Isaac Rawlings | @RoxMiLBReport | (7/25/23-7/30/23)
The Rockies have 7 Minor League Affiliate Teams from the Dominican Summer League all the way to Triple A. Single A through Triple A has every Monday of the week off so the MiLB Recaps will come every Monday. This week I’ll only be recapping A-AAA. I’m excited to share what I’ve gathered this week with you guys, let’s get into it!
Albuquerque Isotopes: 4-2 W/L, 45 RS, 57 RA, -12 RDIFF
The Pacific Coast League is so crazy. The Isotopes hosted the Sacramento River Cats for a 6 game series, and they won four of those games. Hitting is contagious in the PCL, and it’s even crazier in Albuquerque. The Isotopes had 22 different instances throughout the series where a player had multi-hit games, which is just absurd. Now that there are only 37 guys on the Rockies 40-Man anything is possible. Overall the series was good. I liked what I saw from a lot of the players individually, and they’re all making a big impact!
These are my five standout players for the Isotopes this week.
- C Jonathan Morales: 5 G, 18 AB, .278/.381/.389, 5 H, 2 2B
- 2B/SS Coco Montes: 4 G, 16 AB, .500/.556/.875, 8 H, 1 HR
- CF Wynton Bernard: 6 G, 28 AB, .429/.488/.821, 12 H, 3 HR
- RHP Michael Petersen: 2 G, 3.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 4 SO, 0 BB, 1 H
- RHP Tyler Kinley: 3 G, 3.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 5 SO, 1 BB, 3 H
Hartford Yard Goats: 3-2 W/L, 40 RS, 36 RA, +4 RDIFF
This week the Yard Goats played only 5 games at the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the game on 7/29/23 was postponed due to rain. It was a solid week with the bats for the Goats, but first let’s talk about their bullpen this week. The guys in the ‘pen pitched a total of 27 Innings, and there were only 5 Earned Runs (1.67 ERA). All season the Goats bullpen has been inconsistent, so this week it was nice seeing consistent outings. The bats were hot all week as well. They combined for nine total home runs, six of which coming on 7/28/23. Victor Vodnik and Tanner Gordon both made their Rockies organization debut after the Pierce Johnson trade and both looked good. Overall, it was a very good week for the Yard Goats!
These are my five standout players for the Yard Goats this week.
- C Drew Romo: 4 G, 18 AB, .278/.316/.778, 5 H, 3 HR
- 3B/SS Julio Carreras: 5 G, 17 AB, .471/.500/.706, 8 H, 4 2B
- OF Niko Decolati: 4 G, 13 AB, .385/.526,.615, 5 H, 1 HR
- RHP Victor Vodnik: 2 G, 3.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 4 SO, 1 BB, 1 H
- LHP Austin Kitchen: 2 G, 3.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 SO, 0 BB, 2 H
Spokane Indians: 2-4 W/L, 22 RS, 39 RA. -17 RDIFF
The Spokane Indians spent the week in Eugene playing six games against the Emeralds. The first four games went about as bad as it can get. Through those four games they scored eight runs, whilst giving up 30 in total. The final two games did go better however, in those two games they scored 14 runs while giving up only 9. The last month for the Indians have been rough offensively, but that’s justifiable when their top 2 leaders in Home Runs and RBIs are no longer with the team (Jordan Beck & Yanquiel Fernandez both in AA Hartford). To add onto the team’s poor offensive struggles they’ve scored 8 or more runs just twice in the last 18 days. The pitching side of things hasn’t been terrible, just not executing well. I like the amount of strikeouts the pitchers have been getting though. In 53.1 total innings this week for Spokane our pitchers racked up 71 strikeouts (12.0 K/9)! Overall the team showed a lot of promise in the games they won, as chemistry and momentum builds this team has what it takes to win a lot of games.
These are my five standout players for the Indians this week:
- 2B/SS Nic Kent: 6 G, 25 AB, .400/.444/.600, 10 H, 1 HR
- OF Benny Montgomery: 6 G, 24 AB, .292/.320/.458, 7 H, 1 HR
- OF Juan Guerrero: 6 G, 28 AB, .357/.400/.500, 10 H, 1 HR
- RHP Juan Mejia: 3 G, 4.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 9 SO, 1 BB, 1 H
- LHP Carson Palmquist: 1 G, 5.0 IP, 3.60 ERA, 10 SO, 1 BB, 5 H
Fresno Grizzlies: 4-2 W/L, 34 RS, 22 RA, +12 RDIFF
This team is fun to watch. The Inland Empire 66ers hosted the Fresno Grizzlies this week, and the Grizzlies were able to win four out of six games. The entire team just plays good baseball, and the 58-38 record proves it. My only takeaway from the series really was game 6; the Grizzlies came back and tied it in the top of the ninth and the bullpen kept the game tied until the ghost runner messed up the Grizzlies’ chance for the W. Agnos got a groundout to second, advancing the ghost runner to third. Then Agnos got a flyout to right, eventually walking it off for the 66ers. Overall it was a really good week for Fresno, there is a lot to like coming from this team
These are my five standout players for the Grizzlies this week.
