Colorado Rockies Top 39 Prospects

Top Prospects Series

Below is an evaluation of the prospects within the farm system of the Colorado Rockies. Scouting reviews had been compiled with data supplied by business sources in addition to my very own observations. This is the third yr we’re delineating between two anticipated aid roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see within the “position” column under: MIRP for multi-inning aid pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning aid pitchers. The ETAs listed usually correspond to the yr a participant needs to be added to the 40-man roster to keep away from being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Manual changes are made the place they appear applicable, however I take advantage of that as a rule of thumb.

A fast overview of what FV (Future Value) means might be discovered right here. A a lot deeper overview might be discovered right here.

All of the ranked prospects under additionally seem on The Board, a useful resource the location presents that includes sortable scouting data for each group. It has extra particulars (and up to date TrackMan knowledge from numerous sources) than this text and integrates each group’s record so readers can examine prospects throughout farm techniques. It might be discovered right here.

Other Prospects of Note

Grouped by kind and listed so as of choice inside every class.

Up-the-Middle Depth
Andy Perez, SS
Ryan Ritter, SS
Kody Huff, C
Hunter Stovall, 2B
Bladimir Restituyo, CF
Braiden Ward, CF
Nic Kent, SS

Perez, 19, is a brilliant projectable lefty-hitting shortstop from Cuba who skipped the complicated and was despatched to Fresno after two years within the DSL. His underlying bat-to-ball efficiency is healthier than his floor stats, however his swing is simply so lengthy and geared for low-ball contact that I’m undecided it should work long-term. Ritter has 14 bombs as of record publication, however he’s popping out of the SEC (he was the Rockies’ 2022 fourth rounder from Kentucky) so he must be crushing the Cal League. He’s placing out 25% of the time and, similar as pre-draft, I don’t assume he’ll hit sufficient to make the principle part of the record. Huff was a multi-positional Phoenix excessive schooler who went to Stanford to catch. I feel his swing is grooved, however Huffy has been tremendous sizzling within the month main as much as record publication and will use a promotion to check the bat. Stovall has an extended monitor file of bat-to-ball efficiency, however a 2B/1B/LF match on protection wants a bit extra pop than he has. Restutiyo, 21, can go get it in middle subject, however he has a number of the worst plate self-discipline in professional baseball. Ward, 24, was Colorado’s sixteenth rounder in 2021 out of Washington. He can fly and has begun to see time at second base along with all three outfield spots. He’s carried out at a close to league-average stage in A-ball, for which he’s fairly outdated. Kent, a 2021 eleventh rounder from Virginia, can actually choose it. The 23-year-old is repeating High-A and having a greater yr with the bat than in 2022.

Injured Lefties
Helcris Olivarez, LHP
Sam Weatherly, LHP
Ryan Rolison, LHP

Olivarez and Weatherly have each been 40+ FV prospects previously as hard-throwing lefties with plus breaking stuff. Both have been out for a lot of the final couple of years with extreme shoulder illnesses. A former first rounder, Rolison’s stuff was down after coming back from shoulder surgical procedure this yr and he’s again on the IL as of early June.

Potential Relievers
Case Williams, RHP
Evan Justice, LHP
Michael Peterson, RHP

At factors through the previous couple of years, Williams (who has gone forwards and backwards in trades from Cincinnati) has seemed like one of many higher pitching prospects within the system. At occasions, he’s been into the mid-90s with plus breaking stuff, whereas at others he’s within the low-90s and getting shelled. Maybe a shift to the bullpen will assist him discover consistency. The Rockies don’t actually need to determine till subsequent season, Williams’ 40-man analysis yr, on the earliest. Justice is a lefty reliever at Double-A Hartford who’s sitting 94-95 mph with plus deception and tailing motion. He’s working together with his heater about 70% of the time and an absence of slider really feel is all that stored him from the principle part of the record. Peterson has been a FanGraphs fascination for some time now, a British flamethrower who will contact 100 mph however struggles to throw strikes and keep wholesome.

