Colorado Rockies: Zac Veen, Riley Pint among minor league promotions

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 16: Zac Veen #9 of the National League hits a base hit in the third inning during the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at Dodger Stadium on July 16, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 16: Zac Veen #9 of the National League hits a base hit in the third inning during the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at Dodger Stadium on July 16, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, the Colorado Rockies announced a flurry of minor league promotions, including some involving some of their top prospects. 2016 1st round pick pitcher Riley Pint and first baseman Michael Toglia were each promoted from Double-A Hartford to Triple-A Albuquerque. In addition, top prospect Zac Veen and pitcher Will Ethridge were each promoted from High-A Spokane to Double-A Hartford.

Rockies: Zac Veen, Riley Pint, Michael Toglia, and Will Ethridge receive promotions

Zac Veen is the Rockies #1 prospect and he has shown it throughout the 2022 season. Veen, who was drafted by the club with the ninth overall pick in 2020 draft, had played in 92 games with 11 home runs, 60 RBI, 92 hits, 19 doubles, 50 stolen bases, and a slash line of .269/.368/.439. He is currently MLB.com’s #20 overall prospect.

It has been quite a whirlwind of a few years for former Rockies’ first-round pick Riley Pint. The club drafted him out of high school in 2016 with the fourth overall pick.

He struggled mightily with control issues and injuries. He even retired part way through the 2021 season in High-A Spokane. However, he decided to return to the club for the 2022 season. He started the season at Double-A Hartford and while exclusively pitching in relief, he pitched well enough to earn a promotion to Triple-A. In Hartford, he had a 4.64 ERA in 38 games. His issue is still his control, though, as his walk rate has dropped to 6.1 BB/9, which is still a bit too high.

Rockies #9 prospect Michael Toglia has been working with Rockies special assistant Todd Helton this season and things have gone well for him on the season, especially in the power department. With Hartford, Toglia was hitting .234/.329/.466 with 23 home runs and 66 RBI in 97 games.

Will Ethridge was the Opening Day starter for Spokane this season but he has a bit of an elevated ERA at 5.65 in 16 starts. In his last six starts, though, he has had three starts of at least five innings while allowing zero or only one earned run. However, in two of his other three starts, he has allowed at least seven earned runs. The long ball has been his issue as he is allowing 1.9 home runs per nine innings.