Rockies C prospect Romo shows off wheels

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The route to catching in the Majors is often slow. But that shouldn’t prevent Rockies 2020 first-round Draft pick Drew Romo, MLB Pipeline’s No. 84 prospect, from running fast along the way.

In his first spring action on Sunday, Romo singled twice (one an infield hit), stole a base and dashed out a bases-loaded triple in the seventh inning of a 12-6 victory over the Brewers at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.

Romo, 21 and a switch-hitter, is a rarity -- a catcher drafted out of high school. For the Rockies, who in their 30 seasons have never been represented by a catcher at the All-Star Game, just getting him to the Majors and seeing him contribute will be fine.

Romo earned rave reviews for his receiving during his high school years in the Team USA program. He showed a first-round bat his senior year at The Midlands (Texas) and -- as he showed Sunday -- he can run when necessary.

“Speed is something that I train a lot back home -- I want to be a five-tool catcher,” he said, smiling. “I want to be able to do it all.”

Days like Sunday spark a notion that Romo might be on the fast track. But there is no reason to rush.

“You can’t really put a time on it,” Romo said. “I’m just focused on doing my job, having fun playing baseball.”

A reminder
Catcher Brian Serven displayed immediate power when he debuted last season, and he revisited that ability with a two-run homer to left field off former Brewers first-round Draft pick Ethan Small on Sunday.

“He can get the ball to the air to the pull side,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “But the challenge for him now is to be a little bit more consistent putting the ball in play and cutting the strikeout rate.”

Newfangled gadgets
Rockies starting lefty Kyle Freeland gave up three runs in the first two innings and a leadoff double in the third before finishing strong with a groundout and two strikeouts on Sunday. It was his first time using PitchCom, the signaling system between pitcher and catcher. MLB approved the technology last year, but Freeland didn’t use it.

Now with a pitch timer, he must have his pitches called with the catcher hitting a button that activates a transmitter in his hat. He wore the new system that communicates back with the catcher at his belt, but opted not to use it.

“I am a person who’s very visual -- I like seeing the signs from my catcher and visualizing shapes of pitches in my head into the zone,” Freeland said. “I’m going to have to work with that and tweak that with PitchCom. But it shouldn’t be a big adjustment for me, hearing it in my ear instead of seeing it.”

Freeland said he used a changeup, which he wants to incorporate more into his mix “a fair amount” after tweaking its release point the last couple of days.

Closer Daniel Bard, who will join Freeland on Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, threw strikes on all but two of his 12 pitches in his clean inning on Sunday.

A simple play done right
Rookie shortstop Ezequiel Tovar (MLB Pipeline's No. 25 prospect) demonstrated the importance of executing a simple play in the third inning on Sunday. With runners at second and third and one out in the third, Tovar fell into a two-strike count against Brewers lefty Thomas Pannone. Tovar fouled off a pitch, then he put a tough pitch in play on the right side for an RBI groundout.

Tovar, 21, played last spring on a hot streak to earn the Abby Greer Award as camp’s most valuable player, and he hit well enough in Double-A and Triple-A to earn a late-season promotion. This spring, his maturity and reading of situations have led to the Rockies granting him every opportunity to be the regular at shortstop.

The controlled at-bat drew loud applause from the Rockies’ dugout.

“He’s got some bat-to-ball skills to be able to handle the bat, manipulate the barrel to get the bat to the ball in that situation,” Black said.

It’s what he does
Rockies non-roster infielder Julio Carreras, ranked 29th on the club's Top 30 Prospects list, led the Minors in doubles last season with a combined 42 at High-A Spokane and Double-A Hartford. His first hit of the spring was, of course, a double to left field Sunday against righty Carlos Rodriguez, the Brewers’ No. 19 prospect.