Rockies prospect Willie MacIver makes history for the Hartford Yard Goats

No Rockies affiliates posted a losing record this week! Things got a little weird for the Hartford Yard Goats, who had games postponed on June 29 and 30 due to inclement weather. But then Game 1 of one of the rescheduled doubleheaders had to be postponed again due to more inclement weather, so the Yard Goats played five games in four days, including what should’ve been two doubleheaders. Luckily, they posted a 3-2 record in those five games.

During that stretch, C Willie MacIver (HM PuRP) was a) named to the All-Star Futures Game on June 30 and b) went on to hit three home runs in a game three days later on July 3. He became the first Yard Goat in history to hit three homers in a game, and has gone 3-for-7 with three home runs, three runs scored, seven RBI, two walks, and one strikeout since being promoted to Double-A. MacIver has come on to the scene quite strongly in 2021, and hopefully he keeps up this masterful performance.

Top 30 PuRPs

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (3-3, 18-34 overall)

OF Ryan Vilade (No. 3 PuRP) was also named to the Futures Game roster. The 22-year-old has been slashing .264/.325/.363 in 48 games with the Isotopes, which isn’t too bad considering he skipped Double-A altogether. However, it shouldn’t be terribly surprising to see the former second-round pick performing so well, seeing as he slashed .303/.367/.466 in High-A Lancaster in 2019 and was named a Rockies Organizational All-Star during that same year. This week, Vilade went 5-for-22 with a triple, two RBI, two strikeouts and a stolen base.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats (3-2, 18-35 overall)

While Willie MacIver continues to flourish in Double-A thus far, his battery-mate RHP Karl Kauffmann (No. 11 PuRP) continues to struggle. Kauffmann has yet to allow less than two runs in an outing. He didn’t allow an earned run on June 2, but has allowed 28 runs in five games since then. In his last three outings, Kauffmann has allowed 17 runs on 24 hits over the course of 6 ¹⁄₃ innings. He has not pitched past the third inning since June 13, and has also not allowed less than five runs.

I’m not exactly sure if Kauffmann is trying to work on something or what exactly is going on with him at the moment, but hopefully he’s able to right the ship soon.

High-A: Spokane Indians (3-3, 25-29 overall)

Speaking of promotions, RHP Mitchell Kilkenny (No. 27 PuRP) continues to shine since he was promoted to High-A Spokane on June 16. In four starts, Kilkenny has yet to allow more than three runs (knock on wood) and just allowed his first home run on July 3. Unfortunately, his strikeouts seem to be going down (10, 8, 6, 4) and his walks seem to be going up a bit (0, 0, 2, 2). He still has a 62.5% left-on-base percentage, though, and a 57.1% groundball percentage. In Fresno, he had a 62.5% LOB% and a 57.1% GB%. Hopefully Kilkenny can continue to perform well, and get some of those strikeout/walk numbers back in the right direction.

Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies (4-2, 34-20 overall)

Zac Veen (No. 2 PuRP) and Grant Lavigne (No. 9 PuRP) seemingly had a contest to see who could hit the most home runs this week. Unfortunately for them in that regard, the contest ended in a tie — both hit three homers this week. Veen his numbers two, three and four and Lavigne hit numbers three, four and five. Even at the plate in general, the two played pretty evenly. Veen went 7-for-25 (.280) with two doubles, three homers, four runs scored, four RBI, one walk and three strikeouts while Lavigne went 8-for-21 (.381) with three homers, seven runs scored, six RBI, one walk, seven strikeouts and a stolen base. Now, Veen is a rookie and Lavigne is 21-years-old and in his third year in the minors, but this is still an exciting development and hopefully they can continue making strides like this.

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Upcoming Schedule

Triple-A Albuquerque: 7/5-7/6 vs. El Paso (SD); 7/8-7/11 @ Round Rock (TEX)

Double-A Hartford: 7/6-7/11 @ Portland (BOS)

High-A Spokane: 7/6-7/11 @ Vancouver (TOR)

Low-A Fresno: 7/6-7/11 @ San Jose (SF)