It All Begins With The Asheville Tourists

I was browsing thru the Colorado Rockies Top Prospects List this morning (according to ColoradoRockies.com) and and I noticed that 9 out of the top 10 Rockies prospects had spent time with the Asheville Tourists. In fact, all but about 4 or 5 of the Top 20 had passed thru Asheville. There are several that have made it to AAA Colorado Springs including former 2009 First Round Draft Pick and #11 overall, Left-handed pitcher Tyler Matzek. He is listed as the Rockies #12 overall prospect. He had two different stints in Asheville in 2010-11 and compiled a 10-5 record in 30 starts for the Tourists. He has made it to AAA Colorado Springs and is 1-0 in 4 starts with a solid ERA. He has spent his entire minor league career as a starter but it seems that his future with the Rockies might be coming out of the bullpen from the reports that I have read. The Rockies had him coming out of the bullpen with moderate success in the Arizona Fall League. Control has always been Matzek's problem with a career walk of average of over 5 per 9 innings. Left-Handed pitchers, relievers or starters, are a hot commodity in major league baseball and if you have the ability to get left-handed batters out, you can usually work your way onto a major league roster somewhere. Even though it seems like he has been around in the Rockies system forever, Matzek is only 23 years old and he is only one step and figuring out the strike zone away from realizing every kid's dream of playing in the major leagues. It all started with the Asheville Tourists.

Dan's Asheville Tourists Blog: How Long Will They Stay?

Dan's Asheville Tourists Blog: How Long Will They Stay?: The problem with being a "Low A" baseball team is that if a team has any top prospects at thisd level, then they will probably not...

How Long Will They Stay?

The problem with being a "Low A" baseball team is that if a team has any top prospects at thisd level, then they will probably not be there for a season if they even last that long. Such is the case with one of the Colorado Rockies top prospects, Ryan McMahon. He has 8 homeruns and 15 RBI's in 60 at bats and 18 games with the Tourists although their schedule has been very home heavy to start the season. Starter Johendi Jiminian is off to a great start with a 3-1 record and a 1.27 ERA. The Asheville Tourists are not off to as great a start with only a 9-10 record but they are only 2 1/2 games out of first in the Southern Division in the South Atlantic League. The Colorado Rockies bypass Asheville when it comes to sending them their top prospects. A lot of bad habits can be developed in McCormick Field because of the short dimensions. Pitchers become afraid to pitch inside because those inside fastballs can quickly be turned around and the power hitters start trying to pull everything to take advantage of those short dimensions. When I saw the Asheville Tourists Opening Day Roster for 2014 I was not that impressed with the credentials of their pitching staff. A lot of Free Agent signees at this level of baseball are ordinarily roster fillers and what most organizations like to refer to as "organizational depth." The Asheville Tourists have a team ERA of 4.03 which is about a half run ahead of last years pace. Maybe there is something to be said for orgnizational depth after all.