clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Rockies prospect Sam Hilliard keeps setting records in Triple-A

Prospect news and statistics from the Rockies minor league affiliates from August 19-25, 2019

Sam Hilliard (no. 14 PuRP) continues to dominate the Pacific Coast League. This week, he went 9-for-30 (.300) with three more home runs to up his season total to 35. He also struck out 11 times. Those two stats are really a microcosm of his entire season — lots of power (.898 OPS), but high strikeout numbers (163, 32.8%). His most recent home run was a two run shot on Saturday night against the Fresno Grizzlies (AAA Nationals) and came after a 15-pitch at bat in the first inning. However, he has had a record-setting year that earned him a PCL All-Star appearance and an All-PCL Team nod along side Yonathan Daza. Don’t be at all surprised if Hilliard joins Daza on the big league field this weekend.

Top 30 PuRPs

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes, 4-3 (60-73)

Roberto Ramos (no. 23 PuRP) also continues to tear through Triple-A, recording four home runs this week. His 28 home runs trail only Hilliard and rank eighth in the PCL. Ramos also strikes out a lot, adding seven to his total of 130 in 2019 (32.5%). He might be a candidate for the Arizona Fall League to try to cut down on the strikeouts.

Rico Garcia (no. 12 PuRP) had his best outing in Albuquerque, going five innings while not giving up a run. He only allowed four hits and struck out five batters. He walked three, but it was still enough to earn his second win in Triple-A and second in three starts. Hopefully this shows that Garcia has begun to figure out the gauntlet of the PCL and will keep the upward trajectory as he possibly makes his MLB debut tonight.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats, 3-4 (68-62)

Vince Fernandez (no. 26 PuRP) smacked his first home run since returning from the Restricted List, his 14th of the season. Fernandez has been limited since his return, mostly making pinch-hit appearances, but he’s been holding his own. He has gone 8-for-31 (.258) with three doubles and a home run since being activated. So far on the season he’s been hitting .262/.355/.562 in 67 games, and it wouldn’t be too surprising to see him repeat Double-A to get fully caught back up after missing so much time.

High-A: Lancaster JetHawks, 3-3 (66-64)

Ryan Rolison had two excellent starts this week, allowing only three runs in ten innings. On Tuesday, he lasted five innings and struck out five batters. He gave up four hits, but the only run he gave up was a solo home run. Vintage Ryan Rolison. His second appearance on Sunday wasn’t quite as good: five innings, six hits, two earned runs, four walks, and one strikeout.

Rolison has been tremendous in his last four starts. He has lasted five innings each time, hasn’t given up more than six hits in any of them, and the two earned runs on Sunday were the most he’s given up since August 2. He owns a 4.32 ERA on the season, but a 4.81 ERA in Lancaster. Considering what a home run haven Lancaster is, a 4.81 ERA is pretty good. Rolison should keep climbing the ladder next year into Hartford.

Low-A: Asheville Tourists, 3-3 (65-68)

This week was not great for Asheville prospects not named “Ryan Feltner.” Grant Lavigne (no. 5 PuRP) went 2-for-17 (.118) with eight strikeouts; Terrin Vavra (no. 7 PuRP) is on the Injured List (but was still named South Atlantic League MVP); Daniel Montano (HM PuRP) went 3-for-17 (.176) with three strikeouts; Niko Decolati (HM PuRP) went 5-for-21 (.238) with eight strikeouts; and Riley Pint (no. 17 PuRP) is on the Injured List.

Feltner (no. 29 PuRP) made two appearances of five innings each. In his first start, he only gave up three hits and none crossed home. He struck out seven, but hit one and walked one. In his second start of the week, he lasted five innings again but yielded three earned runs on five hits. He struck out six, but also hit two and walked two. Not as great, but still pretty good. Feltner is in the midst of a four game streak of three runs or less, and his seven strikeouts on August 20 were the most he’s recorded since July 14.

Boise Hawks, 1-6 (25-44)

Once again, Breiling Eusebio (no. 21 PuRP) was the only PuRP to see action in Boise this week. He made two starts, combining for 8 13 innings, five runs (four earned), five strikeouts, and six walks. After getting beat up in back-to-back starts on July 12 and 17, Eusebio has performed much better. In his last four starts, he has combined for 11 13 innings, six runs (four earned), seven strikeouts, and eight walks. The five innings on Sunday was his longest outing since July 5 and his season ERA is sitting at 5.88.

