Rockies 2015 Draft Retrospective: Mr. Rodgers comes to town

The 2018 MLB Draft takes place next week, June 4-6. For three days, teams will make selections for 40 rounds, drafting over 1200 amateur players from high school and college. This year, the Rockies hold the 22nd pick after earning the National League Wild Card and finishing with the 9th best record in the 2017 season.

In the week leading up the draft, let’s take a quick look back at the seven preceding years of picks.

2015 MLB Amateur Draft

Rockies 1st Round

The 2014 season was the fourth consecutive losing season for Colorado and marked the third time in four years that the franchise lost at least 90 games. GM Dan O’Dowd would step away from the team and 37-year-old Harvard graduate Jeff Bridich was promoted from Senior Director of Player Management to become only the third general manager of the Colorado Rockies.

The Bridich Era would start with a bang, as the Rockies held three of the top 38 picks and four of the top 44 picks in 2015. With a 3rd selection, Colorado would have their second-highest draft pick ever, tied with 2013’s number 3 pick of Jon Gray; only 2006’s number 2 overall pick of Stanford University’s Greg Reynolds has been higher.  

Once the Diamondbacks and Astros selected First Team All-Americans Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman, respectively, the Rockies selected a five-tool, 6’ 0” high school shortstop out of Florida.

Signed to a $5.5M contract, the largest in franchise history, Rodgers immediately went out and impressed at Grand Junction during 159 plate appearances. In 2016, at Low-A Asheville, the 18-year-old was named to the South Atlantic League All-Star Team and was voted the league’s Most Outstanding Prospect.

Rodgers was selected to represent his organization in 2017 All-Star Futures Game held at Marlins Park in Miami. He looked sharp in his 3 plate appearances against the top minor league pitchers in the world: an RBI sacrifice fly against Padres prospect Cal Quantrill, a single and a walk against young Pirates pitcher Luis Escobar.

Also in the 1st Round

Bridich’s first draft was highlighted by selecting high school players with their first five selections. Opting for high upside teenagers over more polished, lower-ceiling college players, the new Rockies GM took some risks in order to launch his vision for the future of the franchise.

After Nikorak threw 46.1 innings between 2015-16 before requiring Tommy John surgery in April, less than a year after being drafted. In addition to losing the 27th overall player taken from this draft, the Rockies lost the 77th overall pick, Javier Medina, to injury over the past two seasons. Both players have yet to play a game since 2016.

The son of former 12-year major leaguer Phil Nevin, Tyler has flashed an ability to hit for average, but has ultimately been maligned with injuries that have hampered his ability to develop into a superstar prospect. At 21-years-old and over a year younger than the average player in the Cal League, Nevin still has the potential to develop into a key piece for the Rockies at the major league level.

The second of three high school pitchers selected in the early rounds, Lambert has pitched well through each level of the system, improving his strikeout-to-walk ratio as he’s progressed. On Saturday night, the righty from San Dimas, CA, made history by becoming the first Hartford Yard Goats player to throw a complete game. His 9-inning, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 K performance brought him to 4-2 with a 2.71 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. Currently, he’s the third rated prospect for the Rockies, according to MLB Pipeline.

Top 10 Selections

Notable players who slipped outside the top ten:  #13 Garrett Whitley (TB), #14 Kolby Allard (ATL), #16 James Kaprielian (NYY), #17 Brady Aiken (CLE), #18 Phil Bickford (SF)

Sporting three first-round draft picks, 2014 College World Series Champions Vanderbilt University saw two of their players taken within the top eight selections of the 2015 Draft. Swanson would be traded to the Atlanta Braves less than a year after being selected first overall by the Diamondbacks.

Under the leadership of Chief Baseball Office Tony LaRussa and GM Dave Stewart, Arizona dealt the young shortstop, along with top pitching prospect Aaron Blair and promising 25-year-old outfielder Ender Inciarte, to the Braves for RHP Shelby Miller, who finished his 2015 season with a 6-17 record, albeit with a 3.02 ERA.

LaRussa and Stewart were immediately criticised for this lopsided trade, in addition to the signing of Zack Greinke to a 6-year, $206.5M contract before the start of the 2016 season. These moves were expected to push Arizona to front of the NL West before the start of the 2016 season; they would finish the year with a 69-93 record, just one win short of being tied for the worst record in the National League.

In early October 2016, when the baseball world set its eyes on playoff baseball, GM Dave Stewart would be fired by his long-time friend, former manager and current boss, Tony LaRussa, after a 64-93 season, less than a year after the Swanson trade.

A year later, in October of 2017, the Diamondbacks would announce that LaRussa would be stepping down from his role as Chief Baseball Officer.

Texas would join Arizona in quickly dealing their newest asset. As the Rangers made a push for the playoffs in August 2016, they would acquire veteran OF/DH Carlos Beltran from the Yankees for the price of their 2015 number four overall pick, Dillon Tate.

Phil Bickford, San Francisco’s 18th pick, joined Swanson and Tate as 1st round selections to be traded before the end of their first full season as a professional in 2016; the righty from the College of Southern Nevada was traded with Andrew Susac to Milwaukee for reliever Will Smith. Yankees 16th pick, James Kaprielian, would be traded on the eve of the 2017 trade deadline.

