Blake Street Banter Team | February 20, 2025

We finally have reached the pure offensive categories with BSB Tools Week. Arguably the most important tool in the sport is the hit tool, comprised of a few factors including pure contact ability and plate discipline. While the Rockies tend to prioritize athleticism, defense, and power in their amateur scouting search, they have a solid group of pure hitters in the fold.

Check out the previous 6 parts of BSB Tools Week here:

Top 5 Command Pitchers
Top 10 Secondary Pitches
Top 5 Fastballs
Top 5 Catching Tools
Top 5 Fielders
Top 5 Fastest Players

Honorable Mentions

Ronaiker Palma had the lowest swinging strike percentage (similar to whiff%) in the Rockies organization at 5.9% this past season. Drew Romo hit .297 in Triple-A before making his big league debut. Blake Wright, a 4th round pick out of Clemson last year, hit .270 and struck out just 12.3% of the time. Shortstop Ryan Ritter also hit .270 at Double-A. There’s 19-year-old Bairon Ledesma who has a career .325 hitter across the DSL and ACL.

Carlos Renzullo had the third-highest average in the Dominican Summer League, batting .360. While prospects Ashly Andujar and Yeiker Reyes have ultra projectable swings for base hits. Robert Calaz hit .340 in the ACL in 2024 (also winning the Triple Crown), but has elevated swing and miss numbers. Other considered players were: Jeremy Ciriaco, Aldalay Kolokie, Christian Arguelles, Warming Bernabel, and Bladimir Restituyo.

#10 – OF Zac Veen

Veen has a career .355 on-base percentage, usually ranking near the top of whichever league he is playing in thanks to quality swing decisions and solid overall contact ability. His career strikeout percentage is around 25% but the story lies in Veen’s experience and the lessons learned to this point. He has played for the Yard Goats in three different seasons, seeing his batting average improve each season, as did Veen’s OBP and OPS.

In other words, seeing Veen acclimate to higher-level pitching shows just how far his hit tool has come and suggests he will hit at the big league level. Veen still grades out with a 50 hit tool per MLB’s report, though a 55 would not be overly generous. A cool and calm Veen will result in better hitting production including more hits and fewer strikeouts this season.

#9 – SS/OF Cole Carrigg

Carrigg’s great 2024 season has brought him onto the national prospect radar, with Carrigg just recently named on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list. Carrigg has always made a ton of contact, dating back to his sophomore year when he hit .388. There still were a few questions about his hit tool going into pro ball because of his aggressive approach, but he has managed a .299 average so far and a fair walk rate of 9.7% in 2024. 

The only knock on Carrigg’s hit tool is the aforementioned aggressiveness which does result in more swing and miss than you’d expect for a player with Carrigg’s plus bat to ball skills. Regardless, he is one of the best contact hitters in the system and has plenty of potential.

#8 – OF Juan Guerrero

Guerrero may be a somewhat unexpected name on this list, however given his .304 average last season and general consistency year to year, he deserves mention. The 23-year old has always made a bunch of solid contact, having a career .287 average in 444 career pro games. Guerrero continued to make a bunch of contact even after getting promoted to Hartford — with a very low 12.1 K% in Double-A — and has a knack for spraying the ball to all fields.

Guerrero is a bit of a free swinger which means he won’t be drawing many walks but he has some of the best pure contact ability in the system. Given his defensive ability and (relative) lack of power, it’s clear that Guerrero will need to keep hitting.

Prospect Profile on Juan Guerrero

#7 – OF/3B Charlie Condon

Condon’s slow pro start is no secret and the Georgia product would likely be closer to #1 if not for a somewhat alarming start (largely attributable to a thumb injury). Still, last year Condon showed he can handle all different pitch types and premium velocity well. Condon does not profile to be a high walk guy but he has a solid approach and should hopefully limit strikeouts as well.

Keep an eye fixed on Condon’s early 2025 season results as they will be very telling as to just how good we can expect Condon to be; perhaps the hulking 6-foot-5 slugger re-emerges as a potential franchise savior or he settles in as a likely good-not-great everyday player. Most of that pressure rests on his hit tool.

