Stu Cole knows all about the development system in baseball.
He’s worked his way up the development ladder in the Rockies’ farm system, from the bottom at Tri-City of the short-season, Single-A Northwest League to Colorado Springs of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.
Cole’s climb hasn’t been as a player, but as a manager.
“He’s a good baseball man, a hard worker and loyal to the Rockies organization,” player development director Marc Gustafson said of Cole. “He knows our Triple-A players, and there’s a comfort level involved because they know him.”
Cole’s climb from the Double-A Tulsa Drillers to the Sky Sox came about because of moves at the top. When Clint Hurdle was dismissed as Rockies manager and Jim Tracy took over, the Rockies needed to fill Tracy’s bench coach chair. They brought up Tom Runnells, who was in his fourth season of managing the Sky Sox. Cole took Runnells’ spot.
Cole isn’t a stranger to baseball in Colorado Springs.
Cole was a player in the Rockies system and played for the Sky Sox from 1993-96. His experience playing at professional baseball’s highest field in elevation has helped him prepare for managing there.
“I learned as a player that a game is never over here,” Cole said. “You’re always trying to put together ways to score runs.”
His familiarity with many of the organization’s players helped make it an easier transition from Tulsa to Colorado Springs.
“I’ve seen that Eric Young has improved his defense a lot from last year,” Cole said of his second baseman. “Outfielder Matt Miller is swinging the bat pretty well, as he always has done. It’s rewarding to see these players mature and get better.”
Cole has already experienced one of the hardships of being a manager in the minor leagues. Outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, among the minor-league leaders in RBIs, got called up by the Rockies on June 4.
“You get used to that,” Cole said of losing one of the team’s top offensive weapons. “That’s why we’re here. You hate to lose a key player, but you’re always glad to see a player get his chance.”
Around the system.
Infielder Chris Nelson joins the list of sidelined No. 1 draft picks. The Rockies’ No. 1 pick in 2004 jammed a wrist sliding headfirst into a base and the recommendation is season-ending surgery. Nelson joins pitchers Jeff Francis (2002) and Casey Weathers (2007) on the sidelines for the season. Right-hander Greg Reynolds (2006) hasn’t pitched for Colorado Springs since opening day because of soreness between his shoulder blades. . . .
Young leads all minor-league players in runs scored with 58 and is one behind the leader in stolen bases with 38. . . .
Right-hander Jhoulys Chacin, last year’s pitching star in the organization with 18 combined wins with stops in Asheville and Modesto, allowed four hits and one earned run in six innings to snag his fourth win for Tulsa. . . .
Modesto center fielder Charles Blackmon and catcher Lars Davis combined for 12 hits and seven RBIs in a three-game span, with Davis having a five-RBI game and Blackmon a 4-for-4 game.
Minor-league spotlight
Juan Nicasio, RHP, Asheville
It was easy to understand the concern of the Asheville Tourists’ coaching staff when the Rockies promoted left-handed pitcher Christian Friedrich to Modesto of the high Single-A California League two weeks ago.
Friedrich, the Rockies’ No. 1 June draft pick a year ago, had been about the only early-season bright spot on the pitching staff. The Rockies’ player development department sent unknown Juan Nicasio into Asheville from extended spring training to fill Friedrich’s spot in the rotation.
Nicasio, signed by the Rockies as a nondrafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2006, didn’t have Friedrich’s advanced billing, but that hasn’t stopped him.
In his third start Thursday night for the Tourists, Nicasio gave up one hit in a 5-0 victory over Lexington in the South Atlantic League. The only hit was a bunt single with one out in the eighth inning.
“He’s one of our young pitchers who throws the fastball between 90 and 97 miles per hour,” said Marc Gustafson, Rockies director of player development. “The Asheville staff has been pitching better the last week or so and he’s one of the reasons.”
The 22-year-old Nicasio is 1-0 for the Tourists, with an 0.55 ERA, six walks and 16 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings.
Organizational leaders (Through Thursday)
HITTING: (50 games) Mike McCoy, Colorado Springs, .352; Matt Miller, Colorado Springs, .344.
RUNS: Eric Young Jr., Colorado Springs, 57; McCoy, Colorado Springs, 52.
HITS: Miller, Colorado Springs, 78; Young, Colorado Springs, 69.
TRIPLES: Jeffrey Cunningham, Asheville, 6; Miller, Colorado Springs, 5; David Christensen, Asheville, 5.
HOME RUNS: Christensen, Asheville, 9; Ryan Harvey, Tulsa, 8.
RBIs: Miller, Colorado Springs, 52; Christensen, Asheville, 32.
STOLEN BASES: Young, Colorado Springs, 38; McCoy, Colorado Springs, 21.
PITCHING VICTORIES: Joey Williamson, Modesto, 7; Samuel Deduno, Tulsa, 6.
LOSSES: Six pitchers with five each.
SAVES: Craig Baker, Modesto, 19; Andrew Johnston, Tulsa, 16.
INNINGS: Jhoulys Chacin, Tulsa, 69; Jason Hirsh, Colorado Springs, 68.
WALKS: Deduno, Tulsa, 30; Connor Graham, Modesto, 28.
STRIKEOUTS: Christian Friedrich, Asheville/Modesto, 86; Bruce Billings, Modesto, 75.
ERA: (starters) Friedrich, Asheville/ Modesto, 2.34; Deduno, Tulsa, 2.98; (relievers) Matthew Reynolds, Modesto, 1.47, Carlos Luna, Modesto, 1.84.
