I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the Colorado Rockies minor league affiliates' youngest prospects at each level as these are the most likely to emerge as superstars in the years to come. This isn't a statistical analysis or anything, just a hey, I want you to be aware of so-and-so article:
Casper
When I wrote the other day that Aneury Rodriguez (RHP) led the Casper Rockies' staff on a shutout of the Ogden Raptors, I should have mentioned that it was seventeen year old Aneury Rodriguez that did this. At Casper. Do you know how amazing that is in the Pioneer League? Let's just say it was a wake up call here at Purple Row.
Other young notables for Casper:
Dexter Fowler, 19, cf
Xavier Cedeno, 18, lhp
Lindsay Webb, 19, rhp
Radames Nazario, 18, inf
Tri-City
Shane Lindsay leads a group of twenty year olds for the Dust Devils. You'll be hearing us talk about him a lot -I mean how can you not like a guy who comes from a place called Bacchus Marsh- but I also want to give props to Zach Simons who has been pretty impressive in his pro debut in front of some friendly crowds who have already seen his work.
Other notables for the Dust Devils:
Jason Van Kooten, 20, inf
Angel Valdez, 20, of
Ramon Rodriguez, 20, c
Asheville:
The Tourists have a nifty left/right starter duo that has yet to turn twenty in nineteen year olds Ching Lung "Dragon" Lo (rhp) and Franklin Morales (lhp) who have had some pretty nice moments already this season. Right now I think Morales has the higher ceiling because he's a southpaw, but both have the potential to be big for the Rockies down the road. Chris Nelson of course we've all heard of and he's not yet twenty either (close, though) and after struggling with injuries early is starting to turn things around at the plate.
Other notables for Asheville:
Adam Bright, 20, lhp
Nelson Robledo, 21, c
Florentino Nunez, 21, cf
Modesto:
Modesto's youngest are already high profile, the two twenty-year olds manning the left side of the infield, Ian Stewart and Troy Tulowitzky, already rank in the Rockies' top ten prospects. Stewart has been on an absolute tear of late and that's helped a lot with the Nuts' current ten game win streak. Tulo's shown some glimpses of good things in his short time as well. The youngest Nut pitcher is 21 year old Juan Morillo who will be representing at the Futures Game Sunday, but also gets the start tonight.
Tulsa:
Twenty-one year old Ubaldo Jiminez is easily the youngest Driller and the one with the biggest potential to be a star in the majors. The Rocky Mountain News' Jack Etkin had an article Sunday about how his delivery got out of whack in the off-season as he recovered from a stress fracture, but now with those problems mostly behind him, expect good things from here on out.
Colorado Springs:
The youngest Sky Sox is still pitcher Mike Esposito, who at 23 isn't going to have the same ceiling as most of these mentioned in this article but that's okay, I still like him. Esposito has struggled a bit this year, but has held his own while adjusting to altitude. Typically in previous levels, Mike would have a pedestrian first half but show tremendous progress in the second half of the season, so watch for that same pattern to emerge.
Other notable:
Jeff Baker, 24, inf
Colorado:
Marcos Carvajal rocks!
This after whipping up on those Dodger bums the other day, hopefully we see more of the same tonight (the quote was from today's notes article at the Colorado Rockies official site. Marcos turns twenty one on the nineteenth of August.