As we approach the 2019 trade deadline, it’s time to talk about some of the prospects who are likely to be discussed for trades whether by the Colorado Rockies or other teams. To that end, I’ve solicited the opinion of the Purple Row community over the last two weeks as to who their top 30 Rockies prospects are. I’ve tallied the votes and the result is the 2019 mid-season Purple Row Prospects (PuRPs) list, a biannual Purple Row institution that dates back over a decade.
The top 30 prospects will be revealed over the next couple of weeks to give people who aren’t in the know a little bit more of information on them. First up, an introduction to the list and then a rundown of every player to get votes from number 71 to 36. In a separate post I’ll reveal the five honorable mention PuRPs and move to the top 30 after that.
This time around, 29 ballots were completed, with 30 points granted for a first place vote, 29 for second, etc. Until a player was named on 10 ballots, his vote totals were modified on a sliding scale to avoid an individual ballot having too much say over the community forecast — though none of the top 30 players on this edition of the list were listed on fewer than 12 ballots. The first tiebreaker went to the player who was ranked on the most ballots, then to the one who was ranked highest on an individual PuRPs ballot, and the third tiebreaker is the mode ballot (one tie in the top 30 was broken in this edition, as were a few outside the top 30).
In a year in which Colorado’s minor league system seems to have taken a step back relative to other organizations, there was room for a record-tying (at least as far back as 2010) 71 players listed in the top 30 of at least one PuRPs ballot, up from 60 in the preseason 2019 list. There were 55 players named on multiple ballots (up from 50), while 33 were listed on at least 10 ballots (up from 32) and therefore were unmodified.
The relative paucity of consensus produced by a weakened system also led to a much wider variety of prospect placement in lists, with 28 different prospects receiving a top 10 placement on at least one list (compared to 19 in the preseason list and 16 from a year ago). With that said, the top 20 made it on over 75% of ballots and 28 PuRPs appeared on at least 50% of ballots. Here is a link to the polling thread.
All prospects who retained their Rookie of the Year eligibility (fewer than 130 ABs, 50 IP, and 45 days on the active roster – IL and September service time are not included) as of July 8th, when the polling thread went live, were eligible for selection on this list. Since the preseason list, only one PuRP was no longer eligible: PuRP no. 4, Garrett Hampson (service time). Peter Lambert has since crossed the eligibility threshold, while other PuPRs like Jesus Tinoco are possibilities to do so by the next list. Brendan Rodgers seemed likely to exhaust his availability, but the silver lining of his shoulder injury is that he will probably remain eligible for the next edition of this list.
For each player on the PuRPs list, I’ll include a link to individual stats (via Baseball-Reference), contract status (via Rockies Roster), and notes on their 2019 season to date, if applicable. For the sake of full disclosure, I’ll also include where I put each player on my personal ballot. With players receiving votes, I’ll provide the B-Ref link and voting stats, plus a short blurb where pertinent. All ages will be as of the day the article was posted.
Remember, statistics are not the end-all be-all when evaluating these players. Context is hugely important (such as the player’s age relative to the league’s average or the league average offensive numbers), as is the fact that injuries to prospects can affect both their tools and their stats. I’ll try to make mention of instances where this is the case as we go on.
More discussion on the voting will be included in the final installment of this series, but to begin, here are the players who ranked 71 to 31 in 2019 midseason PuRPs voting:
Single Ballot Players
T-70. Jared Horn (0.1 points, 1 ballot) — Colorado’s 7th rounder this year has experienced more than his share of personal tragedy, but the 21-year-old righty pitcher has overcome that to make it into professional baseball and has started off well in Grand Junction.
T-70. Mike Nikorak (0.1 points, 1 ballot) — it’s safe to say that Nikorak’s pro career hasn’t gone as planned since the Rockies drafted him in the first round of the 2016 draft. The 22-year-old righthander is hurt again but before that was in Low A ball with a career BB/9 rate of 10.8, which seems like a typo. What a disaster for everyone involved.
T-67. Jacob Kostyshock (0.2 points, 1 ballot) — The 21-year-old righty was Colorado’s 8th round pick this year. Due to a lengthy college baseball campaign with Arkansas, he only recently made his pro debut with Grand Junction.
T-67. Christian Koss (0.2 points, 1 ballot) — Colorado’s 12th rounder this year is a 21-year-old middle infielder who has come out of the gate in Grand Junction with a .406/.494/.652 line (193 wRC+) in 85 PAs.
