I figure I'm late giving the recaps of yesterday's games, so I'll just make this a troubling numbers edition; lowlighting some of the stats and trends that aren't bringing joy to Rockies prospectdom on this Cinco de Mayo.
Colorado Springs: Ian Stewart .236
In his last ten games Stewart has gone 3 for 37 dipping his average to roughly the same as Yorvit Torrealba's. Ian's peripheral contact numbers are exactly where we'd like to see them, however, so this appears to be just blip of bad luck (a .271 BABIP when he's typically at least at .320) mixed with a lack of plate discipline.
Tulsa: Team ERA: 5.00
That's bad enough for last in the Texas League, and Drillers Stadium typically isn't much of a hitter's park relative to the rest of the TL. The pitching performance here is something to be concerned about, Tomas Santiago -who's more of a journeyman than a prospect- is the only starter with a sub 5.00 ERA. Casey Weathers and Adam Bright have been sharp in the bullpen, but they're about it after Pedro Strop's injury.
Modesto: Team OPS .659
So if we combined Modesto's pitching with Tulsa's hitting this season, we'd have a pretty good team. The problem is that the other pairing would be one of the most unwatchable teams ever in the history of anything. Okay, slight exaggeration. At any rate, that team OPS ranks #28 out of thirty in the three High A leagues. Of course the two ranked lower, Jupiter of the FSL and Wilmington in the Carolina League play in pitcher friendly parks in pitcher friendly leagues. That's not the case with Modesto. That would be shameful enough, but the average age of Nuts position players is 23.6 compared to 22.7 for the California League on the whole. The one factor that does help Modesto not look quite so bad in this regard is a crazy schedule that has them facing Stockton -the best starters in the minor leagues, remember- more than any other team, including the eleven games already played.
Asheville: Brian Rike 41 K's
I'm a big fan of Rike's, but striking out once out of every three plate appearances is a huge warning sign that a player's progression will stop flat at upper levels. I'm wanting to see a lot more contact here.