Top 5 Prospects for 2015: Colorado Rockies

This 30-part series will look at the projected Top 5 freshman contributors for each big league club for the year ahead. The rankings take into consideration a mixture of ceiling, readiness and potential playing time allocation, which is to say some players with lower ceilings may be ranked ahead of others with higher ceilings because they project to have a greater impact in the coming season.

In a Nutshell: The Rockies aren’t known for developing successful pitchers but the organization should benefit from a strong wave of arms.

The Top 5 Freshman for 2015

1. Eddie Butler, RHP: Butler suffered through a down year — by his standards — as he struggled with injuries and consistency. Even so, he made three MLB starts and should enjoy much more time in The Show in 2015. In a bubble, prospect-mate Jonathan Gray might be the better pitcher, but Butler is better suited to pitching in Colorado due to his heavy stuff and ground-ball tendencies. If healthy, he has the ceiling of a No. 2/3 starter.

2. Jon Gray, RHP: Gray can hump the heat up into triple digits but his extreme-fly-ball tendencies potentially make him a poor fit for Colorado. He’ll need to work down in the zone more — and he has the height to generate a significant downward plane — as well as improve the consistency of his offerings, which should help him see a spike in his strikeout rate. The Rockies starting rotation has a number of question marks, especially in the five-hole, so both Gray and Eddie Butler should receive significant opportunities to establish themselves as big leaguers in 2015.

3. Tom Murphy, C: Colorado has openly expressed discontentment with Wilin Rosario, which could expedite Murphy’s arrival in the Majors, although he’s nothing special behind the plate either. Rather, it’s his bat that should carry him. Before that happens, though, Colorado will almost certainly take a long look at both Mike McKenry and the recently-signed Nick Hundley. Murphy lost development time in 2014 due to injury and played in just 27 games but he should return to Double-A to open up the 2015 season. He has intriguing raw power that could really explode while playing in Colorado.

4. Tyler Anderson, LHP: The Rockies’ first round pick in 2011, Anderson doesn’t have the kind of stuff that Eddie Butler and Jon Gray do but he’s left-handed with a plus changeup and above-average control that helps his stuff play up. The keys for him, like with Gray, will be to work down in the zone consistently and to also keep hitters off balance. Truth be told, he may have more value to the Rockies as a trade chip, especially after he posted an ERA under 2.00 in 23 Double-A starts last season. If he reaches his potential, Anderson could develop into an innings-eating No. 4 starter.

5. Scott Oberg, RHP: Oberg appeared in just 27 games in 2014 due to injuries but, if healthy, he could be one of the first relievers promoted to the Majors in 2015. He has excellent stuff and just needs to be more consistent with his command and control. He’s also well suited to Coors Field because he generates a ton of ground-ball outs, to go along with a strong strikeout rate. A 15th round pick from 2012, he’s knocking on the MLB door along with fellow picks from that year, Eddie Butler and Tom Murphy.





Marc Hulet has been writing at FanGraphs since 2008. His work focuses on prospects and fantasy. Follow him on Twitter @marchulet.

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Harry Porter and the Volemalts
9 years ago

I live in Asheville NC where the Tourists play, anyone I should keep my eye on this year?

Tomcat
9 years ago

The Rockies haven’t assigned everyone yet but the Asheville team is loaded nearly every position has an 18-21yo guy who are coming off a big year.
My Top 5 for Asheville are
1. 2B Forrest Wall
2. 3B Kevin Padlo
3. C Dom Nunez
4. CF Omar Carrizales
5. C Hamlet Marte

but literally every position on the field has intriguing players