T-67. Brandon Gold (0.2 points, 1 ballot) — Gold has been around since 2016, but this is the best season so far for the 24-year-old righty. In 94 innings over 18 starts in Double-A Hartford, Gold has a 3.54 ERA against age appropriate competition.
T-63. Moises Ceja (0.3 points, 1 ballot) — the 23-year-old reliever has a 3.78 ERA and 8.8 K/9 rate in High A Lancaster over 50 innings at the level.
T-63. Ashton Goudeau (0.3 points, 1 ballot) — the 27-year-old was a minor league signing this year for the Rockies who has pitched quite well in Double-A Hartford, with a 2.07 ERA with a 11.1 K/9 rate in 61 innings over 11 starts. The question at this point is why he isn’t pitching at a higher level with his age and that AA resume.
T-63. Garrett Schilling (0.3 points, 1 ballot) — the 23-year-old righty has survived the notorious hitter’s havens of the High A California League to post a 4.34 ERA and 9.7 K/9 rate in 88 1⁄3 innings at the level this year.
T-63. Ezequiel Tovar (0.3 points, 1 ballot) — I’m the single ballot for Tovar, so I’ll explain: the biggest reason I placed Tovar 28th on my personal ballot was the fact that he is not yet 18 (that’ll change next week) and he’s not only stateside already but in the Single Season A Northwest League. That’s an extremely advanced placement for the Venezuelan shortstop (who signed for $800k in 2017), who’s played regularly in that spot for Boise. As you might expect for a teenager facing mostly college draftees who are on average 4 years older, Tovar has been a little overwhelmed at the plate (61 wRC+), but the low age and the defensive utility make him a compelling prospect to watch moving forward.
FanGraphs ranked Tovar 25th in the system in May, before the stateside assignment:
Lots of Rockies prospects are two-year DSL guys by virtue of the fact that the Rockies have no AZL team, but Tovar is so physically immature that he’d probably be of that ilk anyway. He does have some feel to hit from both sides of the plate and his swing has some natural lift when he’s swinging left-handed, but he’d have to get much stronger for that to matter at all. He has plus hands and infield footwork and will likely grow into enough arm strength for the left side. It’ll likely be a long time before he’s anything at all, and he may end up as a utility infielder at best, but switch-hitting middle infield fits typically find big league roles.
T-61. Willie Abreu (0.5 points, 1 ballot) — the former PuRP just hasn’t performed up to the expectations set by his impressive physique. The 24-year-old outfielder is hitting just .214/.300/.308 (80 wRC+) in 182 PAs with Double-A Hartford and is currently on the IL.
T-61. Pedro Mota (0.5 points, 1 ballot) — the 17-year-old middle infielder was a big signing for the Rockies out of the Dominican Republic for $900k last year. Playing regularly in the DSL this year, he has a walk-heavy .246/.381/.394 line in 179 PAs (130 wRC+) and is a candidate for a stateside debut next year.
60. Logan Cozart (0..6 points, 1 ballot) — the 26-year-old righty reliever had a 1.69 ERA and 9.8 K/9 rate for AA Hartford this year in 32 innings before a promotion in late June to Triple-A Albuquerque, where he has a 4.76 ERA in 11 1⁄3 innings.
59. Colin Simpson (0.7 points, 1 ballot) — Colorado’s 29th rounder this year has started off his career with a bang in Grand Junction. The 23-year-old lefty-hitting, righty-throwing outfielder (and maybe catcher?) has hit .372/.455/.802 in 100 PAs (204 wRC+), which is enough to get him consideration for full-season ball next year.
58. Juan Guerrero (0.8 points, 1 ballot) — the 17-year-old 3B was a notable 2018 July 2 signing ($650k bonus) by the Rockies, ranking #19 overall by Baseball America among that class. In his pro debut, he’s raked to the tune of .339/.395/.449, good for a 135 wRC+ in the offense-starved DSL.
57. Walking Cabrera (1.2 points, 1 ballot) — beyond the fun name, the 18-year-old Dominican outfielder was described by FanGraphs in May as having “a traditional right field profile with some power, arm strength, and a big, skinny frame that should add lots of good mass”.
54. Todd Czinege (1.4 points, 1 ballot) — the 24-year-old first baseman hit very well in 2018 but has struggled in the hitter’s haven of High A Lancaster with a .241/.294/.430 line in 316 PAs (97 wRC+).
