featured in the lefty Tapia. He starts this season in Triple-A after 171 big league at-bats last season.

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He’s very much proved he can hit major league pitching, OPSing .903 in 387 plate appearances across two seasons in Triple-A.

Tapia does not have the potential that Dahl does but his floor is higher and he is the first call if any position player goes down. Tapia will very much be a part of the big league club in 2018 … it’s just a matter of when. Someday he will start too, but that might just not happen in Colorado. He’s better defensively than you think and its part of his game that has gotten better too. It’s at the point where that starting gig could even be in center field.

The 24-year-old comes from one of the most poverty-stricken areas in the world and at the time of his debut he became only the 18,866th person to play in the majors. He’s already been very successful in life and the attitude should carry him further.

Click here to see some Tapia highlights.

7 Antonio Senzatela

The right-hander spent almost his entire age 22-year-old season in the majors. That’s wild! He had a 2.1 bWAR. That’s really good. He can’t make the starting rotation. Not his own doing.

The long man for the Rockies right now, “Senza” had a 4.38 ERA in 134.2 big league innings in 2017, including 20 games where he started. All of this came despite skipping Triple-A and not even throwing 35 innings above High-A.

Senzatela rocketed to the big leagues last year and the Rockies rewarded him. Someday he will be a starter again — probably this year as soon as one of the Rockies starting five goes down with an injury — but he also profiles very well out of the bullpen. The Rockies have a really good young pitcher in Senzatela. They just have to find him work.

Click here to watch Senza highlights.

6 Jeff Hoffman

He’s higher than Senzatela despite starting this year at Triple-A because Hoffman could still turn into an ace. His stuff is for real and it’s already proven that it can get big league hitters out. He needs to work on the mental side of the game, mechanics and his command.

He came into last season as a consensus top 100 prospect in the game. He had a four start stretch from May to June that proved why. Allowing just one run per start while throwing at least five innings, topping with a nine-strikeout, no-walk performance in San Deigo where he allowed just three hits over 89 pitches in seven innings.

He ended up with just under 100 big league innings and he’s slowly ramped up his innings count each year since coming off of Tommy John Surgery. He finished at 150 counting his time in Triple-A. He’s likely the first call if the Rockies have extended injury to any pitcher in the rotation, just like he was last year when Jon Gray went down. Hoffman has oodles of potential but needs to get a chance to prove it. This is a big year for Hoffman and the leash should be completely off. He is the guy that can force his way into the rotation. In fact, he kind of already did it last year.

Click here to watch Hoffman highlights.

5 Ryan McMahon

The left-handed hitting 23-year-old made the big league roster out of spring training this season. In an extremely small sample size, he has yet to hit in the majors. However, one can make the case that he was the best hitter in minor league baseball last season.

McMahon slashed .326/.390/.536 with 24 extra base hits, maintaining his walk rate while cutting the strikeouts down to 19%, in total a 151 wRC+ while repeating Hartford in the first half of the season. McMahon was moved to Triple-A In July where it just got better.

Against what was on average 4.4 years older pitching, McMahon made a joke of the Pacific Coast League with a slash of .374/.411/.612 triple with 39 extra base hits, including 14 homers. That was a 161 wRC+. He also managed a hit streak in there and a couple of games where he combined to go 14-for-16 at one point.

Defensively, McMahon learned second base in 2017, playing 36 games there. He spent more time at first than anywhere else but also spent time at his natural position of third. He cut his errors in half from the year prior and he earned a September call-up.

This all came after a 2016 season that saw him go from one of the top prospects in all of the game to a nobody. He’s now firmly back in the category of highly regarded. In talking to McMahon, one garners the impression that he is a big leaguer and he will be quite successful in doing so.

The uber athletic McMahon still has plenty of time to figure it out, and will. He’s going to be a very good player for the Rockies.

4 Kyle Freeland

A 24-year-old Denver native, Freeland has solidified himself as a big league starter. The lefty had a 4.10 ERA in first 156 big league innings. That was good for an ERA+ of 23 percent better than the average pitcher, let alone rookie.

The home opener, his almost no-hitter and plenty big moments showed that Freeland is the ultimate competitor and he’s going to find a way to stick around the big leagues for a long time.