- C/1B Bryant Betancourt: 5 G, 23 AB, .391/.417/.478, 9 H, 4 RBI
- 3B Skyler Messinger: 6 G, 27 AB, .320/.370/.800, 8 H, 3 HR, 10 RBI
- SS Dyan Jorge: 5 G, 25 AB, .280/.280/.360, 7 H, 2 2B
- RHP Robinson Hernandez: 2 G, 4.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 4 SO, 1 BB, 2 H
- LHP Alberto Pacheco: 1 G, 6.0 IP, 1.50 ERA, 6 SO, 1 BB, 7 H
Rockies MiLB Transactions 7/24/23-7/30/23)
Isotopes:
- 7/25/23: Colorado Rockies send RHP Tyler Kinley on a rehab Assignment to the Albuquerque Isotopes.
- 7/25/23: Colorado Rockies send 2B Brendan Rodgers on a rehab Assignment to the Albuquerque Isotopes.
- 7/25/23: Albuquerque Isotopes activate C Daniel Cope from the 7-Day IL.
Yard Goats:
- 7/24/23: RHP Tanner Gordon assigned to Hartford Yard Goats.
- 7/24/23: RHP Victor Vodnik assigned to Hartford Yard Goats:
- 7/26/23: Hartford Yard Goats place RF Yanquiel Fernandez on the 7-day injured list.
- 7/26/23: Hartford Yard Goats Transfer RHP Mike Ruff to the Development List.
- 7/27/23: RHP Connor Van Scoyoc assigned to Hartford Yard Goats from Spokane Indians.
Indians:
- 7/25/23: SS Jamari Baylor assigned to Spokane Indians from Fresno Grizzlies.
- 7/25/23: Spokane Indians placed OF Zach Kokoska on the 7-day injured list.
- 7/27/23: 1B Cuba Bess assigned to Spokane Indians from ACL Rockies.
Grizzlies:
- 7/24/23: 3B Luis Mendez assigned to Fresno Grizzlies from ACL Rockies.
- 7/24/23: RHP Robinson Hernandez assigned to Fresno Grizzlies from ACL Rockies.
ACL Rockies:
- 7/24/23: SS Tevin Tucker assigned to ACL Rockies.
- 7/25/23: ACL Rockies release RHP Shelby Lackey.
- 7/25/23: ACL Rockies release SS Eddy Diaz.
- 7/25/23: C Ben McCabe assigned to ACL Rockies.
- 7/25/23: C Cole Carrigg assigned to ACL Rockies.
- 7/25/23: C Darius Perry assigned to ACL Rockies.
- 7/25/23: 1B Aidan Longwell assigned to ACL Rockies.
- 7/25/23: 3B Kyle Karros assigned to ACL Rockies.
- 7/25/23: OF Caleb Hobsen assigned to ACL Rockies.
- 7/27/23: RHP Seth Halvorsen assigned to ACL Rockies.
- 7/27/23: LHP Bryson Hammer assigned to ACL Rockies.
- 7/29/23: SS Braylen Wimmer assigned to ACL Rockies.
- 7/29/23: CF Roman Quinn assigned to ACL Rockies.
- 7/29/23: Colorado Rockies send OF Sean Bouchard on a rehab assignment to ACL Rockies.
Position Player of the Week: Isotopes OF Wynton Bernard
My 7/25/23-7/30/23 position player of the week is Albuquerque Isotopes OF Wynton Bernard! Bernard started the year off in the Blue Jays Organization, but on June 28th he was released. Just a day later the Rockies signed him to a Minor League Contract, the 2021 Isotopes Fan Favorite player was back! Since then Bernard has been killing things offensively. Through 23 games Bernard has .320/.352/.544 slash line, 6 HR, and also swiping 7 bags. The excitement and energy he brings to the park everyday was missed tremendously.
This week Bernard played all 6 games for the Topes, hitting .429 with 3 Home runs in 28 At Bats. He was a hit machine this week too, he had ended the day with multiple hits in 4/6 games played. Bernard also drove in 9 runs, and while scoring 4 times himself. On top of that he was perfect in the field with no errors as well. Whether it was his clutch hitting or his smart decisions on the basepaths, Bernard gave himself and others plenty of opportunities to score. It has been great having Wynton Bernard back with the Rockies Organization!
Pitcher of the Week: Indians RHP Juan Mejia
Juan Mejia came out of the bullpen in 3 games this week for Spokane. He was nearly unhittable in the 4.1 innings he pitched. Mejia came into the two games that Spokane had won this week in the later innings, putting up very clutch zeros on the board. He even got the Win in the 11 Inning game on Sunday, he recorded 3 of those 4 outs with strikeouts even.
Mejia ranks 27th out of 1,108 pitchers in K/9 (13.61 K/9) minimum of 40 IP. All season long he has been striking an elite amount of players out. Last season when he got moved up to A+ he was struggling with striking guys out at the level he was for Fresno. So this has been extremely encouraging to see from the 23 year old right hander!
Final Thoughts: 13-10, 141 RS, 154 RA, -13 RDIFF
I thought the Rockies Organization had a great week. We saw a lot of success in each of the four affiliates, and there’s a lot to look forward to the next coming weeks! A lot of the 2023 draftees made their professional debuts this week, so expect to see more news regarding them the next couple of weeks.
Also congratulations to our 2023 DSL All Star representatives: RHP Nelvis Ochoa, 3B Roynier Hernandez, and 3B Derek Bernard.
Leave a Reply