The Colorado Rockies released their list of non-roster invitees to 2018 Major League Spring Training today, and Rockies top prospect Brendan Rodgers is included. A total of 17 players that are not on the Rockies 40-man roster will be joining the big-league squad in camp this spring.
Of the 17 players, only two of them were signed to minor league deals with invites attached this offseason. All of the other players are prospects from the Rockies own farm system. Besides Rodgers, starting pitching prospects Ryan Castellani and Peter Lambert are the other two biggest prospects to be joining the big-league team though neither has a real path to making the team out of spring training.
Brian Mundell, Garrett Hampson, and Sam Hilliard represent some of the Rockies top position players. Like their starting pitcher counterparts, they are most likely just in camp to gain valuable experience in case the Rockies need to call on their services later in the season.
The two new names to the Rockies organization that are among the invites are utility player Shawn O’Malley and reliever Brooks Pounder. While Pounder’s name alone should give him a roster chance, the chances of either breaking camp with the team are very slim. That continuing theme highlights the current strength of the Rockies 40-man roster as there isn’t an obvious candidate among any of the non-roster invites to make the team on opening day.
The Rockies could still sign additional players to minor-league deals with invites, and with the current market being so slow that could be a notable player in the mold of the Rockies’ Mark Reynolds signing last spring. That type of potential signing probably represents the best chance of a player currently not on the Rockies 40-man roster making the Rockies opening-day active roster.
The complete list of non-roster invites is:
LHP
Harrison Musgrave
Jerry Vasto
RHP
Shane Broyles
Ryan Castellani
James Farris
Austin House
Peter Lambert
Brooks Pounders
C
Anthony Bemboom
Dom Nuñez
Jan Vázquez
IF
Daniel Castro
Garrett Hampson
Brian Mundell
Shawn O’Malley
Brendan Rodgers
OF
Sam Hilliard