Catcher Town

The Colorado Rockies have nine catchers in camp this spring and five of those have spent time behind the plate for the Asheville Tourists. Dustin Garneau (2011), Ryan Casteel and Will Swanner (2012), Tom Murphy (2013), and Dom Nunez (2015), are all alumni of the Asheville Tourists. Casteel, Swanner, and Nunez are all non-roster invitees and are in camp just to get some extra work in.

Barring injury, Nick Hundley will be the Rockies starting catcher going in to the 2016 season. The job to be his backup is wide open. Both Garneau and Murphy got looks at the end of last season. Garneau only batted .157 in 70 at bats before getting injured and Murphy batted .257 with three homeruns and nine RBI's in 35 at bats in a late September call up. Murphy has hit with power at all of his stops in the minors and I look for Murphy to have a strong spring for the Rockies and to take control of the backup catching job.

Post All-Star Game Skid

The Tourists broke out of their post all-star game slump yesterday with a 4-1 win over the Rome Braves. The Tourists have come out cold at the plate in their first four games and only have only hit one homerun in that span, that by catcher Ryan Casteel, in yesterdays win. Only one homerun in four games at McCormick is a power slump and a half. A strong 8 innings by starter Chris Jensen (7-2) sealed the deal and closer Jefri Hernandez pitched a perfect ninth for his 10th save.