They just aren’t slowing down. Brendan Rodgers and Ryan McMahon continue to terrorize their respective leagues, and sooner or later the Rockies will have to offer them both a new challenge.
The Rockies top prospect, Brendan Rodgers, went 2-for-4 with a double and a home run yesterday. He’s now hitting .400/.419/.700 in the California League. While it’s true that Lancaster is extremely hitter friendly, his .400 average leads the league by 57 points, his on-base percentage is the best in the league despite a low walk rate, his slugging percentage is higher than a lot of OPS’s, and he is the only batter in the league with an OPS north of 1.000. Also, Rodgers’s wRC+ is over 200. It helps that 43 percent of his hits have went for extra bases. Rodgers is, plain and simple, the best hitter in the California League.
Ryan McMahon his similarly destroying Triple-A pitching. The 22-year-old had three hits in five plate appearances yesterday, one of which was a double. He’s now hitting .460/.493/.825 in 15 games and 71 plate appearances in Triple-A. (Yes, that’s good.) Combined with his work in Double-A, and McMahon has a line of .361/.417/.611 in 2017.
Rodgers is in the midst of fast-tracking himself to the major-leagues, but McMahon is much closer. The Rockies are, smartly, giving McMahon experience playing multiple infield positions. In Triple-A, he’s started seven games at first base and four each at third and second. Third base is spoken for, so his future with the Rockies is likely to be on the right side of the infield. There’s a clear path to him taking over first base after this season, but it’s also possible that he could find his way to second base. DJ LeMahieu will be a free agent after next season, after all.
Another way McMahon might help the Rockies win is as the center of a trade. The trade deadline is just six weeks away, and the Rockies will almost certainly be in the thick of contention at the time. McMahon could yield a player who can help the team win now without hurting the team long-term—the Rockies aren’t short of quality infield prospects. Don’t dismiss that as a possibility.
Albuquerque 8, Sacramento 4 | MiLB.com Box
Ryan McMahon (No. 7 PuRP): 3-for-5, 2B, K
Rosell Herrera: 2-for-5, 2B, 2 K
Noel Cuevas: 3-for-5, 2 3B, 2 K
Harrison Musgrave (No. 25 PuRP): 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K
Hartford 4, Altoona 2 | MiLB.com Box (Completion of suspended game)
Dom Nunez (No. 14 PuRP): 1-for-3, K
Altoona 2, Hartford 10| MiLB.com Box
Omar Carrizales: 1-for-3, K
Dillon Thomas: 0-for-2, K
Yency Almonte (No. 12 PuRP): 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 HRA
Lancaster 12, Rancho Cucamonga 2 | MiLB.com Box
Brendan Rodgers (No. 1 PuRP): 2-for-4, 2B, HR
Garrett Hampson (No. 22 PuRP): 1-for-4
Sam Hilliard: 1-for-4, 3B, BB
Roberto Ramos: 1-for-5, HR, 2 K
Jesus Tinoco: 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K
Augusta 7, Asheville 2| MiLB.com Box
José Gomez: 1-for-4
Carlos Herrera: 2-for-3, BB
Willie Abreu: 1-for-4, 2B
J.D. Hammer: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
Spokane 3, Boise 2 | MiLB.com Box
Cole Anderson: 1-for-3, BB, K
Jonathan Piron: 0-for-4, 2 K
Avery Romero: 1-for-4, HR
DSL Mets1 10, DSL Rockies 1 | MiLB.com Box
Yeikel Blandin: 1-for-5, 3 K
Today's Probables
Triple-A Albuquerque: Thad Weber
Double-A Hartford: Ryan Castellani
Class A Advanced Lancaster: Craig Schlitter
Class A Asheville: Alejandro Requena
Class A Short-Season Boise (game 1): Ryan Luna
Class A Short-Season Boise (game 2): Breiling Eusebio