Colorado Rockies: Handing out the rookie report cards

Dom Nunez

Catcher has been one of the Rockies weak spots for several seasons now, so there was some hope that the lefty-hitting Nunez may be able to establish himself as the strong-side half of a platoon. While the converted infielder’s glove has looked big league ready so far, his bat has not.

After putting together a solid .244/.362/.559 line in AAA, Nunez has slipped to .179/.233/.410 in his 43 big league PAs. This performance means that Nunez has no guaranteed job coming into next season, but barring any significant free-agent additions, he will probably be given the opportunity to earn at least a share of the catching duties with a good spring training.

GRADE: C-

Rico Garcia

Garcia has made a steady climb through the minors the last few years, including graduations from AA to AAA earlier this year, before earning a big league call up once the rosters expanded in September. He pitched in two games for the Rockies and the results were not particularly pretty (10.50 ERA, 2.33 WHIP).

If you focus more on the impressive climb than the limited results in this small sample and Garcia’s 2019 was encouraging. The 25-year-old righty will probably begin the year as a starter in Albuquerque, but don’t be surprised if you see him in black and purple again soon.

GRADE: B-