The task for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox in the early stages of the Pacific Coast League season is to prove they’re as good on the field as they are on paper.
Marc Gustafson, player development director for the Rockies, set the standard Thursday before the New York Mets-Rockies game at Coors Field.
“On paper, this might be the best team we’ve had in Colorado Springs,” Gustafson said on the eve of the Sky Sox home opener.
“First and foremost, it’s the pitching, with the premium prospects we have on the staff.”
The young arms that have the Rockies watching their Triple-A affiliate with anticipation belong to Jhoulys Chacin, Samuel Deduno, Chaz Roe and Esmil Rogers. Rogers opened the season on the Rockies’ staff as an emergency member of the bullpen, but the Rockies’ hierarchy wants him to be a starter with the Sky Sox staff once the bullpen is solidified. Roe gets the start for tonight’s home opener against Las Vegas.
Pitching in general should be a strength for the Sky Sox, with veterans Tim Redding and Juan Rincon adding experience to the rotation and the bullpen.
Gustafson’s optimism doesn’t stop there.
Second baseman Eric Young Jr. is on the Rockies’ radar. He’s one of baseball’s most exciting players with 307 stolen bases after six seasons in the Rockies’ system.
Young is a switch-hitting leadoff hitter and provides what manager Stu Cole calls “instant offense.”
Around the infield, Jonathan Herrera had a solid spring camp. Chris Nelson, the Rockies’ No. 1 draft pick in 2004, has had injury problems throughout his time in the organization and is once again on the disabled list.
Free-agent first baseman Brad Eldred has great power potential and is expected to add home runs to the attack.
Outfielders Cole Garner and Mike Paulk, who also plays first base, and catcher Michael McKenry add prospect status to the outfield and behind the plate.
Veteran outfielder Jay Payton provides leadership to a young team.
Gustafson believes the lineup has the potential to get the Sky Sox into the postseason for the first time since 1997.
As always with player development, minor-league rosters change during the season.
“You have to develop players for the big-league team, but we like to win at every level,” Gustafson said. “We have some players in Colorado Springs that if something happens, they won’t be overmatched if we have to call them up.”
Irv Moss, The Denver Post
Sky Sox home opener
Las Vegas 51s at Colorado Springs
Pacific Coast League (AAA)
Today, at Security Service Field, 6 p.m.
AROUND TOWN
Milestone for Mastroeni.
Lots of big names are starring for the Rapids in this still-young MLS season. Between big contract extensions (Conor Casey), active front lines (Casey and Omar Cummings, maybe the best tandem the team has ever seen), veteran signings (Argentine star Claudio Lopez) and deft pickups (former Toronto strongarm Marvell Wynne), there’s been no shortage of news.
But whatever happened to Pablo Mastroeni? Well, nothing. The stalwart defender, long one of the team’s best players and a former national team mainstay, keeps on keeping on in the Rapids’ midfield.
Last week, Mastroeni passed Marcelo Balboa to become No. 2 on the team’s list of most minutes played in a Colorado uniform. He’ll start taking aim at No. 1 (Chris Henderson) on Sunday when the Rapids host Toronto FC, which comes to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for the only time this season. Game time is 3 p.m.
STAY ON THE COUCH
Home of the Braves.
Rockies fans optimistically looking five months into the future likely envision the local nine trying to stave off teams atop a tough NL West race or wild-card chase. One of the teams the Rockies might battle down the stretch outside their division is the Atlanta Braves, a team similar to the Rockies in preseason prognostications.
So this weekend’s three-game series in Atlanta, although still in April, could prove important down the line.
It also will give Rockies fans a chance to see Atlanta rookie sensation Jason Heyward, who has torn up the batter’s box so far with an active bat (he had three homers and 10 RBIs before Thursday’s game).
Colorado’s Jason Hammel goes against Atlanta’s Derek Lowe tonight at 5:30 p.m. The series finale plays Sunday at 11:30 a.m. The games air on FSN, with Drew Goodman doing play-by-play.
GET OFF THE COUCH
These races are going to the dogs.
Our four-legged friends will fill the 5Ks this weekend from Fort Collins to Boulder. But that doesn’t mean you need to race on all fours, or with a fully furry one.
In Fort Collins on Saturday, the Fast and the Furriest 5K will race around Oval Drive on the Colorado State campus, with running and walking, racers and kids and dogs. Everything starts at 9 a.m., with an expo après-race ().
The Canine Classic 5K in Boulder on Sunday — the race’s 10th edition — will include runners, walkers and dogs on leashes racing around Boulder Reservoir, starting at 7:30 a.m. It’s a benefit for the group Moving to End Sexual Assault ().
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
The action’s at Jackson.
When the Northern Colorado baseball team hosts Utah Valley for a four-game series this weekend — including a Saturday doubleheader — something has to give.
The Bears (13-15), on a nine-game winning streak, have shot back up toward .500. It’s their longest winning streak since 1994. And they’re doing it with loud bats. On Tuesday, UNC and Air Force combined for 32 runs and 38 hits in the Bears’ 18-14 victory.
Utah Valley (14-13), which has won five of its last six games, was the preseason favorite to win the Great West Conference. But UNC could gain an early footing in league play with some success this weekend at Jackson Field. The series starts today at 2 p.m.
