Forgive Sky Sox manager Marv Foley if he looks like he has been through the wringer.
The first half of the season has been a nightmare, and anyone would look a little banged up and in need of bandages after being hit with 94 player transactions. The Sky Sox entered the weekend 12 games behind Salt Lake City in the Pacific Coast League’s Northern Division of the Pacific Conference.
But reinforcements have arrived, providing new energy for Foley, pitching coach Bob McClure and coach Alan Cockrell. The all-star break will provide some recovery time, but then it’s back to trying to get something positive going the next two months of the season.
“We’ve been short in some areas and have had our hands tied from time to time,” Foley said. “But we’re late chargers, and we’re coming down the backstretch hard.”
There’s reason to think the Sky Sox might make a charge. First baseman Ryan Shealy and pitchers Matt Anderson and David Cortes are back from time in the big leagues with the Rockies. Promising outfielders Ryan Spilborghs and Jeff Salazar are up from Double-A Tulsa, and center fielder Choo Freeman could come off the disabled list after the all-star break.
“I think Ryan Shealy is playing better now than when he first went up,” Foley said. “Ryan Spilborghs and Jeff Salazar are two of the organization’s top prospects.”
All three came into the Rockies’ organization in the 2002 June draft: Spilborghs in the seventh round, Salazar in the eighth and Shealy in the 11th.
Shealy brought back a new focus from the Rockies.
“The biggest thing I learned is that you have to be ready to hit on the first pitch,” Shealy said. “You’re only going to get one or two good pitches to hit.”
Spilborghs and Salazar are making their first appearances in Triple-A after playing most of the first half at Tulsa, where they helped the Drillers to a first-half championship.
“I’m a fresh face,” Spilborghs said. “But I found that this team had a lot of energy when I got here. I hope what I’m doing this year is something I can reproduce every year.”
Spilborghs is the second-leading hitter in the Rockies’ farm system at .333.
Salazar got the call when Freeman was injured, but he’s not looking at his time with the Sky Sox as a stopgap.
“Nobody dreams of playing Triple-A baseball,” Salazar said. “I have to step it up so I can make the next step. This has been different than the other times when I have moved up. I feel more relaxed.”
But he also knows he will be facing pitchers who are more mature and who pitch with a game plan and stick to it.
McClure has his work cut out. A couple of his priorities are working with relievers Scott Dohmann and Ryan Speier, both coming out of the Rockies’ bullpen earlier this season.
“Speier is a little behind right now because of health problems,” McClure said. “But both have the talent to get back to the major leagues.”
Cockrell compares Spilborghs and Salazar to Cory Sullivan, who made the Rockies’ outfield this season. But he thinks both hit with more power than Sullivan.
He too is glad to feel some excitement.
“It’s nice to have some young blood,” Cockrell said.