#6 – INF Roynier Hernandez

Many Rockies fans have probably never heard of Roynier Herandez, but he is a name quickly rising through prospect ranks. He owns a career .296 AVG and .408 OBP across the DSL and ACL. In 2024, his elite contact skills became evident when he had an in-zone contact rate of 93% (only 8 MLB players had a better mark this year, though of course against better talent). Plainly, Hernandez has at least one truly special offensive trait.

Hernandez rarely swings and misses, consistently hits over .300, and has a consistent & compact swing. He is the definition of a pure contact hitter in baseball. Hernandez has the upside of a traditional slap-hitting, walk-taking leadoff man.

#5 – OF Jared Thomas

A draft-eligible sophomore this past year, Thomas was selected in the 2nd round by the Rox after putting up a .349 average at the University of Texas. The 21-year-old continued to hit in a limited pro sample, hitting .333 in 8 games at Fresno with a lot of hard contact.

Thomas has an easy lefty swing that allows him to make a bunch of quality contact and he has solid plate discipline. The Texas alum has one of the highest floors in the system, thanks to his above average hit tool.

#4 – 3B Kyle Karros

Karros was left off the MLB.com Top 3B prospects list and we’re a little salty about it. Karros may be the steal of the 2023 draft. Drafted in the 5th round, Karros went on to win the Northwest League MVP and a MiLB Gold Glove for Spokane. His closed stance allows him to use all parts of the field while he maintains a solid eye for the zone.

In his first full season of professional ball, Karros ended the season with a .311 average while keeping the strikeout rate in the low 20% range. The best trait here is simply the ability to consistently make hard contact and rack up hits. The jump to Double-A is tough for prospects and Karros could solidify his prospect status by raking in 2025 as a Goat.

#3 – 1B Aidan Longwell

Drafted in the 17th round out of Kent State in 2023, Longwell has cemented himself as one of the most disciplined batters and best overall hitters in the system. In his first full professional season, Longwell batted .313 in 63 games for the Single-A Fresno Grizzlies. He also made contact 84.4% of the time on swings. With elite pitch selection, an advanced approach while hitting, and top tier bat to ball skills, Longwell rightfully belongs in the top 3 on this list.

While first basemen are typically power orientated, Longwell breaks that norm. For him to maximize his potential, adding more pop to the bat will be essential. Regardless, Longwell’s hitting approach is a piece of art and makes him one of the most underrated Rockies prospects in some time.

#2 – OF Sterlin Thompson

If you’ve followed BSB, you know Sterlin Thompson gets love from us. The Trevor Story comp pick in 2022 came into the organization as a hit-first super utility prospect who had the potential to fast track himself into purple pinstripes. Like Amador, Thompson’s 2024 campaign didn’t look pretty because of the pitching friendly Eastern League, though this came on the heels of a .338 batting average in the Arizona Fall League in 2023.

His quick hands and compact swing allow him to use all parts of the field and Thompson’s bat speed enables him to consistently rope line drives. In a four-hit game in August, Thompson had a double and single the opposite way and pulled a homer and a single later in the game. The hitting tools are evident and hopefully Thompson’s bat will find the consistency the Rockies scouting department loved at Florida.

#1 – 2B Adael Amador

With a somewhat disappointing season in the background, Amador is still the most promising hitter in the prospect pipeline. There were some concerning trends in terms of Amador looking impatient at the plate in his MLB cup of coffee, but we have a large minor league sample to suggest he is as disciplined as they come with excellent feel for contact.

Being a switch-hitter comes with a whole slew of challenges; can Amador handle x, y, and z from both sides of the plate? With a year of lessons now behind him, expect to see a more refined Amador build back his confidence in the upper minors and showcase the best combination of plate discipline and bat to ball skills in the organization.

The Rockies best offensive prospects come from different places — both high and low draft picks and high priced and bargain international free agents — but the common thread is the Rockies love a guy who can make a ton of contact and have accumulated a strong group of players fitting that bill.