Multi-Ballot Players
56. Coco Montes (1.2 points, 2 ballots) — the 22-year-old middle infielder was one of the most pleasant surprises in Colorado’s minor league system in 2018 thanks to a .333 average and 137 wRC+ in Grand Junction. In his full-season debut in Low A Asheville, Montes has again been above average offensively with a .261/.313/.404 line in 386 PAs (106 wRC+).
55. Alexander Guillen (1.2 points, 3 ballots) — the 23-year-old Dominican righty reliever has been dominant this year for Double-A Hartford, fighting his way into a crowded Rule 5 protection scene. In 59 innings this year, Guillen has a 1.07 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and 11.6 K/9 rate. Those are excellent results — the aforementioned Rule 5 protection would do wonders to separate Guillen from the other myriad relief prospects in the system.
53. Yolki Pena (1.4 points, 2 ballots) — the 19-year-old Dominican outfielder, who signed for $600k in 2016, made his stateside debut this year in Grand Junction after a couple of strong campaigns in the DSL. Entering the season, FanGraphs called him a “physical projection teenager who also walked a lot last year” as one of the system’s Young Developmental Sleepers. In 129 PAs, Pena has hit .255/.352/.400 (98 wRC+) against older players, holding his own as a teenager.
52. Adael Amador (3.0 points, 3 ballots) — the 16-year-old Dominican shortstop was the big international signing by the Rockies earlier this month, inking a $1.5 million deal. Yes, that means he was born in 2003. Egads!
Amador was ranked by MLB Pipeline as the 12th best prospect in his international class:
The switch-hitting shortstop has tons of athleticism and a projectable medium frame. He has impressed evaluators with good bat speed and an aggressive approach from both sides of the plate. Add good rhythm and a timing mechanism when he’s in the batter’s box, and there’s a chance Amador will develop into an above-average hitter with some power. He’s also improved as a runner and shows good instincts on the bases, a byproduct of playing in so many games and tournaments across the Dominican Republic as a youth player.
On defense, Amador is a solid defender with plus arm potential. He shows soft hands and proper footwork and often makes the difficult plays look easy. If he develops at a normal pace and continues to improve, the teen could develop into a .280 hitter who hits 10-15 home runs a season in the big leagues.
Notably, MLB Pipeline gives Amador 60 grades on his arm and fielding tools. That scouting input was enough for me to rank Amador 26th on my personal ballot.
51. Casey Golden (3.6 points, 3 ballots) — the watchword with Golden is POWER. The 24-year-old outfielder led his league in home runs the last two years and has 15 more this year to bring his total to 69 in just 251 minor league games. He also has been well above average offensively in each of his three minor league campaigns, posting wRC+s of 132, 159, and 139. What appears to be holding him back from prospect status is the context of being old for each level with a 20th round draft pedigree and residing in hitter’s parks so far in his pro career. Oh, and he strikes out in over 33% of his PAs — making his Three True Outcomes % a robust 48%. Golden’s profile is working in modern baseball, but it requires a special skillset to maintain that contact profile at the Major League level and be successful.
MLB Pipeline currently ranks Golden 30th in the system (with a 60 power tool):
Though Golden has called hitter-friendly parks home in his pro career, he’s shown the ability to hit the ball out of any park. With that power comes a lot of swing and miss, with a strikeout rate of over 34 percent during his first full season. A fringy runner, Golden is aggressive on the basepaths, with his 24 steals in 2018 as evidence of his baserunning acumen. A decent fielder with a solid arm, Golden has seen time at all three outfield spots, but probably profiles best in left should he settle into one spot long-term.
Golden, at 24 years old, is a bit old for his level. If he can manage his strikeouts enough to continue to tap into his considerable power, he could start to move a bit more quickly through the Rockies’ system, with the chance to be a run-producing corner outfielder his ceiling, though a career as a fourth outfielder/power bat off the bench is a more likely outcome.
50. Colten Schmidt (4.4 points, 2 ballots) — the 23-year-old lefty has been a bright spot this year for Low A Asheville, hurling 92 1⁄3 frames over 16 games at a 1.95 ERA and 8.9 K/9 rate with a low 1.2 BB/9 rate. Yes he’s old for the level and has a 23rd round draft pedigree, but those are encouraging numbers in a system suddenly devoid of many starting pitcher prospects.