Grand Junction Rockies, 2-4 (29-33)

Bladimir Restituyo (no. 27 PuRP) continues to acclimate to Grand Junction, going 7-for-25 with three extra base hits (one double, two triples) and his first stolen base in GJ. Since his reassignment, Restituyo has hit .343/.351/.514 with four extra base hits (two doubles, two triples). He has only gone hitless in one game and has multiple hits in four of his eight games. Despite being reassigned to Grand Junction in the middle of the season, it would not be surprising to see the 18-year-old speedster get the bump to Asheville for 2020.

Dominican Summer League: DSL Colorado, 2-3 (29-42)

RHP Angel Valencia continues to pitch fairly well. This week he made one appearance and lasted two innings. During those two innings, he gave up two hits and two runs. Both of them were earned off the bat of Royals’ prospect Densi Meli in the form of a two-run homer in the seventh inning of DSL Colorado’s 8-3 victory over DSL Royals2. Valencia was signed out of Venezuela this year and has held his own — he finished the year with a 4.45 ERA in 16 appearances, but five of his 14 earned runs have come in the form of home runs. He also has a 1.38 WHIP and a 0.63 ground out/fly out ratio.

Dominican Summer League: DSL Rockies, 3-2 (43-21)

Dominican right-hander Enmanuel Pio was the star for the DSL Rockies in the final week, making two appearances for a combined 4 13 innings. During his outings, he only gave up one hit and one earned run. He struck out three batters in one outing and one in the other, and walked a batter in both appearances. In his first outing, he threw 14 of his 18 pitches for strikes and 8 of 13 the second time around. Pio finished the season with a 3.93 ERA, a 1.23 WHIP, and a 0.81 ground out/fly out ratio.

Week of 8/19-8/25

Name PuRP Ranking Level H/AB HR SO BB
Name PuRP Ranking Level H/AB HR SO BB
Brendan Rodgers 1 MLB -- -- -- --
Colton Welker 4 AA 5/23 0 6 3
Grant Lavigne 5 A- 2/17 0 8 1
Michael Toglia 6 A (short) 0/0 0 0 0
Terrin Vavra 7 A- IL IL IL IL
Ryan Vilade 8 A+ 7/23 1 2 6
Tyler Nevin 9 AA 4/25 0 1 1
Aaron Schunk 11 A (short) 0/0 0 0 0
Sam Hilliard 14 AAA 9/30 3 11 4
Yonathan Daza 15 MLB -- -- -- --
Eddy Diaz 18 GJ 0/0 0 0 0
Roberto Ramos 23 AAA 10/27 4 7 3
Brian Mundell 25 AAA 5/15 0 4 4
Vince Ferndandez 26 AA 5/11 1 4 2
Bladimir Restituyo 27 GJ 7/25 0 6 0
Josh Fuentes 28 AAA 7/25 1 8 1
Brenton Doyle 30 GJ 1/12 0 4 3
Dom Nuñez HM MLB -- -- -- --
Daniel Montano HM A- 3/17 0 3 0
Niko Decolati HM A- 5/21 0 8 0
Julio Carreras HM GJ 2/12 0 5 1
Robert Mendoza -- DSL Colorado 2/11 0 3 0
Aiverson Rodriguez -- DSL Rockies 4/12 0 2 0
Pedro Mota -- DSL Rockies 2/16 0 3 1
Warming Bernabel -- DSL Rockies 0/0 0 0 0
Juan Guerrero -- DSL Rockies 5/13 1 1 5
Michael James -- DSL Rockies 4/15 0 3 1
Pitchers
Name PuRP Ranking Level IP R/ER SO BB
Peter Lambert 2 MLB -- -- -- --
Ryan Rolison 3 A+ 10.0 3/3 6 4
Ben Bowden 10 AAA 2.0 0/0 5 2
Rico Garcia 12 AAA 5.0 0/0 5 3
Karl Kauffmann 13 A- (TIL) 0.0 0/0 0 0
Ryan Castellani 16 AAA IL IL IL IL
Riley Pint 17 A- IL IL IL IL
Mitchell Kilkenny 19 GJ 3.1 7/7 3 2
Jesus Tinoco 20 MLB -- -- -- --
Breiling Eusebio 21 A (short) 8.1 5/4 5 6
Tommy Doyle 22 A+ 2.0 1/1 3 0
Justin Lawrence 24 AA 2.0 0/0 1 1
Ryan Feltner 29 A- 10.0 3/3 13 3
Helcris Olivarez HM GJ 3.0 3/3 4 4
Yeferson Pantoja -- DSL Colorado 0.0 0/0 0 0
Ronald Pereira -- DSL Colorado 1.1 0/0 2 1
Angel Valencia -- DSL Colorado 2.0 2/2 2 0
Enmanuel Pio -- DSL Rockies 4.1 1/1 4 2
Francis Rivera -- DSL Rockies 3.2 2/2 5 2
Gabriel Barbosa -- DSL Rockies 3.1 2/1 4 0

