April 22, 2008 2:56 PM
Sleepers among the Tourists
Last week I had an opportunity to see a few games in Asheville, so I thought I might focus on a handful of the players there who are making some noise in the early season. Unfortunately, the timing of my trip was such that I wasn't able to see Jhoulys Chacin, who's perhaps the Tourists' best prospect, but I plan on giving him a full post later this season. He's not the only player worth watching that the Rockies have at their North Carolina affiliate, however; here are a few who are under the radar:
Cory Riordan/Connor Graham/Bruce Billings
These three right-handed pitchers, all 2007 collegiate draft picks, have each seen some success in their early professional careers. Billings has a 3.26 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 94 innings pitched, Riordan a 3.65 ERA with 89 Ks in 91 innings, and Graham a 2.82 ERA with 35 K's in just over 38 innings pitched.
Yet while they've all been comparably successful thus far, the difference in their pitch profiles suggests this might not remain true as they climb through the system.
Graham has the best pure stuff of the trio. He works his fastball in the low to mid 90s and it has natural bite to it that helps him generate a lot of groundball outs as well as the Ks. Thus far in 2008, he's registering a 57 percent groundball rate and has yet to give up a home run despite pitching in one of the smallest professional ballparks in the country. His slider, which has been inconsistent in the past, was quite nasty-looking last Wednesday. The Rockies indicated when they drafted him that they plan on moving him to the bullpen down the road, and he figures to be an intimidating (he's 6-foot-6 and looks like a linebacker) and effective late-inning presence. Once the Rockies move him to the bullpen, he should rise quickly, but in the meantime, expect a station-to-station approach to the big leagues.
Billings falls into the opposite camp. His fastball rarely cracks 90 miles per hour, and it stays high. In fact, he was among the NCAA's leaders in fly-ball percentage pitching for San Diego State in 2007. In his career to date, he has been getting by with a lot of opponents swinging underneath his pitches. When he's effective, his ability to be deceptive in this regard is reminiscent of the way the Padres' Chris Young works. Of course, Young's one of a kind and Billings has a long way to go before he's at that level. The problem in the meantime might become that the damage that results when he misses with his pitches and his opponents connect will become too considerable to bear.
Riordan doesn't have the pure stuff of Graham, but he has a better mix of pitches that should keep him in a starter's role as he climbs through the system. While his fastball might not have the muscle (he worked in the 88-90 mph range for most of the start I saw) it does have deception, coming in more quickly than opponents expect. Last Tuesday he used it to effectively set up his slider and changeup, which he used as swing-and-miss pitches eight times. He throws in a slow curve occasionally to keep hitters off balance, but without command, it's not as effective as his other three pitches. He seems like he should be an effective innings-eater at the bottom or perhaps even middle of the rotation if all goes well. He's got enough polish to push into the MLB view by late 2010, but like the other two, I'd expect a 2011 callup should he prove worthy of making the show.
Darin Holcomb
There were 29 third basemen and 371 players taken overall before the Rockies nabbed Holcomb in the 12th round in 2007, and so far it's looking like they've gotten themselves a steal. After batting .303 with 12 homers in short season Tri-City in 2007, Darin's hitting .338 with three homers already this year in Asheville. After watching him, I think scouts probably saw him as out of place for his position. Holcomb is listed at 5-foot-11, but that might be generous, and typically scouts look for taller corners. His physique doesn't leave room for growth. He generates power with a line-drive swing, but maybe not enough for a corner infielder. He plays his position well but wouldn't work at second. Let's be thankful that the Rockies were willing to give him a shot to show that sometimes skills can transcend the scouting report.
The first night I was there, he hit a line drive home run on an elevated fastball to straightaway center. The second night, he went 4-for-4 with two doubles and another homer, hitting fastballs and sliders equally well. The third night, I got the sense that the West Virginia pitchers had enough; he drew three walks and wasn't given anything near the plate to swing at. His defense was fine on all three nights, except for one late break on a bunt that went for an infield single. At 22, he's going to be dogged by a too-old label as he climbs the ladder, but with Garrett Atkins and Ian Stewart ahead of him, the Rockies don't need to have him skip a level.
Colorado Springs: Juan Morillo has walked 15 hitters in 5 1/3 innings, as he continues to struggle finding consistent mechanics this spring. Greg Reynolds has also had a rough start, registering a 6.63 ERA in five starts. After allowing three home runs combined in a little less than 100 innings in Modesto and Tulsa the last two seasons, he has allowed as many in 21 1/3 innings in 2008. As I write this, Ian Stewart's having a nifty day at the plate today after slowing a bit last week. He's 3-for-3 with his fifth home run of the season against Tacoma.
Tulsa: Brandon Hynick had a fairly effective outing Monday night, but he's also struggling to show the promise he had in 2007. After 20 1/3 third innings, Hynick's ERA stands at 7.52. Nine of the 23 hits by Eric Young Jr. in 2008 have gone for extra bases. The supposed slap hitter had home runs on consecutive nights against Springfield this weekend, and his .559 slugging percentage is third highest on the team to Daniel Carter and Dexter Fowler. Carte (.635) ranks third overall in the Texas League in slugging, Fowler (.565) ninth and Young 10th.
Modesto: Will Harris has gone 11 innings out of the pen without allowing a run. He has an incredible 18-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in that span. Closer Andrew Johnston hasn't allowed a run either in 7 2/3 innings, picking up two wins and four saves. After the past couple of games, I have to say that it would be nice to have that kind of shutdown pen performance with the Rockies. Geoff Strickland has the third most stolen bases in the California League with eight.
Asheville: Speaking of stolen bases, one thing that struck me with the Tourists was how intelligent this team is on the basepaths. Team leaders Everth Cabrera, Michael Mitchell and Brian Rike have combined for 26 stolen bases and have been caught only once for a 96 percent success rate.
Join the discussion