49. Will Ethridge (5.7 points, 3 ballots) — the 21-year-old was Colorado’s 5th round pick this year out of Ole Miss and has only recently made his professional debut in Single Season A Boise.
He was ranked as the 136th best prospect in the draft by MLB.com:
Ethridge excels at pitching to contact with a 91-93 mph fastball that tops out at 95, creating groundballs and awkward swings with sink and the extension in his low-three-quarters delivery. His low-80s slider can be a solid offering when he stays on top of it, though it also can get sweepy and slurvy at times. His fading changeup similarly varies between effectiveness and inconsistency.
Strong and durable, Ethridge does a nice job of repeating his simple mechanics. He doesn’t overpower hitters but he puts his pitches where he wants and limits damage done by walks or home runs. He’s one of the safer bets in this year’s college class to become at least a back-of-the-rotation starter.
48. Sean Bouchard (7.5 points, 3 ballots) — the 23-year-old at High A Lancaster has hit well at every level. Interestingly, he actually moved up the defensive spectrum in 2019, going from largely a first baseman in his first professional season to splitting his time between left field and third base. It’s a transition that helps Bouchard’s prospect stock, as his .285/.347/.479 line with 40 extra base hits in 370 PAs (128 wRC+) looks a lot better when there’s some defensive utility behind it. There’s still a logjam of similar prospects in the system, but Bouchard has certainly made himself more competitive in a fight for upper level playing time.
47. Sam Howard (9 points, 3 ballots) — after a 2018 season that saw him make his Major League debut but also struggle in Triple-A, the 26-year-old lefty was non-tendered by the Rockies. After re-signing with the team on a minor league deal, Howard converted full-time to relief and has actually pitched quite well in 2019 with Triple-A Albuquerque in a season when PCL offensive numbers have gone crazy. In 44 2⁄3 innings, Howard posted a respectable 3.83 ERA as well as an impressive 11.5 K/9 rate. In doing so, he recently earned back his 40 man roster slot and is currently on the big league club. There’s some utility here for the Rockies, who are struggling to find left-handed relief. We’ll see if Howard can be that guy.
46. Alan Trejo (9.5 points, 5 ballots) — the 23-year-old shortstop has provided slightly above average offense at each level, combined with strong defensive utility. This season, he’s hitting .251/.296/.415 with 13 homers in 339 PAs (107 wRC+) for Double-A Hartford against pitchers who are on average a year older. That’s not an exciting profile per se, but it’s an important one to fill well, as there is usually a roster spot for a flexible up the middle defender who can hit a little. For more on Trejo, here’s a Purple Row feature on him from May.
45. Jacob Wallace (10.0 points, 4 ballots) — the 20-year-old righty reliever was Colorado’s 3rd round pick this year and is a strong candidate to be the first player from this year’s draft class to make the majors. He’s serving as the closer for Single Season A Boise as a professional and has 15 strikeouts against 3 runs in 11 innings pitched so far (2.45 ERA, 0.91 WHIP).
Wallace was ranked 116th overall by MLB.com prior to the draft:
Wallace is the prototypical power short reliever and his stuff will play at the next level. He’ll throw both a two-seam and four-seam fastball, the former thrown 92-94 mph with good sink and the latter sitting 95-98 mph consistently. He does have a tendency to rush to the plate, which forces him to get on the side of his slider. Once he learns to stay back consistently and stay on top of the hard breaking ball, it should be a plus out pitch for him.
The right-hander has struggled with finding the strike zone in the past, but has lowered his walk rate each year and has been going right after hitters in his junior season. He could be the first pure reliever taken in the Draft and has the chance to pitch late in games in a big league bullpen in the future.
44. Robert Tyler (10.0 points, 5 ballots) — the 24-year-old former PuRP is a righty pitcher with huge potential thanks to a 70-80 grade fastball who has struggled with command and injuries since being drafted in 2016. After a promising stint in Low A Asheville last year, Tyler only made his debut in June of this year with High A Lancaster (reason unclear). With Lancaster, he’s pitched only 12 2⁄3 innings while allowing 14 runs on 21 hits and 12 walks in the process. He’s Rule 5 eligible after this year but with his results so far, it’s hard to see him getting protected (or even selected) this time around. That’s quite a bit of a tumble from where he was pre-season.
