Two Rockies' prospects who did enough to make the opening day roster

The Colorado Rockies’ brass has decided to go with more experience on its opening-day roster. That’s not much of a surprise, but, is it an indictment on the team’s top prospects?

That answer should be a resounding no.

The fact that only Bradley Blalock and Seth Halvorsen made the opening day roster from Colorado’s Top 30 Prospects doesn’t mean the Rockies don’t have exciting talent at the minor league level. In fact, it’s quite the contrary.

Instead, the Rockies’ brass is following a familiar pattern with some of its best prospects, specifically, keeping them in the minors for service time, among other reasons.

After all, it is a business.

Having said that, there were a couple of head scratchers as it pertained to prospects being left of the opening day roster, and neither were No. 1 prospect Chase Dollander.

In fact, when all was said and done, it was fine to start Dollander at AAA. He’s going to be the Rockies’ ace sooner then later, and sooner could be as early as this season. Plus, he’s a hard-throwing starter who has great breaking stuff, so, there’s no reason to press his health this early in his career. And on top of it all, Dollander really struggled at times this spring. His talent is undeniable, and he’s undoubtedly a can’t miss prospect. So again, why rush? Let him develop.

There were however, two prospects that I was surprised didn’t make the final cut. Here’s a look at both.

2. Jaden Hill, RHP

One of the final players to be reassigned, Hill looked as through he was going to join Halvorsen and Blalock in the Rockies’ bullpen, especially with Jeff Criswell out for the season. Instead, Hill will start the year in AAA after striking out 11 in nine innings in Cactus League. The reason Hill was a surprise to not make the roster is because there was room for him, and, his talent to be a middle reliever, something the Rockies need to be better at this season, was on full display. Hill will be in the majors someday soon, but perhaps, he should be in Tampa this Friday.

1. Zac Veen, OF

Possibly one of the most debated roster moves in all of baseball this spring. On paper, Veen looked like he did more then enough to make the big league club. He’s a human highlight reel on defense, and his batting really came around this spring. Most importantly, he won Colorado’s Spring MVP Award. It seems pretty rare for the team’s spring training MVP to get reassigned in the final week of camp. But, the Rockies decided to go with Nick Martini, and perhaps, that actually helps Veen because he’ll play every single day in AAA, where in Denver, he would have backed up Brenton Doyle and got an occasional right or left field start on an off day. So maybe Veen is too good to be a backup. Or, maybe Veen is so good that he should have not only made the roster, but, perhaps should start in right field right away. But whether starting or backing up, the last two months Veen proved he’s easily one of the Rockies’ best 25 players and the fact that he isn’t in the big leagues was pretty shocking.