Colorado Rockies: May highlights for Rockies minor league teams

The second full month of the Major League baseball season has come and gone but we are going to focus on the minor leagues in this article. The affiliates of the Colorado Rockies had some impressive moments during the month of May. Here is a top highlight for each of the four teams currently playing for the month.

ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES

The Rox Triple-A team’s highlight by far was catcher Tom Murphy and his play. Murphy has spent the past three seasons bouncing between the big league club and the Isotopes and currently finds himself back with the Triple-A team to start the 2018 season. However, he may soon be earning himself another call up based on his recent play.

Through the first 42 games of the season, Murphy was hitting .306 with 13 home runs and 38 RBI. A fractured forearm cut Murphy’s season short last year, but he was able to play 50 games last season. In those games, he only hit four homers, nine less than he already has this season in eight fewer games.

The Isotopes are currently the only Rockies affiliate with a winning record. The team is three games above .500 on the year and only three games behind in the division with a lot of baseball left to play.

HARTFORD YARD GOATS

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The highlight of the Double-A affiliate’s month had to be the five-game win streak early in the month. With a win in the final game of a series against the Harrisburg Senators (the Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals) and a four-game sweep of the Portland Sea Dogs (the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox), the Yard Goats jumped five games above .500 for the first time on the season.

Unfortunately, the Yard Goats have had some serious ups and downs this year and haven’t been able to stay consistently above .500. Despite a seven-game win streak earlier in the season, the Yard Goats will enter the month of June right at .500. While the win streaks have been nice, the team will need to put together more sustained runs of success to make the playoffs this year.

LANCASTER JETHAWKS

For the Jethawks, the highlight also came in the very beginning stages of the month, in the form of a strong offensive surge for seven games. During the six games, the Jethawks scored 16, 11, six, five, 12, five and eight runs, respectively.

Amazingly, however, the Jethawks only won three of the games during the stretch. The pitching staff struggled during the offensive surge and just couldn’t seal victories. Nonetheless, the surge helped a slumping offense get on track and will hopefully serve as a reminder to the team that they are capable of breaking out at any time.

The Jethawks will also enter the month of June close to .500, currently just two games under .500. However, despite the record, they are just one game out in their division. The first half of the season will conclude in the middle of the month of June.

ASHEVILLE TOURISTS

The highlight for the Tourists came at the end of the month when Bret Boswell was named Player of the Week for the South Atlantic League. Boswell earned the honor for the week of May 21-27 as a result of a strong offensive showing.

During the week, Boswell hit .452 with three doubles, a triple, a homer, and four RBI. Boswell also earned a hit during all eight games that the Tourists played during the week.

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Despite Boswell’s success, the Tourists as a whole have struggled and are currently more than 10 games below .500. The first half will conclude in just a couple of weeks and the Tourists will look to get back on track during the second half of the season.