Colorado Rockies news and links for Monday, April 29th, 2024
The back issues plaguing Nolan Jones are no longer a secret. The struggling Colorado Rockies left fielder, who took fourth place in National League Rookie of the Year voting last season, is hitting just .170/.243/.277 as he battles back stiffness that could date back to as early as the beginning of the 2024 season.
Jones was shelved a few days before the Mexico City Series last weekend, which seemed to help. In the first game against the Houston Astros, Jones went 2-for-4 at the plate with a walk in the Rockies’ loss. He started the second game of the series—going 1-for-2 with a double—only for his back issues to flare up again. The Rockies removed him from the game in the top of the seventh inning.
Now the Rockies are considering a stint on the injured list for Jones. There is some hope the problem might resolve itself, but skipper Bud Black is concerned that Jones has been pulled from multiple games due to the issue.
“Just frustrated — I don’t know what else I can do,” Jones said after Sunday afternoon’s 8-2 loss to the Astros. “We’ve been putting in a lot of work over the past five days to get it right and I felt really good yesterday. Today, I’m back to square one. There’s a little success showing, and I feel more comfortable, more confident. I felt I could start building on some small wins. It’s obviously a setback.”
However, with this unfortunate news comes a silver lining for Rockies fans looking for a spark in a frustrating start to the season, as MLB.com’s Thomas Harding dropped a potential bombshell on Sunday evening.
With the #Rockies considering placing OF Nolan Jones on the injured list with back stiffness, there is a good chance they could call up OF and @MLBPipeline No. 73 prospect Jordan Beck from the @ABQTopes for Tuesday’s opener of three vs. the #Marlins.https://t.co/IsUNua0Hid
— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) April 29, 2024
Top Rockies prospect Jordan Beck (no. 6 PuRP) might be joining the team in Florida to kick off the series against the Miami Marlins.
Beck—the 38th overall pick in 2022—turned heads for his excellent progress after finishing last season with the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats.
He was invited to big league camp for spring training this year, where he hit .370/.433/.519 in 18 games and 27 at-bats with two doubles and a triple. He hadn’t quite tapped into his power and was assigned to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes to start the 2024 campaign, where he immediately caught fire.
Affectionately nicknamed “Mike Honcho” after a scene in the 2006 film Talladega Nights, Beck has thrived at virtually every level of the Rockies’ farm system, but his first month in Albuquerque has been particularly impressive. During his Triple-A debut on March 29th he went 2-for-4 with a walk and slugged his first home run at that level. Since then, he has yet to slow down.
Having completed one month in the Triple-A season Beck’s .999 OPS is tenth-best in the Pacific Coast League.
With 25 games under his belt—splitting time at all three outfield positions and as a designated hitter—he is slashing .307/.405/.594 through 101 at-bats. While he does carry a 23.7% strikeout rate (which is still better than the majority of the Rockies’ current roster), he has also drawn 18 walks and gone five-for-five in stolen bases. Meanwhile he has done damage with his bat to the tune of ten doubles, two triples, and five home runs.
The Rockies are one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball right now. Their 7-21 record is the third-worst in the league behind the Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox, and they have yet to win a series or even string together consecutive wins.
An injection of “Mike Honcho” energy from MLB Pipeline’s no. 73 overall prospect could do tremendous good to a faltering team and frustrated fanbase.
However, there needs to be one stipulation to be set if Beck is to be beckoned from the minors: He must start every day.
The Rockies have fallen into this trap before where they call up a prospect only for them to languish on the bench for a few weeks before ultimately being demoted. We saw it with Nolan Jones last year when he was called up for a series against the Seattle Mariners only to never receive any playing time—an incident that may have cost him higher placement in Rookie of the Year voting.
We’ve seen this with Michael Toglia, Elehuris Montero, and Sean Bouchard as well. The Rockies must not repeat this mistake with Beck. They need to trust in their young outfielder’s abilities and let him play.
If Bud Black and his coaching staff can’t provide Beck with regular playing time, the Rockies are probably better served by calling up Sam Hilliard or using Jake Cave more frequently.
Isotopes hitting coach Jordan Pacheco appears confident in Beck’s ability to adapt.
“If I can say anything, it’s that he’s mature for his age and how he handles situations,” Pacheco said. “He’s been in some big situations for us and hasn’t come through. He’s been in some big situations and has come through. And he’s the same guy after each one of those.”
Beck’s first cup of coffee may end up like Baltimore Orioles top prospect Jackson Holliday—who went 2-for-34 before being optioned back to Triple-A—or he may come through in a big situation like he has done before.
For the Rockies, however, the only way to see if the Mike Honcho energy will work is to put it in the game.
