This band of Colorado Springs Sky Sox isn’t of Blake Street Bombers vintage.
Sky Sox manager Stu Cole might as well pan for gold behind the fence at Security Service Field as expect a four-bagger to spice his team’s run to the postseason in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.
Check this out: Outfielder Carlos Gonzalez leads the team in home runs with 10, and he’s been in a Rockies uniform since June 5. That’s a pretty anemic situation when considering Joe Koshansky hit a total of 52 home runs for the Sky Sox in the 2007 and 2008 seasons. He didn’t get a chance to add to the numbers this year because he was traded during spring training.
“We’re relying on good baserunning and good starting pitching,” Cole said. “We don’t hit with a lot of power, but we’ve been pretty good recognizing opportunity when we have runners in scoring position.”
There are some impressive numbers to offset the Sky Sox’s power outage.
Outfielder Matt Miller ranked second in the PCL in hitting at .333 going into the weekend. He was second in hits with 142 and third in RBIs with 83. Miller, a 13th- round Rockies draft pick in 2004, was tied for the PCL lead in doubles with 34. Signed as free agents, outfielder Matt Murton was sixth in the PCL in hitting at .323 and infielder Mike McCoy was ninth at .318.
Then there’s Eric Young Jr., who plays second base and center field. Young leads minor-league baseball in runs scored with 107 and has 55 stolen bases. The Sky Sox have scored a league-leading 660 runs. Home runs have accounted for 121 (18 percent) of the 660 runs. Forty of the home runs have been solo shots, 19 have been two-run blasts and 13 have accounted for three runs. There has been one grand slam.
Of their 73 home runs, Sky Sox hitters have clouted just 28 at professional baseball’s highest playing field in elevation. A year ago, Sky Sox hitters hit 68 of their 139 home runs at home.
The fewest home runs in a season on record for the Sky Sox is 102 by a Cleveland Indians farm team in 1992, a year before the Blake Street Bombers began their work at Mile High Stadium and then Coors Field. The fewest for a Rockies minor-league group is 117 in 1996.
Murton has threatened to take over the team lead. But he’s stuck on nine and hasn’t hit a home run since June 21. Mark Bellhorn, who was in a Rockies uniform in 2003, has nine home runs in 60 games for the Sky Sox but hasn’t sent a ball over the fence since July 24. The Triple-A individual home run record for the Rockies’ farm system is 41, set by J.R. Phillips in 1999.
“The park has played pretty true all season,” Cole said. “Mother Nature could be a factor. We get some afternoon rain, and the wind usually has died down when the rain stops.”
Homer helpers.
There seem to be reinforcements on the way, with 11 hitters having 10 home runs or more in the lower levels of the Rockies’ farm system.
Double-A Tulsa outfielder Ryan Harvey has 19 homers, tops in the Rockies’ organization.
Minor-league spotlight
Parker Frazier, RHP, Asheville Tourists
Frazier, 20, grew up in baseball.
And he’s showing he is right at home. In his current role on the pitching staff of the Asheville Tourists, the Rockies’ Single-A affiliate in the South Atlantic League, Frazier has come on strong in the last two months. After a slow start, Frazier has won eight of his last 10 decisions and brought his record for the season to 10-7.
Over the 10 decisions, Frazier twice won three decisions in a row, didn’t allow an earned run in three of the starts, and posted a 3.27 ERA with 49 strikeouts and only 12 walks.
With the 10 victories, Frazier is one of three pitchers in the Rockies’ farm system to reach double figures in wins. He entered the year with a combined 8-10 record in two professional seasons, one at Casper and the other at Tri-City.
“He had a good idea of how to pitch, and he knew the little things when we drafted him,” said Marc Gustafson, the Rockies’ director of player development. “He has a good game plan when he pitches, and he could get up to Double-A by the end of next season.”
Frazier had some expert teaching before he was selected by the Rockies in the eighth round of the 2007 draft out of Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa, Okla. His father, George Frazier, pitched in the major leagues from 1978-87 and is an FSN analyst on telecasts of Rockies games.
“Early in the year, he was in a hurry,” Gustafson said of Parker. “He’s learned that fast always isn’t better. He slowed down and got much more consistent with his delivery.” Irv Moss, The Denver Post
Organizational leaders
(Through Thursday)
HITTING: (100 games) Matt Miller, Colorado Springs, .333; Mike McCoy, Colorado Springs, .318.
RUNS: Eric Young Jr., Colorado Springs, 107; McCoy, Colorado Springs, 87.
HITS: Miller, Colorado Springs, 142; Charles Blackmon, Modesto, 141.
DOUBLES: Jason Van Kooten, Modesto, 37; Miller, Colorado Springs, 34.
TRIPLES: Young, Colorado Springs, 9; Blackmon, Modesto, 7; Van Kooten, Modesto, 7; Jeffrey Cunningham, Tulsa, 7.
HOME RUNS: Ryan Harvey, Tulsa, 19; David Christensen, Asheville, 14; Kiel Roling, Asheville, 14.
RBIs: Miller, Colorado Springs, 83; Jordan Pacheco, Asheville, 71.
STOLEN BASES: Young, Colorado Springs, 55; Scott Robinson, Asheville, 38.
PITCHING VICTORIES: Joey Williamson, Modesto/Tulsa, 12; Samuel Deduno, Tulsa, 11.
LOSSES: Keith Weiser, Tulsa, 12; Kenneth Durst, Modesto, 12.
SAVES: Craig Baker, Modesto, 30; Andrew Johnston, Tulsa, 28.
INNINGS: Cory Riordan, Modesto, 140 2/3; Brandon Hynick, Colorado Springs, 132.
WALKS: Deduno, Tulsa, 56; Durst, Modesto, 49.
STRIKEOUTS: Christian Friedrick, Asheville/Modesto, 136; Riordan, Modesto, 108.
ERA: (starters) Chris Balcom-Miller, Casper, 1.20; Juan Nicasio, Asheville, 1.68; (relievers) Matthew Reynolds, Modesto/Tulsa, 1.40; Kyle Walker, Tri-City, 1.43.
