Ryan McMahon is having quite the bounce-back season. After a really rough year in Double-A that featured too many strikeouts and too few home runs, the Rockies had him repeat the level to start the year. After going nuclear there for 49 games, which included a strikeout rate cut down by a third and a return of his plus-power, the Rockies promoted him to Triple-A Albuquerque. His first four games at the level were okay, but in the ten games since, he’s been extremely good: a hit in all ten games, with multiple hits in eight of them.
He’s turned the dial up to 11 in the past three games though. After having zero Triple-A home runs as of June 14th, he now has five. He hit one on the 14th, two on the 15th, and two more last night. In those three games, he’s gone 9-for-14, with his five home runs, two doubles, a walk, 12 RBI, and just three strikeouts. Through 14 Triple-A games, he’s hitting .448, with a slugging percentage of .828. According to several physics reference manuals I’ve read, being that hot is typically associated with being an exploding red giant star.
Digging into his numbers, what impresses me most is that Ryan has managed to cut his strikeout rate down once again. He’s striking out just under 14 percent of the time in Triple-A, well above-average for that league. That’s extremely impressive, especially for a guy who struck out in more than 30 percent of his plate appearances last year.
Elsewhere, Brendan Rodgers went hitless last night, ending his hit streak at 23 games. The 0-for-3 evening lowered his season line to .398/.417/.684. But his middle-infield compatriot Garrett Hampson had two hits, one of which was a double.
Top 30 Purple Row Prospects (PuRPs)
Game Recaps:
Triple-A: Fresno Grizzlies 15, Albuquerque Isotopes 14
Ryan McMahon (No. 7 PuRP): 5-for-6, 3 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 R, 2
Rosell Herrera: 4-for-6, 3 R
Sam Howard (No. 20 PuRP): 5.2 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, HR
Double-A: Altoona Curve 2, Hartford Yard Goats 0 (Suspended in Bot 4)
High-A: Lancaster JetHawks 7, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 2
Brendan Rodgers (No. 1 PuRP): 0-for-3, 2 RBI
Peter Lambert (No. 11 PuRP): 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
Garrett Hampson (No. 22 PuRP): 2-for-3, 2 R, 2B, RBI, SB
Low-A: Augusta GreenJackets 6, Asheville Tourists 3
Max George: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI
Jose Gomez (No. 30 PuRP): 1-for-4, RBI
Manuel Melendez: 1-for-4, R
Short-Season-A: Boise Hawks 5, Spokane Indians 4
Jonathan Piron: 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Steven Linkous: 1-for-2, 3 R, 3 BB
John Valek: 6 IP, 6 H, ER, BB, 3 K
DSL: DSL Yankees 7, DSL Rockies 1
Enrique Saldana: 1-for-3, RBI
Yeikel Blandin: 1-for-4
Anderson Amarista: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Saturday probables:
Triple-A: Harrison Musgrave (No. 25 PuRP)
Double-A: Yency Almonte (No. 12 PuRP)
High-A: Jesus Tinoco
Low-A: Antonio Santos
SS-A: Rico Garcia