Rockies Prospects: Eddie Butler labors, David Dahl homers, DSL Rockies start season with win

The affiliates were 3-2 yesterday, with one of the wins coming from the first game of the year of the DSL Rockies. The players at Colorado's Dominican academy are about as far away from the big leagues as a professional player can get and most will never even make it stateside to the other affiliates, but but who knows, there could be another Wilin Rosario or Ubaldo Jimenez on this year's team.

The two most likely to make some noise are a pair of 17 year-olds: shortstop Carlos Herrera ($1.2 million bonus last year) and pitcher Erick Julio ($700k bonus), neither of whom have made their professional debut yet.

AAA: New Orleans 10, Colorado Springs 3

Ben Paulsen's two solo home runs (his 8th and 9th on the year) provided virtually all of the offense in this one for the Sky Sox, which was obviously not enough when your opponents have 10 runs on 19 hits. Kyle Parker (PuRP 5) provided three hits for Colorado Springs as well. Pedro Hernandez allowed four of the runs and ten of the hits in his six innings of work, while Brooks Brown allowed six runs (two earned) on four hits in 2/3 of an inning.

AA: Tulsa 5, Midland 3

Eddie Butler (PuRP 2) couldn't get out of the 5th inning, throwing 107 pitches in 4 2/3 innings of work. Butler allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out four. It's exactly the kind of outing that gives you pause about Butler's MLB readiness. I think that Butler and Jon Gray both need a little more time down on the farm before the Rockies bring them up for good, because I want them to come up to the majors and not need to go back down again.

Ryan Arrowood threw 2 1/3 innings of one hit relief to get the win. Tyler Massey went 3-5 with a two run homer (5) in this one to lead the Drillers offensively. Massey and Cristhian Adames (PuRP 13) combined for five of Tulsa's six hits in the game.

High A: Stockton 3, Modesto 2

Modesto jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but they couldn't make it stand up as they dropped to 19-38 on the year. David Kandilas had three hits for the Nuts, while Dean Espy had a solo homer (2). Ryan Kulik pitched well for the Nuts in a losing effort, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing three runs on seven hits with a walk and five strikeouts. The 28 year-old former AAA pitcher in the St. Louis system has gone a long way toward making the Nuts somewhat respectable over the last few weeks.

Low A: Asheville 8, Charleston 4

David Dahl (PuRP 3) homered to lead the Tourists to an easy win yesterday. He wasn't the only one though as Ryan McMahon (PuRP 7) and Raimel Tapia (PuRP 16) both had three hits and Jose Briceno had two hits for the Tourists in this one. Tapia finished May with a .340/.381/.515 line. On the mound, Zach Jemiola got the win by throwing 6 2/3 innings of two run ball, giving up six hits and a walk.

DSL: DSL Rockies 3, DSL Mariners 1

In a league where offense is depressed as much as it is in the Dominican Summer League, you should probably get used to scores like this. The DSL Rockies scored three runs in this game despite managing only two singles and three walks in the game. Two of the three runs they scored came around thanks to three errors made by the DSL Mariners. Ramon Marcelino, who went 1-1 and had two steals, was the offensive stalwart. Hector Villarroel and Andres Matos each went just over three innings for the DSL Rockies, combining to allow the one run on five hits with five walks and four strikeouts. Matos got the win.

Today's Probables

AAA: Tyler Matzek

AA: Daniel Winkler

High A: Ben Alsup

Low A: Antonio Senzatela

DSL: Off