Colorado Rockies Prospects: Castellani gem, Rodgers hit streak

Ryan Castellani seems to have found his stride. After a rough five-start stretch that left his ERA above 6.00, Castellani has allowed just three runs total in his last three starts, spanning 22 innings. Last night, he made his best start of the season, throwing eight shutout innings against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. He allowed just five hits, didn’t walk a batter, and struck out eight. The Yard Goats didn’t give Castellani much room for error, as a Correlle Prime solo home run in the second inning ended up being the only run scored in the game.

Looking at the advanced metrics, it becomes clear that Castellani has pitched much better than his 4.57 ERA would indicate. His FIP is a solid 3.51, and his strikeout, walk, and groundball rates are all above-average for an Eastern League starting pitcher. In fact, Castellani has posted above-average marks in all three categories for three straight seasons. Factor in Castellani’s age relative to the league, and he becomes an extremely intriguing prospect, despite not receiving as much attention as the names in front of him.

In the California League, managers are likely begging for the Rockies to promote Brendan Rodgers. After his two-for-five (with a double) night, Rodgers’ batting average is .397. That doesn’t just lead the league: he’s 58 points ahead of second place. His batting average would be the fifth-best on-base-percentage in the league. Oh yes, he leads the league in that category too. He’s currently working on a 12 game hit streak, featuring a rather absurd streak of nine games with multiple hits. He might just be ready for Double-A.

Rodgers’ two runs batted in last night contributed to Lancaster’s 6-3 win over the Stockton Ports. The JetHawks (side note: what is the deal with all of these TwoWord team names in the minor leagues?) are now 30-25, good for first place in the Southern half of the eight team league.

Top 30 Purple Row Prospects (PuRPs)

Game Recaps:

Triple-A: Sacramento River Cats 7, Albuquerque Isotopes 5

Raimel Tapia (No. 4 PuRP): 1-for-5, R, HR, RBI

Ryan McMahon (No. 7 PuRP): 0-for-3, R, BB

Jordan Patterson (No. 13 PuRP): 1-for-4, R, RBI, 3 K

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 1, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 0

Ryan Castellani (No. 9 PuRP): 8 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

Correlle Prime: 1-for-3, R, HR, RBI

High-A: Lancaster JetHawks 6, Stockton Ports 3

Brendan Rodgers (No. 1 PuRP): 2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI

Roberto Ramos: 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI

Brian Mundell (PuRP HM): 0-for-4, BB, 2 K

Low-A: Asheville Tourists 7, Lakewood BlueClaws 1

Willie Abreu: 3-for-3, 2 2B, RBI, BB

Jose Gomez (No. 30 PuRP): 1-for-5, RBI

Vince Fernandez: 0-for-4, BB, 3 K

Saturday probables:

Triple-A: Ryan Carpenter

Double-A: Jack Wynkoop (PuRP HM)

High-A: Trey Killian

Low-A: Riley Pint (No. 3 PuRP)