Season to Date

Name PuRP Ranking Level AVG/OBP/SLG HR
Name PuRP Ranking Level AVG/OBP/SLG HR
Brendan Rodgers 1 MLB .350/.413/.622 9
Colton Welker 4 AA .255/.312/.408 9
Grant Lavigne 5 A- .241/.353/.335 7
Michael Toglia 6 A (short) .248/.369/.483 9
Terrin Vavra 7 A- .318/.409/.489 10
Ryan Vilade 8 A+ .303/.365/.461 10
Tyler Nevin 9 AA .245/.343/.368 9
Aaron Schunk 11 A (short) .329/.388/.540 6
Sam Hilliard 14 AAA .264/.336/.561 35
Yonathan Daza 15 MLB .364/.404/.548 11
Eddy Diaz 18 GJ .331/.366/.440 0
Roberto Ramos 23 AAA .313/.403/.585 28
Brian Mundell 25 AAA .322/.388/.500 9
Vince Ferndandez 26 AA .262/.355/.562 14
Bladimir Restituyo 27 A (short) .270/.278/.388 4
Josh Fuentes 28 AAA .257/.301/.465 17
Brenton Doyle 30 GJ .340/.436/.539 6
Dom Nuñez HM MLB .244/.362/.559 17
Daniel Montano HM A- .224/.282/.353 7
Niko Decolati HM A- .271/.337/.410 6
Julio Carreras HM GJ .289/.357/.459 4
Robert Mendoza -- DSL Colorado .215/.331/.231 0
Aiverson Rodriguez -- DSL Rockies .295/.387/.376 2
Pedro Mota -- DSL Rockies .230/.356/.341 2
Warming Bernabel -- DSL Rockies .250/.320/.387 4
Juan Guerrero -- DSL Rockies .319/.387/.408 2
Michael James -- DSL Rockies .245/.329/.399 5
Pitchers
Name PuRP Ranking Level IP ERA
Peter Lambert 2 MLB 60.1 5.07
Ryan Rolison 3 A+ 125.0 4.32
Ben Bowden 10 AAA 47.1 3.04
Rico Garcia 12 AAA 123.1 4.23
Karl Kauffmann 13 A- 0.0 0.00
Ryan Castellani 16 AAA 43.1 8.31
Riley Pint 17 A- 17.2 8.66
Mitchell Kilkenny 19 GJ 37.1 4.82
Jesus Tinoco 20 MLB 34.0 3.97
Breiling Eusebio 21 A (short) 33.2 5.88
Tommy Doyle 22 A+ 35.0 3.34
Justin Lawrence 24 AA 34.0 9.00
Ryan Feltner 29 A- 114.0 5.21
Helcris Olivarez HM GJ 52.1 3.27
Yeferson Pantoja -- DSL Colorado 9.1 9.64
Ronald Pereira -- DSL Colorado 41.1 4.57
Angel Valencia -- DSL Colorado 28.1 4.45
Enmanuel Pio -- DSL Rockies 36.2 3.93
Francis Rivera -- DSL Rockies 33.0 3.55
Gabriel Barbosa -- DSL Rockies 33.2 4.28

Upcoming Schedule

Triple-A Albuquerque: 8/26-8/29 vs. Las Vegas, 8/30-9/2 @ Fresno

Double-A Hartford: 8/26-8/29 vs. Harrisburg, 8/30-9/2 @ Binghamton

High-A Lancaster: 8/26 vs. Lake Elsinore, 8/27-8/29 vs. Inland Empire, 8/30-9/2 @ Lake Elsinore

Low-A Asheville: 8/26-8/29 vs. Charleston, 8/30-9/2 @ Rome

Boise Hawks: 8/26 @ Tri-City, 8/28-8/30 @ Hillsboro, 8/31-9/2 vs. Hillsboro

Grand Junction Rockies: 8/26-8/27 @ Orem, 8/29-8/30 @ Ogden, 8/31-9/2 vs. Rocky Mountain

DSL Colorado: SEASON OVER

DSL Rockies: SEASON OVER