The Position Players

Out of all of the position players that the Colorado Rockies brought to camp, ex-Asheville Tourists outfielder Raimel Tapia and shortstop Trevor Story have had the best training camps. Tapia has batted .385 with three RBI's thus far in camp. The highest level he has played at is high Class A at Modesto last season where he batted .305 with 12 homeruns and 71 RBI's. He was not expected to break camp with the Rockies but he has made a good impression with his play.

Story has the opportunity to break camp as the Rockies starting shortstop due to the legal issues surrounding Jose Reyes and he has had an impressive camp. Story is batting .321 and leads the Rockies with four homeruns and ten RBI's and has impressed with his glove as well. Story came into camp as the #11 ranked Rockies prospect according to mlbpipeline.com.

Two players who have not had good camps are catcher Tom Murphy and third baseman Ryan McMahon. Murphy was fighting for the back up job to Nick Hundley but none of the potential candidates- Dustin Garneau, Ryan Casteel, or Murphy- have really hit in camp. Murphy only has two hits for a .095 average but both of his hits were homeruns. Ryan McMahon has gone hitless in 12 at bats with six strikeouts.

Opportunities

Spring training got cranked up with the first game against the Arizona Diamondbacks and several ex-Tourists are getting the early opportunity to state their case for making the opening day roster. Ramiel Tapia, who played at high A Modesto last season, had the best performance of the ex-Tourists getting two hits and scoring a run. Will Swanner got some time in at first base and also banged out a hit.

Former Tourist hurler Tyler Matzek had a rough first outing as he faced five Diamondbacks hitters and didn't retire any of them. He gave up three hits and walked two before he was lifted. Tyler Anderson fared a little better as he went two innings and gave up four hits and three runs. He struck out three. Matt Carasiti pitched one inning gave up a hit and struck out one and Carlos Estevez struck out the side in his one inning pitched.

A Second Half Team

The Asheville Tourists have played phenomenal baseball in the second half of the season. As of this post, they have posted a .703 winning percentage (45-19) and have easily outdistanced second place Savannah building a seven game lead with only three games to go. The Tourists have their fair share of offensive stars. Ryan McMahon has been consistently hitting .280 on the season with 17 homeruns and 100 RBI's, Correlle Prime (a great last name for any athlete) has 21 homeruns and 99 RBI's (I wonder if the Tourists have ever had two players that have had 100 RBI's in a season?), and Raimel Tapia has batted .329 with 9 homeruns, 72 RBI's and leads the team with 33 stolen bases. The Tourists pitchers haven't blown batters away with fastballs but have pitched fairly consistently all season long. Johendi Jiminian is 13-5 with a 4.15 ERA and Antonio Senzatela is 14-2 with a 3.20 ERA. The bullpen has pretty much been bullpen by committee with Trent Daniel leading the team in saves with 14 and Dylan Stamey has 11. The Tourists look ready to make another championship r un.

On The Road Again

The Asheville Tourists spotted Greenville a 2-0 lead last night before scoring all five of their runs in the top of the sixth inning to win 5-2. Asheville loaded the bases in the top of the sixth on a Zach Osborne single, a David Dahl walk, and two errors by Drive Shortstop Tzu-Wei Lin. Raimel Tapia followed with a bases clearing double and Ryan McMahon drove him home with his 12th homerun. The Tourists only had 5 hits in the game but made them count. Starting Pitcher Alex Blalog went 5 1/3 innings, gave up 10 hits but only two runs. He improved his record to 6-3. Reliever Trent Daniel came on next and he pitched 2 2/3 scoreless inning and Matt Carasiti pitched a scoreless 9th inning for his 2nd Save on the season.

Back On Track

The Asheville Tourists got back on a winning track last night with a 5-4 victory over the Greenville Drive, evening the series at one a piece. The Tourists quickly jumped on top with a four run bottom of the First inning, the big blow being a two run single by Max White. Ryan McMahon and backup Catcher Wilfredo Rodriguez had the other RBI's in the inning. Raimel Tapia drove in the Tourists final run with a forceout in the bottom of the Fourth inning that drove in David Dahl who had singled earlier in the inning. Asheville starter Zach Jemiola went six strong innings only giving up one run before giving way to reliever Jeffri Hernandez in the top of the Seventh inning. He pitched one inning, Trent Daniel pitched the Eighth inning, giving up a three run homerun, and Troy Neiman pitched the Ninth inning for his 5th Save. Neiman added a little bit of excitement to the Ninth inning when he walked the leadoff batter but he was erased by the next batter who hit into a double play, then the next batter singled, before he got the final out on a groundout to the pitcher.

Three Shutouts In Four Games

The Asheville Tourists pitching staff has pitched three shutouts against the Augusta Greenjackets in the four games they have played since the second half began, two of them by 1-0 scores, including yesterday's game. I hope some stats freak is digging throught the history books to see when the last time that happened or if it has ever happened before in Asheville Tourists history. It is a good thing the pitching has come through because the Tourists bats have not exactly been knocking the cover off the ball. Yesterday, Asheville had more stolen bases (5) than hits (4), and the only run the Tourists scored came off a Michael Benjamin double in the fifth inning, Raimel Tapia got hit by a pitch, Benjamin stole third base and scored on an error by the Augusta Catcher. Asheville starter Konner Wade (5-7) made the lone run hold up as he pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up four hits, a walk, and he struck out two. Reliever Troy Neiman came in for the final two innings, gave up a hit, struck out one, to earn his 4th Save. All of these games have been on the road so it will be interesting to see how well the pitching does when the Tourists return to Asheville tonight to start a lengthy homestand against the Greenville Drive and then Greensboro comes to town starting Thirsty Thursday.

The 2014 Asheville Tourists

The Asheville Tourists announced their 2014 Opening Day Roster today and the Tourists have four of the Colorado Rockies Top 20 Prospects, as listed on Coloradorockies.com, on their roster to start the season. Three of the four are Outfielders as #2 David Dahl, #18 Max White, and #19 Raimel Tapia all made the roster. Dahl and White spent some time with the Tourists last season. The #15 prospect and newcomer to the Tourists, Third Baseman Ryan McMahon, was also placed on the roster. It is interesting to note that none of the Rockies top pitching prospects made the Opening Day roster. Pitchers Trent Blank and Matt Carasiti also spent time with the Tourists last season as did Infielder Zach Osborne and Catcher Jose Briceno. The Coaching staff, led by Manager Fred Ocasio, returned intact with the exception of new Pitching Coach Mark Brewer, who has 20 years experience as a Pitching Coach in various Major League organizations. He replaces the Pitching Coach from the past couple of years, Joey Eischen. The Tourists open up the 2014 season at home on a Thirsty Thursday against the Delmarva Shorebirds, the Baltimore Orioles low Class A team.