The Asheville Tourists at the All Star Break

The Asheville Tourists finished the first half of the South Atlantic League season with a 34-35 record, eight games behind Southern Division winner, the Charleston RiverDogs. The Asheville Tourists had an up and down first half in the wins and losses column but after a very slow start when they only were only batting .209 after their first five games, the Tourists caught fire and lead the South Atlantic League in batting with a .276 average and 351 runs scored.

The Tourists also placed four players on the South Atlantic League's Southern Division All Star squad lead by the South Atlantic League's leading hitter Brian Mundell. He leads the South Atlantic League in several categories including hitting, with a .351 average and 31 doubles. Shortstop Brendan Rodgers is fifth in the South Atlantic League with eight homeruns and 34 runs batted in. Outfielders Yonathan Daza, .322 batting average, and Sam Hilliard, with a .286 batting, five homeruns and 33 runs batted in. He also has six outfield assists.

The Asheville Tourists pitching ranks near the bottom of the South Atlantic League with a 4.31 Earned Run Average and 344 runs allowed. Starters Peter Lambert tops the starters with a 2.25 Earned Run Average but he has only pitched 60 innings in his 13 starts and the Rockies organization is content to build his arm strength. Starter Jack Wynkoop has compiled a 6-3 record with a respectable 3.47 ERA. Primary closer Sam Thoele has 11 saves with a 2.89 Earned Run Average.

Still A Story

I started following the rise of Rockies shortstop and former Asheville Tourist Trevor Story from the beginning of spring training as he competed to make the Opening Day roster of the Colorado Rockies. I still got no credit for following him from the beginning of Spring Training but it wasn't like I predicted the season Trevor Story would be having. Story has cooled off quite a bit from his record breaking start of seven homeruns in his first six games as he has only hit seven over the course of the next 40 plus games. He is still second on the Rockies with 14 homeruns and second with 36 runs batted in but he does lead the National League with 76 strikeouts in just over 200 at bats.

Story has to be considered one of the early front runners for the National League Rookie of the Year. The player that Story replaced in the lineup, veteran shortstop Jose Reyes, will be coming off his suspension on June 1 and Reyes begins a rehab assignment in the minors to get himself back in game shape and to work on his timing. It will be interesting to see how the Rockies handle Reyes return and how it affects Story's playing time.

Offensively, Story and Reyes play two totally different games. Story bring much more power to the table whereas Reyes brings speed and defense to the Rockies lineup.