MLB.com currently has Tyler ranked 14th in the system, but that seems likely to change when the mid-season version is revealed:
Now a full-time reliever, Tyler has the chance to take off and move quickly. His fastball is still one of the best in the system, touching 99-100 mph now that he’s pitching in shorter stints. His best secondary pitch is his plus changeup. Tyler throws it from the same slot and arm speed as his fastball with terrific deception and the pitch comes in at 86-88 mph and drops off the table. Healthy all season in 2018, his strike-throwing also took a nice step forward.
Tyler scuffled a bit upon his promotion to the Class A Advanced California League, but the Rockies are confident he’ll make the necessary adjustments to keep progressing. With his fastball-changeup combination, if his control and command continue to improve, he’ll have the chance to pitch late in games.
43. Jack Wynkoop (12.0 points, 3 ballots) —the 25-year-old lefty starter’s calling card has always been his control and finesse, but that hadn’t really manifested itself in success in the upper minors. This year though, Wynkoop is having a good campaign in Double-A Hartford (his third at the level). In 123 innings over 19 starts, Wynkoop has a 3.29 ERA. He’s not striking many people out (5.9 K/9 rate), but he’s pitching on average well into the 7th inning on every start and he’s not walking people (1.2 BB/9 rate). I’m skeptical that a soft tosser can maintain the .280 BABIP he’s currently running, but at least here is a starter with great command who is having a strong 2019.
42. Luis Castro (13.8 points, 6 ballots) — put simply, the 23-year-old Venezuelan first baseman murdered the ball this year in High A Lancaster, so much so that he earned a promotion to Double-A Hartford last week. This ability wasn’t exactly a surprise, since he hit quite well in a 109 PA cameo at Lancaster in 2018, but Castro’s 2019 line at the High A level of .303/.418/.557 with 39 extra base hits (20 HR) in 392 PAs (168 wRC+) made it abundantly clear that he was ready for AA pitching.
Here’s what Wilson Karaman of Baseball Prospectus had to say about Castro’s offense last month:
A former middle infielder, he’s got a modest build by cold corner standards at 6-foot-1 and a listed 187, but there’s mature strength on the frame and broad, square shoulders that should continue filling out. He brings an advanced approach to the plate, with quality breaking ball recognition and the ability to lay off fastballs in suboptimal corners of the zone. He strikes out a bit more than one would hope, working through deep counts, but there’s a solid baseline ability to get the bat on balls all around the zone, and he’s gotten a lot more upper-cutty with his swing plane in hitting counts than he flashed during his inaugural tenure in the league last summer. Coming from a deep crouch, he creates positive torque off a leg lift with an Alfonso Soriano-esque swing structure, and there’s enough raw power here to pique mild interest.
That’s an interesting offensive profile, even if it took six years as a pro to get there. Of course, defensive utility matters too, and there Castro is limited to first base or DH, behind a crowd of similar prospects in the organization.
41. Phillip Diehl (15.0 points, 5 ballots) — acquired in exchange for Michael Tauchman from the Yankees during Spring Training, the 25-year-old lefty reliever enjoyed a meteoric rise from High A ball to the bigs in a year (albeit only for two innings). He started out the year in Double-A Hartford, earning a promotion to Triple-A Albuquerque after beginning the year with 13 1⁄3 scoreless innings. With Albuquerque, Diehl has struggled in the offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League. In 29 2⁄3 innings at the level, Diehl has a 5.76 ERA and has allowed 10 homers, which is more than he gave up in his first three professional seasons combined. Diehl is posting a 10.3 K/9 rate though, and his numbers may indeed be a victim of circumstance. The problem of course is there aren’t much worse circumstances in MLB for a pitcher than coming into a game at Coors Field in 2019.
40. Bret Boswell (17.4 points, 6 ballots) — the Bos, the name to which I’m sure he’s referred by his friends, was a PuRP in the preseason list but has struggled offensively in his first taste of Double-A. The 24-year-old lefty hitting, righty throwing player was drafted as a second baseman but has spent plenty of time at the hot corner and has even begun getting work in center field in 2019. This flexibility improves his prospect utility of course, but he’ll have to hit better than the .203/.279/.369 line with 10 HRs in 301 PAs (89 wRC+) he’s managed this year in Hartford for that flexibility to come into play in the Show.
