Colorado Rockies prospect Brandon Gold finding success in the California League

Last night, JetHawks pitcher Brandon Gold finished off his fifth straight quality start with a 1-2-3 eighth inning. Gold left the game scoreless, with inning of shutout work to his name tallying four strikeouts and only four hits allowed.

With the exceptional start, Gold lowered his ERA in Lancaster to 2.93 and showed more of the pitchers great control. Over 40 innings in Lancaster, Gold has only walked two batters. In fact, over 135 career minor league innings Gold has only walked THIRTEEN batters. This exceptional control is boosting Gold’s results and continues an unlikely story through pro baseball. The 2016 12th round pick wasn’t even a pitcher his first year at Georgia Tech and wasn’t supposed to be a starting pitcher at all for the Yellow Jackets. But injuries pushed him to the front of a good Georgia Tech rotation and now he’s making the most of his opportunities in the Rockies system.

Gold’s strikeout stuff may not be exciting and his success in the low minors may not be enticing to most, but he avoids free passes and keeps the ball on the ground and that just might be the formula that gets him to Coors Field.

The JetHawks won the game 2-0 in the tenth inning. Other news and notes from the affiliates are below:

Triple-A: Iowa Cubs 5, Albuquerque Isotopes 3

Ryan McMahon: 3-for-4

Dustin Garneau: 2-for-3

Carlos Estevez: 2 IP, 3 K, 0 R

Single-A Advanced: Lancaster JetHawks 2, Lake Elsinore Storm 0

Brandon Gold: 8 IP, 4 K, 0 R

Garrett Hampson: 1-for-3, 2 BB

Single-A: Asheville Tourists 5, Greenville Drive 2

Breiling Eusebio: 6 IP, 5 K, 1 R

Max George: 1-for-3, HR

Manuel Melendez: 1-for-4, 3B

Dominican Summer League: DSL Rockies 11, DSL Nationals 10

Daniel Montano: 2-for-3, HR, 2B

Anderson Bido: 5 IP, 7 K, 2 R

Christopher Navarro: 3-for-4, 5 RBI

Tuesday Probables:

Triple-A Albuquerque: SHOWTIME (1-0, 2.57 ERA) vs. Iowa

Double-A Hartford: Ryan Castellani (8-9, 5.02 ERA) vs. Akron

Single-A Advanced Lancaster: Ty Culbreth (3-1, 4.18 ERA) vs. Lake Elsinore

Single-A Asheville: Matt Dennis (5-2, 3.00 ERA) vs. Greenville

Dominican Summer League: TBD vs. DSL Nationals