Rockies brass took a seat two weeks ago at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque to see the franchise’s top prospect, the right arm that, the club hopes, will help rescue it from the pitching abyss.
Colorado gave up a king’s ransom to acquire Jeff Hoffman, and executive eyeballs have been on him since he became a Rockies project last summer. He is the key to Troy Tulowitzki’s messy trade out of Denver — even if the Rockies won’t tag him with franchise-defining importance.
“He’s another player and another person just like everyone else,” Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich said this year. “If you are hung up on giving him that moniker then that’s you. You were not involved in those negotiations and you have no idea how much we value him as a player. So, that’s your hangup.”
Tulowitzki returns to Denver on Monday for his first game at Coors Field in a road-team uniform when the Toronto Blue Jays open a three-game series against the Rockies. It will be nearly 11 months since one of the biggest trades in Rockies history. And while Tulowitzki tries to rebound from early-season struggles on a team with World Series aspirations, Hoffman remains in Triple-A, knocking on the major-league door.
Not every young prospect has upper-level eyes on his every move, but Hoffman does. And this start, a mid-June Thursday night game in Albuquerque, looked different. The Las Vegas 51s diced up Hoffman in a hurry. He gave up seven runs and seven hits in just 2 1/3 innings. They bounced him around for two doubles and a home run in a 17-7 victory.
It was the best thing to happen to Hoffman this season.
The Pacific Coast League chews up pitchers in dry, high-altitude ballparks in the West. When Hoffman was traded to the Rockies by the Blue Jays, he went from pitchers’ parks in Dunedin, Fla., to Manchester, N.H., to New Britain, Conn. — then was ripped away to the PCL, the meanest pitching league in America.
“Anytime you play in a really big offensive league, if you really pay attention to your numbers and worry about them, sometimes you can have the tendency to press,” said Rockies left-hander Tyler Anderson, who pitched with Hoffman on the Isotopes this season before his call-up two weeks ago. “But I don’t think he’s doing that. He wants to dominate every day. That’s all you can ask for.”
PCL or not, Hoffman’s Triple-A statistics are impressive. In his first full professional season, through 15 appearances, Hoffman has a 3.49 ERA, best among Albuquerque’s starters — eighth-best in the PCL among pitchers with at least 10 starts. His 1.28 WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) leads Albuquerque starters and his 88 strikeouts are the most in the PCL.
In his three starts since that sideways outing against Las Vegas, Hoffman has 25 strikeouts and just three walks (20 K’s and no walks in his last two games). He is pitching with a mix that includes two fastballs, a slider, a changeup and a curveball — an arsenal that probably isn’t necessary in the minors, but he’s stretching into it anyway. It’s major league-ready.
“He’s had all four pitches available to him and he’s using them,” said Isotopes pitching Darryl Scott. “He’s starting to recognize hitters. He’s coming into games now with a scouting report he put together, for a plan of attack. Not very many young pitchers take that step so early.”
Young pitchers can get lulled into relying on their raw ability in the minors before finding out that the pitches which fool the lower levels get blasted into the bleachers in the majors. Hoffman certainly has “stuff,” but what else?
“If stuff gets you to the majors, it won’t keep you there,” Scott said. “We don’t talk about the stuff. Everybody knows what kind of stuff he has. He’s getting away from that mind-set of just trying to outpitch a lineup, but executing instead. The velocity will be there whether you’re trying to throw hard or not. The changeup will be there. As long as you focus on execution, you’ll be all right.”
By comparison, Anderson’s rise to the Rockies after just three Triple-A games came in his fourth professional year. And he is three years older than Hoffman. His accumulated wisdom has helped him post a 2.55 ERA in his first three starts.
Anderson knows that, like any pitcher, he will get kicked in the backside at some point.
“It’s still pitching. You still have to execute,” Anderson said. “If you throw a fastball right down the middle here in the bigs or you do it in High-A, it’s going to get crushed either way. Whether there’s a triple deck to hit it into or some trees in a field. It’s still gone.”
Hoffman’s career as an active pitcher is only 13 months old. He is flashing the kind of raw ability that drew the Rockies into trading the face of their franchise. It was a risk to swap Tulowitzki, an elite shortstop, as part of an exchange for an early-20s pitcher coming off Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery with barely any professional experience.
But the Rockies, Bridich said, won’t be rushed into moving Hoffman to the majors to prove they won the trade. Hoffman, meanwhile, would be wise to control his eagerness, Anderson said.
“His stuff is electric. It’s hard to say what he’s not doing,” Anderson said. “But I learned my first year in pro ball that you really can’t force anybody’s hand on any decisions. If you start focusing on where you want to be, instead of pitching every day and playing for your teammates, things will fall to the wayside real quick.”
The trade
The biggest piece in the Rockies’ blockbuster trade last summer will circle back around Monday when shortstop Troy Tulowitzki returns to Coors Field with the Blue Jays to face his former team. The rest of the trade pieces are scattered across baseball:
ROCKIES
RHP Jeff Hoffman, 23 years old
With Triple-A Albuquerque. … Has a 3.49 ERA with the Isotopes. His 88 strikeouts rank first in the Pacific Coast League, with 20 K’s and no walks in his past two games.
RHP Miguel Castro, 21
With the Rockies. … Has a 6.14 ERA out of Colorado’s bullpen this season, but has flashed late-inning ability. Sent down to Triple-A on Saturday.
RHP Jesus Tinoco, 21
With Single-A Asheville. … Has a 5.87 ERA in three starts with the Tourists after struggling early in the season at High-A Modesto.
SS Jose Reyes, 33
Acquired by the New York Mets on Saturday. He was released by the Rockies and has yet to play this season.
BLUE JAYS
SS Troy Tulowitzki, 31
Struggling with Toronto. … He is hitting only .217 this season, with 10 home runs and 28 RBIs. He missed 20 games because of a thigh injury.
RHP LaTroy Hawkins, 43
Retired after finishing with Toronto last season.
