Rockies prospect Tyler Nevin is starting to settle in for the Hartford Yard Goats

Tyler Nevin (no. 7 PuRP) had another solid week at the plate, going 7-for-20 (.350) with three strikeouts and two walks. Three of those hits were doubles, including a two double game on July 1. Nevin hasn’t been terrible in Hartford, but he hasn’t been overly amazing either. After tearing through the Arizona Fall League, he has hit .239/.338/.339 with 18 extra base hits — 12 doubles, two triples, and four home runs. The biggest challenge Nevin has had is strikeouts. He has 64 strikeouts on the year (23% of the time). Comparatively, he has 67 hits. For the first time in his career, he hasn’t lost any time due to injury but hopefully he’s able to figure some things out in the second half to show why he was drafted as a Competitive Balance A pick in 2015.

Top 30 PuRPs

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes, 3-4 (37-53)

Sam Hilliard (no. 11 PuRP), another 2018 Arizona Fall League participant, continues to hit home runs for the Isotopes. In one of the most hitter friendly environments in minor league baseball, he hit four more to up his total to 24 on the year. However, he also added seven more strikeouts to his team-leading 113. Hilliard has more strikeouts (113, 33%) than he has hits (87, 23%). This week, though, he only had one game without a hit and had three multi-hit games. In all three of those multi-hit games, he hit a home run. If Hilliard can lower his strikeout rate, he really could be a threat in the near future.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats, 4-3 (46-40)

Colton Welker (no. 3 PuRP) has been struggling a lot recently. Since he was named an Eastern League All-Star on June 24, he has gone 8-for-47 (.170) with one double and 15 strikeouts. Before that, he was hitting .272/.325/.452 with 28 extra base hits. Hopefully this is just a slump and Welker is able to turn it around quickly.

High-A: Lancaster JetHawks, 4-3 (45-41)

Ryan Rolison (no. 5 PuRP) had another rough outing for the JetHawks on July 3. He lasted two innings in which he threw 48 pitches, 33 for strikes. Of those 48 pitches, eight were hit and seven came around to score (six earned). He also gave up a three run homer. Rolison was named a mid-season All-Star for the California League but has had a roller coaster of a year and currently owns a 4.93 ERA.

Low-A: Asheville Tourists, 4-3 (37-51)

Terrin Vavra (no. 13 PuRP) was named the South Atlantic League Player of the Month for June. In June, he hit .350/.444/.513 with nine extra base hits. He was in the top three in slash and his 15 walks outnumbered his 12 strikeouts. Vavra also reached safely in 21 of 22 games in June. In the first week of July so far, he has gone just 4-for-22 (.182) with two doubles. He also has just one strikeout and six walks. Vavra has hit over .300 in each month of the 2019 season, so he should be able to turn it around if teams don’t pitch around him too much.

Boise Hawks, 4-3 (12-12)

Breiling Eusebio (no. 25 PuRP) has been pitching relatively well since coming back from Tommy John surgery. His workload is increasing, which also means his numbers have. This week he gave up eight hits and four runs (three earned) in five innings. However, he also struck out three and didn’t walk a batter. Eusebio was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2013 and made his stateside debut in 2016. Since then, he has bounced between Asheville and Boise but has a career 3.56 ERA in 247 ²⁄₃ innings.

Grand Junction Rockies, 4-3 (12-10)

Mitchell Kilkenny (HM PuRP) is also making his way back from Tommy John surgery with the Grand Junction Rockies. Kilkenny was drafted 76th overall in the 2018 draft, but had surgery last June so this is his debut. Since his debut, he has pitched pretty well for GJ. Despite his innings increasing each outing, he still owns a 0.60 ERA in 15 innings. He has struck out 11 batters and only given up one earned run in five starts. Hopefully this dominance continues.

Dominican Summer League: DSL Colorado, 3-3 (15-16)

Shortstop Aiverson Rodriguez had a good week, going 8-for-19 with two doubles. He is also in the midst of a four game hit streak which includes 2 multi-hit games. Warming Bernabel, also a shortstop, only went 5-for-19 but hit two home runs on July 4th.

Dominican Summer League: DSL Rockies, 4-1 (17-12)

Brazilian right-hander Gabriel Barbosa was recently shifted from DSL Colorado to DSL Rockies and has been pitching much better. Before his reassignment, he had a 10.97 ERA due to 16 runs (13 earned) in 10 ²⁄₃ innings. Since his reassignment, he has given up three runs but none of them have been earned so he still posts a 0.00 ERA in five innings.

Upcoming Schedule

Triple-A Albuquerque: 7/11-7/14 @ El Paso

Double-A Hartford: 7/11-7/14 vs. New Hampshire

High-A Lancaster: 7/8-7/9 @ Inland Empire, 7/10-7/12 vs. Stockton, 7/13-7/14 vs. San Jose

Low-A Asheville: 7/9-7/11 vs. Greenville, 7/12-7/14 vs. Augusta

Boise Hawks: 7/8-7/9 @ Hillsboro, 7/11-7/13 vs. Hillsboro, 7/14 vs. Eugene

Grand Junction Rockies: 7/8 @ Orem, 7/10-7/13 vs. Great Falls, 7/14 vs. Billings

DSL Colorado: 7/8 @ DSL Giants, 7/9 vs. DSL Mariners, 7/10 @ DSL Mariners, 7/11 @ DSL Tigers2, 7/12 vs. DSL Tigers2

DSL Rockies: 7/8 vs. DSL Phillies Red, 7/9 @ DSL Twins, 7/10 @ DSL Orioles2, 7/11 vs. DSL Cardinals Blue