The Colorado Rockies got quality performances from many of their top minor league players on Thursday night, as nine of the top 30 PuRPs—in addition to Raimel Tapia—either homered or had a multi-hit game. Perhaps most notable among all their performances, however, was the outing Jeff Hoffman had on the mound for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes. The 25-year-old righty tossed 62⁄3 shutout innings while walking only one and striking out 10.
After suffering a shoulder injury in spring training, this is the type of outing everyone was hoping to see from Hoffman, as he likely represents one of the first few options to enter the Rockies’ starting rotation should a current starter go down. The outstanding performance from Hoffman lowered his ERA on the season to 4.36, which is perfectly acceptable for the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. While he’s still walking too many batters (4.1 walks per nine innings), Hoffman is also showing an ability to get the punch out (12 strikeouts per nine innings) that we haven’t yet seen in his career. A few more starts like this one, and he may just begin to push the issue for a spot in the Major League rotation.
★ ★ ★
Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 8, Reno Aces 2
Raimel Tapia: 2-for-5
Jeff Hoffman: 62⁄3 IP, 7 H, 0 R, BB, 10 K
Ryan McMahon (no. 2 PuRP): 0-for-4, 3 K
Garrett Hampson (no. 9 PuRP): 3-for-5
Tom Murphy (no. 11 PuRP): 2-for-4, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, K
Jordan Patterson (no. 14 PuRP): 2-for-3, 2 HR, BB, 3 RBI
Mike Tauchman (no. 22 PuRP): 1-for-3, BB, 2 RBI
★ ★ ★
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 7, Akron RubberDucks 5
Brendan Rodgers (no. 1 PuRP): 1-for-4, HR, RBI
Peter Lambert (no. 4 PuRP): 6 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 K
Brian Mundell (no. 13 PuRP): 0-for-2, 2 BB
Yonathan Daza (no. 19 PuRP): 2-for-4, 2B
Dom Nuñez (no. 21 PuRP): 0-for-4
★ ★ ★
High-A: Lancaster JetHawks 11, Visalia Rawhide 9
Tyler Nevin (no. 12 PuRP): 3-for-4, HR, 4 RBI, CS
Forrest Wall (no. 16 PuRP): 3-for-4, BB, RBI, 2 SB
Willie Abreu (no. 26 PuRP): 2-for-4, RBI, SB
Vince Fernandez (no. 28 PuRP): 3-for-5, 2 2B, RBI, 2 K
★ ★ ★
Low-A: Rome Braves 1, Asheville Tourists 0
Ryan Vilade (no. 7 PuRP): 0-for-3, 2 K
Chad Spanberger (no. 29 PuRP): 0-for-3
Sean Bouchard (ninth round, 2017): 0-for-2, BB, K
Antonio Santos: 7 IP, 8 H, ER, BB, 4 K
★ ★ ★
Friday Probables
Triple-A Albuquerque: TBA vs Reno, 6:35 PM MT
Double-A Hartford: TBA vs. Akron, 5:05 PM MT
High-A Lancaster: Matt Dennis (2-6, 7.26 ERA) @ Inland Empire, 8:05 PM MT
Low-A Asheville: Lucas Gilbreath (3-1, 7.57 ERA) @ Rome, 5:00 PM MT