Here are the Rockies' 2020 Top 30 Prospects
There’s little question the Rockies like to do things on their own.
The big league roster is almost always largely homegrown, with the 2017-18 playoff teams consisting mostly of players originally drafted and signed by the organization. That will continue with the 26-man roster it breaks camp with this season, and it’s definitely true of the new Top 30 prospects list.
A total of 29 of the 30 on the list are original Rockies, with the lone exception the outstanding story of Minor League free agent Ashton Goudeau, who could impact the big league pitching staff this year. While that’s mostly Draft-driven, starting with the top five prospects and led by No. 1 Brendan Rodgers, the Rockies have long done some good work in Latin America, and this list is dotted with a lot of interesting, if far away, talent acquired from those efforts.
That’s an unknown quantity when trying to consider where this system might rank among the 30 organizations. It’s short on elite-level talent currently, with Rodgers (No. 29) the lone member of the Top 100, but if some of the young prospects just getting to the lower levels of the Minors in the United States take steps forward, this system could look deeper and a lot more interesting in the near future.
Here's a look at the Rockies' top prospects:
1) Brendan Rodgers, 2B/SS (MLB No. 29)
2) Ryan Rolison, LHP
3) Michael Toglia, 1B
4) Ryan Vilade, 3B/OF
5) Terrin Vavra, SS
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Biggest jump/fall
Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the 2019 preseason list to the 2020 preseason list.
Jump: Helcris Olivarez (2019: NR | 2020: 17) -- The Rockies are very excited about the upside potential for this young lefty who opened a lot of eyes with his move to the United States in the Pioneer League in 2019.
Fall: Justin Lawrence (2019: 13 | 2020: NR) -- Lawrence can throw hard, but he had an 8.76 ERA and .324 batting average against in 2019 while walking more than seven per nine. Then he received an 80-game suspension in January for testing positive for a banned performance enhancer.
Best tools
Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools -- 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.
Hit: 60 -- Brendan Rodgers
Power: 55 -- Sam Hilliard (Brendan Rodgers, Ryan Vilade, Michael Toglia)
Run: 65 -- Eddy Diaz
Arm: 70 -- Yonathan Daza
Defense: 65 -- Yonathan Daza
Fastball: 75 -- Riley Pint
Curveball: 65 -- Riley Pint
Slider: 60 -- Jacob Wallace
Changeup: 55 -- Ryan Rolison (Ben Bowden, Karl Kauffmann, Ryan Castellani, Riley Pint)
Control: 55 -- Antonio Santos (Ryan Rolison)
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How they were built
Draft: 20 | International: 9 | Free agent: 1
Breakdown by ETA
2020: 10 | 2021: 5 | 2022: 10 | 2023: 4 | 2024: 1
Breakdown by position
1B: 3 | 2B: 1 | 3B: 5 | SS: 4 | OF: 5 | RHP: 9 | LHP: 3