Farming for Victory: Rockies Minor League Report Part 4

Okay, so this is a little late. Forgive me, I had hectic week. So, without further ado, I bring you a tardy report on the Tourists:

Asheville Tourists

Hitting

-Darin Holcomb continues to Rock the Casbah (.316/.397/.488). Yes, he could show more power. And, yes, he is a fielding adventure (18 errors). But he's only 22 and hasn't much experience in pro ball. He also has 60 walks and 60 strikeouts--that kind of discipline doesn't often come easy or this early in a professional career.

-"Old Man" Bo Bowman is one of the few A-ball players who was born in 1984. He is also one of the few A-ball players to hit as well as he has. He's a first baseman, which is a hitting position, obviously. Still, across Tri-City and Asheville, he has hit not too shabbily with a .328/.390/.511 line. He's old, an undrafted free agent and he's hitting. If he's not a prospect, he's at least an interesting story.

-The once promising 2007 duo of Brian Rike and Lars Davis, drafted in the second round and third round, respectively, is looking less and less promising by the day. Davis is a catcher, meaning he's expected not to hit. He sure as shucks is fulfilling that expectation as he can't OPS over .700. As for Rike, he has one decent stat going for him--his 71 RsBI. There are, however, much more important stats in which he is a disaster--.392 slugging for a corner outfielder.

Pitching

-Craig Baker rocks. He could be a crunchy relief pitcher some day. His 61K and 11BB in 53.2 IP is staggering.

-Newly signed first rounder, Christian Friedrich, has had a mixed first season in the Rockies organization. He started out extremely well for Tri-City and was promoted to Asheville after 8 starts. He then gave up 3 runs in only 4 innings in his A-ball debut. We'll see how he adapts to Asheville.

-Connor Graham (2.29 ERA) and Cory Riordan (3.56 ERA) of the 2007 draft are looking like decent pitchers. Is their stuff projectable for the majors? We'll see. But for now they are looking good.

-Shane Lindsay, of Australia and quick fastball fame, was demoted from Modesto to work on his command. And he has done. At Asheville his BB/9 went from 6.46 to 3.57. Okay... now bring that same command back up to Modesto.

Well, that's about it. Asheville has several good pitchers and several bad hitters. Let's hope those several good pitchers stay gold when they get into a Rockies uniform, Ponyboy.