Though his potential is nowhere near as high the players listed at five or three on the list, Freeland is already a proven big leaguer. One can get lost in the numbers looking at baseball players so easily and a big part of this list is stats. You don’t need to do that with Freeland. Just watch him pitch and figure it out on the mound. He’s going to be just fine.

3 Brendan Rodgers

It’s not a stretch to say that the 21-year-old shortstop is the best prospect the Rockies have ever had. The $ 5.5 million earning bonus baby, was the third overall pick in the 2015 draft and he’s already showed why at the minor league level. Last year he absolutely laid shreds to the California League slashing 387/.407/.671 with 36 extra base hits, including 12 homers and an unreal 184 wRC+ for Lancaster. In fact, not since Jose Altuve has somebody put up numbers that high in California League. One more thing, he OPS’d 1.297 at home for the JetHawks. He earned a mid season promotion to Double-A—obviously—but struggled to adjust initially to pitchers who were more than four years older than him. Then he got hurt just as he got going, still he ended up with a 104 wRC+ in 38 games for the Yard Goats. He went back down to High-A for the playoffs and also appeared in the MLB Futures game as a second baseman. He played mostly at shortstop last season, despite hand in quad injuries which in total cost him six weeks of time.

Rodgers’ numbers are to write home about but the reports are even better. He’s been named the best american-born prospect by almost every single major outlet. He had a solid debut in big league camp the back it all up.

His birthday is in August and there is a 50/50 chance that he’s in the big leagues before he turns 22. But forget the accelerated minor league career for the youngster. His potential is All-Star or higher. This is the type of prospect that can be the best at his position in the big leagues. Trevor Story has gotten very good with the glove and that could push Rodgers to shortstop which in turn diminishes his value slightly. That’s because very few shortstops can hit the way Rodgers can.

He could be an everyday starter as soon as opening day in 2019 and there just really isn’t too many good things you can say about the kid.

2 German Marquez

Our Olivia Greene wrote in this recent article that, “German Marquez is going to show that he’s ace material by the end of the 2018 season.”

I completely agree with her assessment as do many I’ve talked to in the Rockies organization. I still tilt to the side of Gray being the best pitcher that Colorado has but I was told the day the Rockies acquired him with Jake McGee from Tampa Bay that, “this was not the Jake McGee trade.” A few months later, the Rockies saw him at Spring Training and I was told, “he has the most potential in our organization.”

When you can gas 100 in the first inning and couple it with one of the quickest spinning curveballs in the game, you get credited as such.

Marquez accumulated a 3.2 bWAR in his freshman season, which occured for him with only 41 innings of experience above Double-A. He just turned 23 and you have seen him pitch. When he’s on, it is dominant. Marquez ran into some issues with the home run ball late last season, but so too did many pitchers. He struck out over eight batters per nine innings and an ERA of 4.39.

Marquez could be something very special. At worst, he is what he already is which is a third starter in the bigs. That’s something the Rockies haven’t had many of in their 25 years.

1 Trevor Story

No shortstop in baseball has hit as many homers since the start of the 2016 season as the 25-year-old. Sure, he led MLB in strikeouts last year but he has plus-plus power for a middle infielder and he’s come into his own at the game’s toughest defensive position.

He saved 11 runs more than the average shortstop and only committed 11 errors in 1185.1 defensive innings. Many wrote Story off and said he had a down year … which is true in a way. He struggled with strikeouts all year and his first six weeks were a mess. But he came on strong in the second half and he turned into a legitimate clean-up hitter against left-handed pitching.

If 82 RBI from a well-defending shortstop qualifies as a down year, it says a lot about how good Story can be if he puts it all together.  Even so, Story provides much needed pop to a Rockies lineup that badly needs the power.

Sure, Rodgers is knocking down his door but if you can’t see it with Story, I can’t help you. Story is already a valuable MLB shortstop with room to grow. He is already good and has the potential to be better.

Could Marquez be in this spot on the list? Sure, but Story has done essentially what Marquez has over the course of a longer period.

Next: Why this writer is picking Jon Gray to win the Cy Young Award

It’s easy to get frustrated with Story given the strikeouts and he being the replacement for one of the best shortstops in the history of baseball during his peak in Troy Tulowitzki, but you should not write off Story. He’s not going to let you.