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Pebble Report: It is raining in Spokane. (April 22nd-28th)
Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (2-4, 8-19 Overall)
The Isotopes pulled themselves out of a tailspin by winning the last two games of the week against the Los Angeles Dodgers affiliated Oklahoma City Baseball Club, but three of those first four losses were pretty bad. Despite scoring at least nine runs in each of the first three games, the Isotopes lost. The worst of those losses was a 21-9 blowout on Wednesday.
Stock Up: Coco Montes had himself an excellent series against Oklahoma City, going 10-for-21 at the plate with two doubles and two home runs. The utility infielder has a .936 OPS in the first month of the season.
Stock Up: Rockies catching prospect Drew Romo (no. 7 PuRP) has adjusted to Triple-A quite nicely over the first month of the season, hitting .329/.338/.443 in 19 games. Against Oklahoma City he went 10-for-24 at the plate with four doubles.
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats (4-2, 12-7 Overall)
The Yard Goats pulled out a series win against the Portland Sea Dogs of the Boston Red Sox organization thanks to a strong offensive week and solid pitching. Unfortunately Carson Palmquist was finally made to look mortal after 16 scoreless innings to start the season. On Thursday Palmquist was credited with his first loss of the season as he gave up three earned runs.
Stock Up: Reliever Jaden Hill (no. 19 PuRP) worked a total of three scoreless innings against the Sea Dogs while striking out two batters and giving up just one hit and one walk. Hill lowered his ERA from 6.75 to 3.86 in two outings.
Stock Up: Right-handed reliever Seth Halvorsen has had a difficult start to the season in Double-A, but turned things around nicely against the Sea Dogs. In two appearances totaling three scoreless innings he tallied four strikeouts with just one hit and one walk.
Stock Up: In all honesty the series against the Sea Dogs was pretty forgettable for Sterlin Thompson (no. 14 PuRP) until the final game of the set. After going hitless in three straight games Thompson went 4-for-5 in the finale with a double, his first home run of the season, and three RsBI.
High-A: Spokane Indians (2-0, 13-4 Overall)
It was a weird weather week for the Spokane Indians as they traveled north of the border to play the Toronto Blue Jays affiliate Vancouver Canadians. They only got two games finished in the series before inclement weather and poor field conditions shut games for the rest of the week. The Indians attempted to play double-headers on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but games were postponed each day.
Stock Up: Indians reliever Braxton Hyde has quietly strung together four straight scoreless outings with each one lasting two innings or longer and the last three ending without any hits allowed. Against the Canadians Hyde pitched two hitless frames while striking out three batters.
Stock Up: Kyle Karros had back-to-back 2-for-4 games against the Canadians in which he struck out just once while hitting two doubles and a triple. Karros may find himself quickly asending the prospect rankings with his 1.009 OPS after the first month of the season.
Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies (2-4, 12-7 Overall)
The Fresno Grizzlies won their first two games of the series and entered game three with a six game win streak and winners of their last five against the San Francisco Giants affiliated San Jose Giants. Unfortunately their win streak was snapped and they never quite recovered, dropping four straight games to close out the week.
Stock Up: In his second start of the season, left-handed pitcher Alberto Pachecho blanked the Giants for six innings and struck out five batters while giving up just two hits and one walk.
Stock Up: Originally acquired as a starter, Jake Madden (no. 24 PuRP) has completed the transition to the bullpen this month. In a two inning outing against the Giants on April 25th he set down all six batters he faced in order with two strikeouts. Madden has given up two earned runs in 6 1⁄3 innings of relief work to start the season.
Stock Down: It was bound to happen at some point, but starts Jack Mahoney (no. 28 PuRP) and Austin Emener both had their first clunkers of the season against the Giants. Emener did strike out six batters, but gave up four earned runs on seven hits, including a home run. Mahoney gave up three home runs in a seven hit, six earned run appearance that lasted only four innings. He struck out three batters.
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The Rockies in relation to stability and change | Purple Row
In this excellent piece from last week, Skyler Timmins explores the Rockies and their preference for stability over (often much needed) change as a franchise.
Injuries & Moves: Jones (back) ‘frustrated’ by latest early exit | MLB.com
The Rockies will consider placing struggling left fielder Nolan Jones on the 10-day injured list on their off day today. Jones has been pulled from and outright missed multiple games due to a back ailment. Meanwhile, Kris Bryant has yet to resume any baseball activities while dealing with his own back issues. The Rockies don’t think he will require surgery but there is no timeline for his return. Left-handed reliever Lucas GIlbreath experienced shoulder discomfort while throwing in his first rehab appearance with the Isotopes and has been shut down temporarily.
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