Rockies pitching prospect Ryan Rolison is rising fast

Rockies pitching prospect Ryan Rolison (no. 5 PuRP) was promoted from Class A Asheville to Class A Advanced Lancaster on April 22 after just spending 21 days with the Tourists. This is with good reason, too — Rolison only gave up one earned run in three starts for an ERA of 0.61 in 14 ²⁄₃ innings. Since his promotion, the 2018 first round pick has started twice. His first outing lasted six innings, and he only gave up two hits and struck out seven. None of those hits crossed home. However, he got more of a taste of the home run haven that is Lancaster in his second start, surrendering his first home run. He gave up eight hits and two earned runs in total over six frames, walking two and striking out only four. Still not a bad start all things considering!

Top 30 PuRPs

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes, 3-3 (14-10)

Brendan Rodgers (no. 1 PuRP) and Yonathan Daza (no. 14 PuRP) had almost identical weeks. Rodgers went 12/24 (.500) with two homers, three strikeouts, and three walks whereas Daza went 12/25 (.480) with two homers and three strikeouts. Rodgers is starting to find his groove in Triple-A, slashing .326/.398/.605 so far in 2019. This is Daza’s first year in Triple-A, and he is slashing .431/.462/.741, which earned him a call up to the Big Leagues earlier this year. Look for these two to continue making waves in the PCL.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats, 3-4 (11-13)

Rico Garcia (no. 20 PuRP) continues to pitch well in Hartford, tossing five scoreless frames on Wednesday against the Portland Sea Dogs. The 25-year-old right hander is on his second stint with the Yard Goats and has thus far pitched well, only surrendering more than one earned run once on April 13th. He could possibly see a promotion to Albuquerque soon if he keeps up this pace.

High-A: Lancaster JetHawks, 5-2 (12-12)

Beyond Ryan Rolison, reliever Tommy Doyle (no. 27 PuRP) has also been dealing for the JetHawks, only surrendering one earned run in 11 ¹⁄₃ innings. That has earned the 22-year-old righty a 0.79 ERA in hitter-friendly Lancaster, with ten strikeouts and five walks on the young season.

Low-A: Asheville Tourists, 1-6 (8-15)

The Tourists stopped a seven game skid on Sunday against the West Virginia Power, but not because of Riley Pint (no. 8 PuRP). Pint once again had an incredibly short outing, only throwing seven pitches against two batters before being lifted. Both of the batters reached — one was walked and the other was hit. He also surrendered his tenth wild pitch of the year. His first outing of the year was something we’ve been hoping to see out of him — two innings of one hit ball with three strikeouts and only one walk on 37 pitches (21 strikes). Since then, he has not pitched a full inning. In 3 ¹⁄₃ innings (5 games), Pint has thrown 119 pitches. Thirty eight have been strikes, three have hit batters, and ten have been wild pitches. He has also walked 13 and struck out only five. I don’t know how much the forearm injury affected him last year, but Riley Pint looks like he has a long, long road ahead of him.

Upcoming Schedule

Triple-A Albuquerque: 4/29-5/2 vs. Sacramento, 5/3-5/5 @ Tacoma

Double-A Hartford: 4/29-5/1 vs. Portland, 5/2-5/5 @ New Hampshire

High-A Lancaster: 4/29-5/2 @ Modesto, 5/3-5/5 vs. Lake Elsinore

Low-A Asheville: 4/30-5/2 vs. Hagerstown, 5/3-5/5 vs. Delmarva