Here's where the Rockies' Top 30 prospects are starting the season
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With the Minor League season opening this week, here's where the Rockies’ Top 30 prospects are projected to start:
1. Adael Amador (MLB No. 27), SS -- Hartford (Double-A)
2. Chase Dollander (MLB No. 49), RHP -- Spokane (High-A)
3. Yanquiel Fernandez (MLB No. 68), OF -- Hartford (Double-A)
4. Jordan Beck (MLB No. 77), OF -- Albuquerque (Triple-A)
5. Sterlin Thompson, OF -- Hartford (Double-A)
6. Zac Veen, OF -- Hartford (Double-A)
7. Dyan Jorge, SS -- Spokane (High-A)
8. Cole Carrigg, OF -- Spokane (High-A)
9. Drew Romo, C -- Albuquerque (Triple-A)
10. Benny Montgomery, OF -- Hartford (Double-A)
11. Robert Calaz, OF -- Extended spring training
12. Hunter Goodman, 1B -- Albuquerque (Triple-A)
13. Ryan Ritter, SS -- Hartford (Double-A)
14. Sean Sullivan, LHP -- Spokane (High-A)
15. Carson Palmquist, LHP -- Hartford (Double-A)
16. Gabriel Hughes, RHP -- Hartford (Double-A) injured list (Tommy John)
17. Warming Bernabel, 3B -- Hartford (Double-A)
18. Jordy Vargas, RHP -- Fresno (Single-A) injured list (Tommy John)
19. Ashly Andujar, SS -- Extended spring training
20. Jack Mahoney, RHP -- Fresno (Single-A)
21. Jake Madden, RHP -- Fresno (Single-A)
22. Mason Albright, LHP -- Hartford (Double-A)
23. Greg Jones, OF -- Albuquerque (Triple-A)
24. Michael Prosecky, LHP -- injured list (elbow)
25. Victor Vodnik, RHP -- Colorado (MLB)
26. Jackson Cox, RHP -- Fresno (Single-A) injured list (Tommy John)
27. Anthony Molina, RHP -- Colorado (MLB)
28. Jaden Hill, RHP -- Hartford (Double-A)
29. Kyle Karros, 3B -- Spokane (High-A)
30. Connor Van Scoyoc, RHP -- Hartford (Double-A)
Team to watch
There are a dozen members of the Rockies’ Top 30 who will begin the season with the Hartford Yard Goats. It starts at the very top, with No. 1 prospect Adael Amador, and four of the top six. Hartford will have three players who were taken in the top 31 picks of their respective Drafts, with Zac Veen (2020), Benny Montgomery (2021) and Sterlin Thompson (2022) often filling up the Yard Goats outfield.
Teams on MLB.TV and MiLB.TV
Triple-A Albuquerque
Double-A Hartford
Single-A Fresno
Players we could see in 2024
While Hartford has the most talent, and some of those prospects could make the double-jump to Colorado, Triple-A Albuquerque also has three of the top 12. Beck is on a fast track and served notice that he’ll be ready whenever the phone rings by posting a .370/.433/.519 line in 18 Cactus League games this spring. Isotopes teammates like Romo, who has the chance to be a solid all-around backstop, and Goodman, who already touched the big leagues last year, could lend a helping hand to the Rockies this year as well.
New faces
There are five players from the Rockies’ 2023 Draft class on the new Top 30, headlined by first-rounder Dollander. His first pitch for High-A Spokane will be the first professional offering of his career. Three others from the class (Carrigg, Sullivan, Karros) will join Dollander in Spokane while Mahoney will begin the year in Fresno. There are also newcomers that came via a Trade Deadline swap (Madden and Albright came from the Angels in the Randal Grichuk/CJ Cron deal), a much more recent trade (Jones arrived in March from the Rays) and the Rule 5 Draft (Molina). The youngest new face belongs to Andujar, who just signed as an international free agent for $1.7 million in January, at age 16.
On the shelf
The Tommy John bug hit the Rockies hard in 2023, with three Top 30 arms all requiring the elbow surgery seemingly within minutes. Hughes, Vargas and Cox are all rehabbing from the procedure performed last July. Prosecky has been set back with a more minor elbow inflammation. He’s building back up and will be sent to an affiliate once he’s 100 percent healthy.