Colorado Rockies top 20 prospects for 2015 - Minor League Ball
Another day, another prospect list, this one by prospect guru John Sickels of Minor League Ball. There are no huge surprises on the list regarding ranking with Gray and Dahl at one and two, but it's a good primer on some of the guys with lower name recognition. The Rockies are generally regarded as having a top ten system in MLB, and possibly top five.
Sickels also notes that the talent in the organization is balanced from the lower levels to the top, meaning there should be a steady supply of reinforcements over the next few years, starting with Gray/Butler/Tyler Anderson.
Are the Rockies too aggressive at the plate? - Rockies Zingers
Sarah Ford at Rockies Zingers take a dive into the plate discipline data of 2014 to try to get an idea of whether the Rockies were hacking too much. Swinging freely at Coors Field might work, but when you get to the west coast parks patience is a virtue...
What happens when a pitcher gains or loses a framer? - Fangraphs
Catcher framing and how it affects the game has been all the rage the last few years in the sabermetric community. It's a hidden source of value that doesn't show up in WAR, and some estimates showed catcher framing having a huge impact--on the order of several wins per season. Jeff Sullivan takes a look at what happens to pitchers when they lose a good or bad framer from one season to the next. With Wilin Rosario moving off the position and Nick Hundley taking his place, the Rockies should see much better pitch framing in 2015. Will that translate into wins?