Baseball America has finally reached the Colorado Rockies in the publication’s top 10 prospect series and decided upon Brendan Rodgers as the organization’s No. 1. There were no real surprises in the Rockies’ top ten list, which is as follows:
1. Brendan Rodgers, SS
2. Riley Pint, RHP
3. Jeff Hoffman, RHP
4. Raimel Tapia, OF
5. German Marquez, RHP
6. Ryan Castellani, RHP
7. Tom Murphy, C
8. Kyle Freeland, LHP
9. Ryan McMahon, 3B/1B
10. Antonio Senzatela, RHP
The Rockies’ recent change in attitude and their newly found ability to develop pitching was highlighted in the article, written by Tracy Ringolsby. While last year’s wave of rookies made a huge impact on the team, the top 10 still contains seven players who could contribute to this year’s team, including four pitchers.
Last year, Baseball America listed Rodgers as the Rockies’ third-best prospect, but an at-times dominant campaign at Low-A Asheville combined with the promotions of both Jon Gray and David Dahl catapulted him to the top overall spot. Rodgers’ scouting report is part of the free portion of the article, though the rest of the scouting reports are behind a paywall.
Baseball America also released a free accompanying article that included prospect superlatives and a projected lineup for the 2020 Rockies. Unlike the top 10 list, these contained a few surprises. Some of the awards in the best tools category were:
Best Power Hitter — Brendan Rodgers
Best Athlete — Ryan McMahon
Best Infield Arm — Jose Gomez
Best Slider — Kyle Freeland
Riley Pint and Ramiel Tapia were among those to earn multiple top tool awards. Garrett Hampson also garnered multiple mentions, which may be a shock to some as well.
The biggest surprises in the 2020 lineup weren’t the prospects included but rather that Baseball America believes both Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado will still be with the Rockies past their free-agent years.