Spokane Indians: Drew Romo, Grant Lavigne dazzle to start the season

The Spokane Indians (the High-A affiliate for the Colorado Rockies) stumbled out of the gate to start the 2022 season as they faced the Vancouver Canadians (the High-A team for the Toronto Blue Jays) at home to start the season and they lost two of the three games.

The Indians lost on Opening Day on Friday by a score of 8-6 and lost on Sunday by a score of 8-7  but they won 10-2 on Saturday.

As those scores indicate, the pitching staff struggled a bit but the offense came through in each of the three games and top prospects Drew Romo and Grant Lavigne were two of the best for the Indians at the plate this weekend.

Drew Romo and Grant Lavigne hit very well this weekend for the Spokane Indians

Catcher Drew Romo (who is the #2 prospect for the Colorado Rockies) hit very well at the plate for the Spokane Indians, as did first base prospect Grant Lavigne.

Romo, 20, hit .400 with a 1.110 OPS over the weekend with two doubles, two RBI, and a stolen base.

Lavigne, 22, is the Rockies’ #22 overall prospect and he hit even better this weekend. He hit .417 with an OPS of 1.200. He had five hits including a homer, four RBI, and three walks.

Last year, he was promoted to Spokane at the beginning of August last year after he started the season at Fresno. In Fresno, he played in 72 games and he hit .281/.388/.442 with seven homers, 40 RBI, 13 doubles, and four triples.

However, he struggled with contact and power after he got to Spokane, hitting .225/.362/.342 in 32 games.

Romo made his debut at High-A this weekend after he spent the entire 2021 season in Low-A Fresno. He hit .314/.345/.439 in 79 games last season.

As for the pitching, it was mainly the bullpen that struggled. Opening Day starter Will Etheridge pitched well for the Indians as he tossed six innings, allowing only one run on five hits while not walking a batter on just 73 pitches.

Joe Rock (Rockies #15 overall prospect) made his first professional appearance outside of the Rockies’ Arizona Complex League team, where he only had eight innings last season. In his start, Rocki also went six innings but he did not allow an earned run (he did allow one unearned run). He only allowed three hits and two walks on 79 pitches.

The Indians had an off day on Monday before they head to Oregon to face the Euguene Emeralds this week. They will face each other tonight at 8:35 PM M.T./7:35 PM P.T.