Rockies’ OF prospect Braiden Ward is looking like a late-round steal from the 2021 draft.

The Colorado Rockies farm system experienced a fine outcome in their series last week. The Albuquerque Isotopes split a six-game set with the Oklahoma City Dodgers (LAD) while the Hartford Yard Goats took home four victories in their home series against Binghamton (NYM). The Spokane Indians had trouble with the weather all week with rain suspending game action on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. But that was the only trouble they experienced, as they won all four games played against Tri-City (LAA). Meanwhile, the Fresno Grizzlies split their series with Modesto (SEA).

The biggest contributor to Fresno’s three victories was OF Braiden Ward. A 16th-round selection out of the University of Washington in the 2021 draft, Ward is making the most of his first opportunity in full-season ball. Against Modesto, he collected 11 hits, 16 total bases, seven runs scored and five stolen bases – all the most by any Colorado prospect in the week. Among qualified hitters in the young 2022 season, Ward leads the California League in AVG (.388) and ranks second in OBP (.488), SLG (.597) and OPS (1.085) while maintaining the fourth lowest strikeout rate (13.8%). As if his work with the bat wasn’t enough, he’s also sacrificed his body the most in the league with eight HBP.

Top 30 PuRPs

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (3-3, 13-17 overall)

After taking home PCL player of the week honors for the week of April 26-May 1, Wynton Bernard continued to swing a hot bat for the Isotopes. He went 8-for-18 against OKC, posting a solid .444/.474/.556 line and swiping three bases. After starting the season on the bench, Bernard holds an impressive 1.289 OPS for the season and sits in the top-ten in HR and RBI for the Pacific Coast League despite sitting under the qualified hitter threshold with just 70 at-bats.

Another Albuquerque hitter enjoying plenty of success is Elehuris Montero (No. 5 PuRP) who was back in the Isotopes’ lineup after making his major league debut the week before. Montero led the team with 12 total bases last week; four coming on his fifth home run of the season. On the mound, Ryan Feltner (No. 15 PuRP) had two solid outings against the Dodgers, throwing five innings with two earned runs allowed in each while accumulating 13 total strikeouts and surrendering just two walks and six hits.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats (4-2, 15-12 overall)

University of Michigan product Karl Kauffmann (No. 20 PuRP) continued his excellence for the Yard Goats last week. In his lone start on Friday, Kauffmann twirled eight shutout innings, allowing five hits and no walks while striking out nine. He has now allowed one run or less in four of his five starts, lowering his ERA to 3.03 this season while limiting the opposition to an average of just .220.

Like Kauffmann, SS Ezequiel Tovar (No. 6 PuRP) has been tremendous for Hartford all season and showed the same again last week with an 8-for-24 performance and four stolen bases. Entering the week, Michael Toglia’s (No. 7 PuRP) totals sat at just .197/289/.352. He remedied that situation by posting his best week of the season with two doubles, two home runs and three walks drawn. His production against Oklahoma City raised his season line to .227/.320/.443.

High-A: Spokane Indians (4-0, 15-10 overall)

A damp week in Spokane limited the Indians’ power, as Colin Simpson hit the lone home run in the five-game series. While the offense didn’t show much pop overall, Daniel Montano seemed unaffected, collecting three extra-base hits. Eddy Diaz (No. 30 PuRP) continued his hot streak with six hits and two stolen bases in four games. Diaz has now hit safely in seven of his last ten games, recording multiple hits in six of those contests.

On the hill, Joe Rock (No. 16 PuRP) rebounded nicely after his first tough start the week before. Rock allowed one run over six innings on Sunday, limiting the Dust Devils offense to three hits. For the season, opponents have an OBP of just .245 against Rock. 2019 11th round selection Mike Ruff also continued his impressive start to the season, allowing one run over 7 ⅓ innings with eight strikeouts on Tuesday. Ruff issued his first walk of the season in that start and now sits at a K/BB of 29-to-1 over 23 ⅓ innings.

Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies (3-3, 16-11 overall)

Case Williams delivered another terrific start on Wednesday, hurling six scoreless innings with four hits allowed and seven strikeouts. Williams has now allowed one run and seven hits in his last 11 innings while punching-out 15 to just four walks. 2021 12th-round selection Mason Green also delivered an impressive performance on Sunday, striking out seven in seven shutout innings. He dropped his season ERA overall a full run in the outing, now sitting at 2.96.

One of the biggest bats supporting Braiden Ward this week was Warming Bernabel (No. 18 PuRP). Bernabel tallied eight RBI, five doubles and a homer in the series, finishing with a healthy 1.153 OPS. Aiverson Rodriguez also had a terrific showing in his first full series of the season, going deep twice and knocking two doubles with five runs scored in four games. Yanquiel Fernandez (No. 25 PuRP) sat out most of the series, but had a big night on Saturday with three hits, six total bases and four driven-in.

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Upcoming Schedule

Triple-A Albuquerque: 5/10-5/15 vs Sugar Land (HOU)

Double-A Hartford: 5/10-5/15 vs Portland (BOS)

High-A Spokane: 5/10-5/15 Hillsboro (ARI)

Low-A Fresno: 5/10-5/15 @Visalia (ARI)