Colorado Rockies news and links for Thursday, September 5, 2024
Brenton Doyle has been awesome this season, quietly producing as a genuine start-level player while continuing his elite defense in the toughest center field in all of baseball. Ezequiel Tovar has also continued to progress as a bonafide starting MLB shortstop, adding streaky production with the bat to compliment his excellent glove up the middle at a premium position. Additionally, after a rocky start to his year and a minor league demotion, switch-hitter Michael Toglia has been a strong big league hitter since July.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the youth movement for the Colorado Rockies in 2024, that is the beginning and the end of the positives at the MLB level.
In a year that started with the acceptance that it will be lousy with losses, the silver lining was always the continued progression of the team’s young regulars with eventual additions of more prospects along the way. That sentiment began with Nolan Jones – who produced a historic 20/20 season in 2023. Unfortunately, the results in that category have boarded on catastrophic as Jones has managed nothing short of a lost season with his .216/.356/.324 slash line and just three home runs in just 62 games played.
So, with Jones suffering through a lost year, the door would presumably be left open for another young hitter to have an opportunity to establish themselves. That chance was initially presented by the organization to 2023 draftee Jordan Beck until a broken left hand in May shut him down for most of the season.
While the organization boasts about its prospects on the way, these two injuries apparently proved too severe of a hit to their depth. Instead, Colorado and manager Bud Black have leaned heavily on Jake Cave – who was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies late in Spring Training – to the tune of 106 games played and Sam Hilliard who has logged a fairly productive 42 games.
The infield saw glimpses of potential big leaguers when Aaron Schunk and top prospect Adael Amador were called up to fill in for veterans Ryan McMahon and Brendan Rodgers. The brief cameo for Amador early in the year was expectedly not very productive, but was supposed to be an indication on how close he is to being a big leaguer. That has not come to pass, unfortunately, as he has spent his season trying to regain his footing in the minors since his debut. Schunk, meanwhile, has stuck on the roster for much longer but primarily as a bench bat with erratic playing time.
It does not help that the team chose to hold onto McMahon and Rodgers – along with virtually everyone else on the roster – at the August trade deadline, keeping the path to playing time for its younger players clogged. This applies to catcher Elias Diaz, who was retained until his eventual release just two weeks after the deadline. This opened the door for top catching prospect Drew Romo to get the call, although he has been eased into his role with 11 games played since his promotion.
On the pitching side…there has been little to discuss. Reliever Seth Halvorsen just got the call to the majors which generates genuine intrigue. However, for one step forward the organization has taken two back, essentially cutting the cords with Riley Pint and Noah Davis in recent days. The pickings were slim in the pitching crops near MLB-ready, but that is a larger indication of the bed made by the franchise than any setbacks or disappointments in that category.
So, while Beck and Jones are finally healthy, Romo is now up and Veen is one step away from the majors…this is all something that could have happened much earlier in the season to similar results. Additionally, the lack of activity in clearing up veterans from the roster leads to diminished playing time for these young players when they do finally get rostered.
So, for a team that is in the midst of its sixth-straight losing season but preaching patience for the players on the horizon, it’s a little hard to get the benefit of the doubt when you seem to be reluctant to embrace giving most of these prospects a chance to get their footing at the major league level when there’s nothing left to loss.
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‘I obviously felt terrible’: Criswell apologetic after HBP to head | mlb.com
It was a scary sight on Tuesday night when RHP Jeff Criswell hit veteran Whit Merrifield in the head with a fastball. Merrifield was removed from the game, but appears to have escaped injury from the HBP.
Patrick Saunders sees Chase Dollander as an option for the Colorado rotation next season — perhaps very early in the season — and questions the health of German Marquez as he answers fan questions in his latest mailbag.
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On the farm
Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 3, Tacoma Rainiers 0
Tanner Gordon tossed eight shutout innings in his return to Triple-A and Elehuris Montero slugged his 13th Isotopes homer in the win.
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 6, Altoona Curve 5
Warming Bernabel, Braxton Fulford and Sterlin Thompson all collected multiple hits in the game while Adael Amador bopped his 13th Double-A homer to help Hartford to a walk-off victory.
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