Potential Depth/Spot Starters
Connor Staine, RHP
Alberto Pacheco, LHP
Chris McMahon, RHP
Nick Garcia, RHP
Connor Van Scoyoc, RHP

Staine acquired off to an incredible begin in his draft yr at UCF earlier than his stuff and command waned because the 2022 draft approached. At his greatest, he was sitting 94-97 mph with a very good slider, however extra typically he’s 92-94 with fringe command. Pacheco is a 20-year-old lefty with plus command of below-average stuff. His slider command would possibly allow him to outpace this projection. McMahon, a former second rounder, missed most of 2022 with harm however is again and pitching at Hartford, the place he’s sitting 91-92 with a very good slider. Garcia, 24, was Pittsburgh’s 2020 third rounder from D-III Chapman University and was acquired for Connor Joe. He is working a virtually 8.00 ERA at Hartford whereas sitting 90-92 with a very good changeup. Van Scoyoc was acquired from the Angels for Mike Moustakas simply earlier than record publication. He sits 91-93 with a really unusual angle that helps his fastball play within the zone as a bat-misser. He can reduce or sink his heater and has an above-average curveball, however he isn’t a typical athletic match on the mound and his arm motion is so lengthy that it has an intermission.

Catching Depth
Aaron Schunk, 3B
Grant Lavigne, 1B
Robby Martin Jr., OF
Zach Kokoska, 1B

Both Schunk and Lavigne are former excessive draft picks who I fear lack the hit instruments to profile at their respective positions. Schunk, 25, is a former second spherical choose who had that J.D. Davis/Casey Schmitt/Matt Chapman school function, during which he was a power-hitting third base prospect who additionally pitched. He fell off the prospect lists right here after the 2021 season due to strikeouts, however he’s carried out at or above the league common every of the final two years as an old-for-the-level participant. Lavigne was a highschool comp choose in 2018 who walks a ton and has a 40 bat with 50 uncooked energy and a groundball-heavy profile. Martin was a giant deal as a highschool and school prospect, a bodily lefty nook outfield prospect from Florida State with contact points to beat. Mr. Kokoska is 24 and presently crushing High-A. He has a brilliant fast prime hand that snatches excessive fastballs to his pull facet with energy. I’m skeptical of the efficiency due to his age and the hitting setting in Spokane.

System Overview

I think about this to be a median farm system, however there are scouts who cowl the org who would assume that’s mild. I’m skeptical of the bats who’ve been at Spokane for many of this season, however in the middle of work on this record, no fewer than three of my sources mentioned they assume that as many as a half-dozen Top 100 prospects have emerged from that group or will sooner or later. The hole between my analysis of Jordan Beck and that of those sources appears to be the largest. It’s not that I feel these gamers are unhealthy, simply that they aren’t the on a regular basis, omni-situational bats that I envision as Top 100 prospects. I’m all-in on Adael Amador, although, who at worst has a ability set much like Jeff McNeil’s.

The Rockies’ core competencies and deficiencies have remained the identical for a while, even amid regime semi-change. Senior Vice President & General Manager Bill Schmidt has been a Rockie since 1999, however his GM tenure solely started halfway via 2021. During his time with the org, he has been on the crux of Colorado’s proficiency: scouting hitters. While they generally have scary plate self-discipline, the Rockies have persistently been capable of finding beginner hitters who make it to the massive leagues. They don’t at all times hit it fairly as huge as Charlie Blackmon or Ryan McMahon, however a lot of the Rockies’ homegrown success tales of the final a few years, and a lot of the thrilling gamers presently of their system, are sticks. Even if I’m proper and most of those guys are gamers you “win with” and never ones you “win because of,” there are nonetheless sufficient hitters on this system to Voltron collectively a very good platoon contingent on the nook positions round a Tovar/Amador center infield.

I point out it in a number of blurbs nevertheless it bears repeating: You need to watch out to not scout the stat traces on this org. Most of the Rockies associates play in both a hitter-friendly house park or league, and their hitters’ output is commonly caricatured whereas their pitchers get bombed. It is smart for this org to attempt to forge their pitching prospects in bandbox hearth given what awaits them on the huge league stage. Still, that is the place the Rockies have fallen brief most frequently. They haven’t been capable of purchase and develop pitchers who can maintain a excessive stage of efficiency. They’ve actually tried, however a lot of the pitchers within the system are usually “arrow down” guys over time.

Lately (much like Oakland) the Rockies have focused “ready-made” pitching in trades, getting older arms again in smaller offers as in the event that they’re making an attempt to bypass their incapability to develop them. The drawback is that pitchers don’t essentially maintain their efficiency, and conserving them wholesome and efficient typically requires the identical instruments that made them good within the first place. The Rockies are enjoying a decade’s price of meet up with regard to pitching dev understanding and technological infrastructure. They’re an extremely secretive org, and it’s potential they’re actively making an attempt to shut that hole with out it being apparent to these of us who cling round their main complicated diamond.