Boswell currently ranks 25th in the system according to MLB.com:
Though he’s not the biggest guy in the world, Boswell has shown an ability to impact the baseball from the left side of the plate. He is capable of being short to the ball and barrels it up when he makes contact, but he will have to cut down his strikeout rate as he progresses. Boswell settled in defensively as a second baseman at Texas and that’s where he played during his debut, but he split time between second and third, where his strong arm works well, during his first full season.
Boswell hasn’t played much shortstop, but he could probably play there in a pinch, which could come in handy for a future utility role. Perhaps because of his age, Boswell might be a bit underrated, but if his bat is this loud moving forward, he’ll start getting a lot more love.
39. Antonio Santos (21 points, 6 ballots) — the 22-year-old Dominican righty starter has been noteworthy for a couple years as a starter who has earned places in the rotations of levels where he is one of its youngest members. This year, Santos repeated in High A Lancaster and provided a strong performance in a tough environment. In 99 1⁄3 innings over 18 starts, Santos had a 4.35 ERA with a 8.7 K/9 rate and 1.6 BB/9 rate. That was enough to earn Santos a promotion to Double-A earlier this week. His ability to soak up innings with good numbers against older hitters in a tough environment was what led me to place Santos 25th on my personal ballot.
38. Willie MacIver (25.2 points, 6 ballots) — our first catcher so far is a 22-year-old who converted from third base in college to donning the tools of ignorance as a pro (he was a high school catcher, to be fair). In his full-season debut in Low A Asheville, MacIver is hitting a respectable .256/.326/.438 with 33 extra base hits (10 HR) in 351 PAs (118 wRC+). Behind the plate in 2019, he’s thrown out 37% of base stealers with 3 errors and 16 passed balls.
He’s currently 27th in the system per MLB.com:
MacIver managed the strike zone well and drew some walks while showing some ability to drive the ball. He didn’t show much pop in college, but there is some future power potential there, most of which showed up to his pull side during his debut, and he could be more power over hit when all is said and done. Strong with a a classic catcher’s build, MacIver has a solid arm that works well from behind the plate, enabling him to throw out just over 30 percent of potential basestealers during his debut.
The Rockies love his intangibles and think MacIver has the kind of leadership skills that work for the position. He needs more reps after not having played there for much of college, but he could fit the backup backstop profile well in the future.
37. Alfredo Garcia (27.5 points, 5 ballots) — the most notable item about Garcia’s profile is that he was a starter full-time in the South Atlantic League with Asheville as a 19-year old (he just turned 20). It’s important to remember that player that age in a full season affiliate’s rotation has to be pretty well thought of by the organization. The lefty hurler signed in 2016 for $900k and has quickly moved up the ladder. This year, he threw 90 1⁄3 innings for Asheville over 19 starts with a 6.28 ERA and 1.63 WHIP before getting bumped back down to Boise last week. That isn’t great, but Garcia’s 3.63 xFIP and 10.3 K/9 rate suggests he was significantly unlucky to get those results.
In May, FanGraphs had this to say about Garcia: “Garcia is 19 and missing bats at Low-A while sitting 90-93 with an average changeup and curveball. He generates plus-plus extension.” Garcia was the very last cut on my personal list and I expect big things from him next year, with a return engagement to Asheville likely.
36. Reid Humphreys (37.8 points, 9 ballots) — the 24-year-old righty reliever was the number 18 PuRP in the preseason list but has suffered a nightmarish, injury-wracked 2019 that has limited him to just 3 terrible innings with Double-A Hartford. A member of the 2019 Rule 5 eligible mob, Humphreys has (like Robert Tyler) become much less likely to be protected as a result of this lost season. When he’s right, Humphreys is a late inning relief prospect (who was mostly a position player in college) with several potential out pitches.
Humphreys is currently ranked 16th in the system by MLB.com:
Humphreys misses a lot of bats with a deeper repertoire than most relievers. He can run his four-seam fastball up to 97-98 mph at times, but he uses his low-90s cutter as his primary fastball and it has solid average cut to it. He does a nice job at mixing in his low-80s slider and even has a changeup that can help him neutralize left-handed hitters.
While his command wasn’t quite as sharp in 2018, he should find the strike zone consistently enough to be effective. He’s not far off from contributing to a big league bullpen, another power arm in the system who could be an effective setup man, if not more.
Thanks to all who voted this time around! Next time I’ll reveal the five Honorable Mention mid-season 2019 PuRPs, and then we’ll get into the players that will make up the top 30.