Forget about the Blake Street Bombers returning as the trademark of the Rockies organization. The Blake Street Blazers are taking over.
It’s going to become the Runnin’ Rockies if the rush that is forming in the lower part of the farm system continues to head toward Coors Field.
Eric Young Jr. and Dexter Fowler at Asheville and Corey Wimberly at Modesto are swift. Young’s 24 stolen bases going into the weekend lead all minor-league players. Young and Wimberly are infielders and Fowler is an outfielder, but the three have stolen a combined 60 bases.
Each has his own specialty.
“Corey’s probably the fastest home to first,” Young said. “Dexter and I are about the same first to third. We want to keep getting as many bags as we can. That’s what they expect from us.”
The trend to speed is running through the organization with totals from the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Tulsa Drillers, Modesto Nuts and Asheville Tourists reaching 156 stolen bases.
That’s running.
In comparison, the San Francisco Giants’ four teams underway had 128 steals, the St. Louis Cardinals’ minor-league teams had 125, Chicago White Sox teams had 122, the New York Yankees 113 and the Cincinnati Reds 108. The rest of the National League West has the Arizona Diamondbacks’ farm system with 96 stolen bases, the Los Angeles Dodgers with 87 and the San Diego Padres with 75.
According to Marc Gustafson, the Rockies director of player development, the Runnin’ Rockies aren’t an aberration.
“We’re really going to stress aggressiveness, on-base percentage and the hit and run,” Gustafson said. “I knew we were running more, but I didn’t know the numbers were that staggering.”
But while the junior Rockies are piling up the stolen bases, they aren’t chalking up staggering numbers of home runs.
The organization’s leader is Matt Miller, with seven for Modesto, but the organization has only 95. The surprising part of the total was 19 for the Sky Sox and 19 for the Tourists, with both teams playing in hitter-friendly parks and the Sky Sox at altitude.
“I think we’ll end up with a nice mixture of speed and power,” Gustafson said.
He said the return from the injured list of first baseman Ryan Shealy and outfielder Jorge Piedra to the Sky Sox lineup would boost the home runs for Colorado Springs.
Gustafson said he also expects that changes in the outfield at McCormick Park will reduce the number of home runs.
Sky Sox manager Tom Runnells welcomes the addition of more speed in the future.
“I’m a big believer in running speed,” Runnells said. “I put more emphasis on speed because it doesn’t go into slumps. If you have running speed and want to use it, it’s there every night.”
But memories of the Blake Street Bombers die hard as the symbol of the franchise.
For a team that usually is at or near the top of the Pacific Coast League in home runs, it’s hard to think of the Sky Sox ranking 15th in the 16-team league in round-trippers. Tulsa is third in the Texas League, Modesto fifth in the 10-team California League and Asheville is tied for eighth in the 16-team South Atlantic League.
Looking at some other organizations in home runs, the Cardinals’ teams had 106 homers, the Reds 104, the Yankees 95, the White Sox 87 and the Red Sox 80. The other NL West teams had Arizona with 96, Los Angeles with 94, San Diego with 90 and San Francisco with 70.
Maybe you can circle the bases with stolen bases just as well as with home runs.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
