MESA, Ariz. — It reached 96 degrees here Friday afternoon. The only thing hotter in the desert this spring has been Rockies 20-year-old shortstop prospect Ezequiel Tovar.
He’s sizzling.
With a lightning-quick swing, he blasted a two-run homer in the second inning off Cubs right-hander Alec Mills in Colorado’s 17-1 Cactus League romp. Tovar has hit three home runs, is batting .563 (9-for-15) and has an OPS of 1.751. For good measure, he’s been very good with his glove.
“He’s amazing, man,” Rockies right-hander German Marquez said. “It’s exciting to see that guy hitting and playing like that at his age. I feel really happy for him. He’s going to be a great player.”
Manager Bud Black, as he often does with young players, has tempered expectations for Tovar. But that doesn’t mean Black is unimpressed.
“He’s doing a great job,” Black said. “He’s playing loose and he’s playing with confidence. It’s good to see. And it’s nice to see that on the bigger stage, even though it’s spring training, he’s rising to the occasion. It’s great.”
Marquez’s debut. Marquez made his first spring start and came away pleased with his scoreless, three-inning, 54-pitch afternoon. He allowed two hits, struck out four, and walked two.
“Everything was good, mentally, and my body feels good,” said the right-hander, who lines up as the opening-day starter against the Dodgers on April 8 at Coors Field.
The one quibble Marquez had was with his tempo, something that got him into trouble a few times last season.
“It was a little quick today,” he said. “There were a couple of long innings, so I have to keep working on my tempo.”
Whiffing Suzuki. The Cubs faithful showed up to see Seiya Suzuki make his Cactus League debut. They also saw Marquez strike out Suzuki twice, once in the first inning and once in the third.
Marquez was quite aware that he would be facing the Japanese phenom.
“Yeah, I saw it on social media early this morning,” Marquez said.
The Japanese outfielder, a superstar with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, signed a five-year, $85 million contract with Chicago last week.
Welker out. Corner infielder Colton Welker has suffered another setback.
Black said that Welker is dealing with an eye issue that is going to cost Welker most of spring training. Black said there’s a slight chance Welker could return next week.
“There are some vision issues but the training staff and the doctors believe it’s going to be resolved,” Black said. “It’s not a scary thing, but it’s (bad) timing. It’s a bummer, after what he went through last year.”
Welker, 24, was suspended 80 games last May for violating Major League Baseball’s drug prevention and treatment program. After hitting hit .286 in a short stint at Triple-A Albuquerque, he made his major league debut on Sept. 8, flying out in a pinch-hit at-bat in the eighth inning. He played 19 big-league games, hitting .189. He hit 6-for-27 in seven starts and 1-for-10 in 12 at-bats off the bench.
“He finally got back on the field and the hope was to get him into camp and for him to have a full season,” Black said. “Now he’s behind again. It’s very unfortunate.”
