AAA around the block

[dgonaz]

Figured I would give the update on how the AAA guys are doing so we know what we have available in case of the inevitable injuries and if we hang around in the playoff picture by the all-star break where we can deal from for upgrades.

OF Tyler Colvin leads the Sky Sox in HRs with 4--Nolan Arenado had 3 before being called up. He is batting .297 but he also leads the team with 24 strikeouts and has walked just 5 times.

2nd baseman DJ Lemahieu is leading the Sky Sox in hits with 40 with 6 doubles and 4 triples (no HR but we knew he had no power). Batting an impressive .381.

With Arenado gone the new RBI leader on the team is OF Charlie Blackmon who also leads the team in SB with 5 (caught 3 times) and he also leads the team in walks with 18 compared to 15 strikeouts. Has a very impressive .341 average, .450 OBP, and 1.022 OPS.

Pitching it is still early in the season and a one bad start or two can make your record look really bad so keep that in mind (I haven't reviewed each individual start):

Pomeranz has a nice 2.54 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 34 Strikeouts through his first 28 innings. With a 4-0 record. (He also leads the team pitching in walks with 10).

Aaron Cook has been shelled in his first 5 games with a 7.40 ERA and 1.60 WHIP, on the plus side he hasn't given up any HRs yet--the only starter who has started for the Sky Sox other than Chattwood who can make that claim.

If you are looking for who has been the biggest victim of the longball out of our Sky Sox pitchers that would be reliever Rob Scahill who has given up 3 HRs so far out of 19 innings pitched.

Some guys who don't get talked about .....at all have put together a few good starts--- longer reliever Nick Schmidt has a 2.53 ERA through 6 games (3 starts) with 20 strikeouts (second to Pomeranz). Justin Berg has started twice and has a nice 2.19 ERA and sparkling 0.97 WHIP to show for it.

Christian Friedrich and Chris Volstad aren't terrible considering the environment though nothing spectacular to talk about (pitching at Colorado Springs is a lot like pitching at Coor's Field) Friedrich has a 4.30 ERA (he has walked as many batters as he has struck out 8). And Chris Volstad has a 4.22 ERA (his WHIP is worse than Aaron Cook's though with a 1.69 which means Cook might have been a bit of a victim of bad luck and Volstad a benefactor of some good).

Rounding out the guys worth even mentioning out of the pitching Manny Corpas has faired poorly in his return to Colorado Springs so far with an 8.27 ERA through 16 innings of work. Bobby Cassevah on the other hand has a nice 1.50 ERA through 12 innings though he may have been the benefactor of good luck as he has allowed 19 baserunners in those 12 innings.

Other batters worth mentioning:

OF Corey Dickerson has some poor baserunning judgement as he has been caught stealing 7 times with 2 successful stolen bases. He does have a nice batting average of .350 with 5 doubles, 5 triples, and 2 HRs and is second on the team with 32 hits (more than Arenado had before promotion).

OF Tim Wheeler is off to a miserable start with a .180 average, 23 strikeouts (second to Colvins to total of 24 in 9 less at bats),

2B Charlie Culberson has a .295 average but has 5 errors so far. He also has the worst strikeout to walk rate on the team with just 3 walks to go with his 18 strikeouts.

 

[67RedSox]

Wow, a lot to talk about in this thread but I'm going to focus on Charlie Blackmon. I've only seen brief snapshots of this guy playing and more of any information I have on the guy is probably from what I've read.
I know with CarGo, Cuddyer and Fowler ahead of him there's not too much wiggle room for him in Colorado (other than Colorado Springs ) but he seems to be a pretty decent player who has just got lost in the shuffle. He's a decent hitter with say 15 to 20 HR potential and also seems to be a solid defender, very capable of playing RF.
For anyone who has something more than my casual sighting of the guy do you think he would fit as the Rockies 4th OFer...just asking ( although by asking I suppose I'm saying that despite his .300 BA I just don't think EY Jr. really brings that much to the team and someone like Blackmon might )

 

[dgonaz]

Blackmon seems like the most logical pull up for a 4th outfielder. Hitting stats are a bit inflated in Colorado Springs because it is basically like hitting in Coor's Field against worse pitching (hence we have so many guys with astronomically high batting averages) but things like stolen bases and K/B ratios aren't a product of that environment nor is excellent defense. The only downside I see to Blackmon is that he is strictly an outfielder while EY Jr is capable of playing some infield positions (though Weiss hasn't used him that way yet so far this season). I don't think there is anything to stop him from playing 1st as well of course since it is the easiest position to learn and the hardest to screw up (also the hardest to be really great at which is part of what makes Todd Helton awesome).

What to do with Colvin would seem to be an interesting question. He definitely has some power but that K/B ratio looks pretty bad and batting .297 isn't as good as it looks considering he is hitting in Colorado Springs. With his good looking numbers (inflated as they are) and his numbers from last year combined with his positive first season with the Cubs might make him an interesting bit of trade bait.

LeMahieu looks like he is doing excellent. He fills the exact same rolls as Herrera and Brignac is younger and has a decent glove. I would replace Herrera with him in an instant since Herrera is the oldest of the three and at this point has shown he will never work out as anything other than a passable utility guy off the bench.

 

[67RedSox]

After the season both Colvin and LeMahieu had last year I was fully expecting both to be with the team. I was very surprised (and disappointed) with Colvin being sent down and despite the frightful K/B ratio I think he should be playing with the big boys. It's just a numbers thing for both of them and it's too bad but c'est la vie. Unless the Rockies play goes south I wouldn't disrupt the team for anything right now.