Another trend in this draft was the quick promotion of the cost-controlled, college-class of draft picks. Alex Bregman made his major league debut in July of 2016, a little more than a year after being drafted. A week later, Boston promoted former University of Arkansas outfielder Andrew Benintendi. Not be outdone, the Braves followed with a call-up for Swanson two weeks later.

22nd Pick

When the Rockies make their 1st round selection, 21 of the best players will have already been taken off the board. However, lots of top talent will remain. Though slightly arbitrary, let’s look at who was taken at this spot in 2015.

The 18-year-old pitcher from Texas was selected to help improve a weak Tigers system that was lacking front of the rotation arms. After four consecutive AL Central titles and several deals involving prospects pursuing a playoff run, GM Dave Dombrowski was sensing a tear down of his club.

Only a few weeks after selecting Burrows to head up a rotation years in the future, Dombrowski would deal away slugger Yoenis Cespedes in order to acquire more young pitching. The Mets would part with Luis Cessa, who was quickly paired with Chad Green and dealt to the Yankees for lefty reliever Justin Wilson during the same offseason, and former 1st round pick Michael Fulmer, who remains a stalwart in Detroit’s rotation.

In his second go-round for Double-A Erie SeaWolves, Burrows sports a 3.04 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and a 2.22 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 9 starts.

Notable players who taken after 22nd pick: #24 Walker Buehler (LAD), #28 Mike Soroka (ATL), #31 Chris Shaw (SF), #32 Ke’Bryan Hayes (PIT),  #36 Ryan Mountcastle (BAL), #41 Austin Riley (ATL), #42 Tristan McKenzie (CLE)

The Rest of the Rockies Picks

Parker French (5th Rd, #137): The Australian-born RHP out of Texas pitched well enough to get a quick promotion from Low-A to High-A in 2016 and even earned honors as being named to the California League All-Star team. In 2018, French has not fared well in his second year with Double-A Hartford; he’s been moved into the bullpen for the time being.

Jack Wynkoop (6th Rd, #167): The Virginia Beach native has a similar trajectory at French; both were college pitchers who progressed through the minors at the same rate and both are struggling as they repeat Double-A. The southpaw from South Carolina has a 5.71 ERA with a 1.56 WHIP.

Brian Mundell (7th Rd, #197): The Santa Clarita Giant has outhit critics at every level of the minors. In Asheville, he hit 14 home runs and 83 runs batted in to go along with 59 doubles, the single-season modern-day minor league record, earning him the South Atlantic League MVP in 2016. The 6’ 3” first baseman followed that performance with a slash line of .300/.385/.472 across High- and Double-A. Mundell has struggled somewhat at the start of 2018, but has hit .353 with just 4 strikeouts in 34 at-bats over his past ten games.

Sam Hilliard (15th Rd, #437): The former Wichita State pitcher made a strong first impression during his 2015 start with Grand Junction, slugging 7 home runs and stealing 12 bases. At 6’ 5”, the Mansfield Masher has increased his power and speed number in each year of the minors. In 2017, he launched 21 homers and stole 37 bases, albeit in 54 chances. His 2018 season at Double-A has been fruitful, so far: .322/.391/.480, 4 homers, 17 runs batted in, and 14-19 in stolen base opportunities.

Logan Cozart (21st Rd, #617): After repeating High-A in 2017, the Ohio University reliever has been solid with his promotion to Hartford this season. In 31.0 innings, Cozart is 4-1 with a 1.74 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and a 29-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 2018. Over his last 15.2 innings of work, the righty has given up just one earned run.

What Could Have Been?

Oftentimes, players are selected by teams in the late rounds of the MLB draft only to reject a signing offer in lieu of honing their skills at the college level before re-entering the draft to earn a larger signing bonus down the road.

In 2015, the Rockies drafted Wyatt Cross, Ryan Madden, Marc Mumper, Brent Schwarz, and Andy Pagnozzi.

Cross (Broomfield), Madden (Boulder), Mumper (Highlands Ranch) and Schwarz (Aurora) were all Colorado products selected, yet not expected to sign. All continue to play at Division-I schools across the country and hope to hear their name called again on June 4th.

While the right-handed pitching Pagnozzi was not a product of the Rockies home state, he’s worth mentioning as he is the son of former major league catcher Tom Pagnozzi. The three-time Gold Glove winning backstop played 12 seasons, all with the Cardinals, and appeared in the 1987 World Series.

In his first season at Ole Miss, the younger Pagnozzi was named Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. During that season, he was issued with a DUI and in the fall of 2017, Pagnozzi was dismissed from the Rebels due to a violation of team rules. He transferred to Division-II Pittsburgh State University in Kansas and put up an 8.59 ERA during the 2018 season.

The Rest of the 2015 MLB Draft

Notable players taken in 2nd round: #47 Donnie Dewees (CHC), #48 Scott Kingery (PHI), #56 Brady Singer (TOR – did not sign), #58 Andrew Stevenson (WAS), #61 Andrew Suarez (SF), #71 Tanner Rainey (CIN), #75 A.J. Minter (ATL)

Notable players taken in 3rd round or later: #100 Harrison Bader (STL), #131 Paul DeJong (STL), #132 Willie Calhoun (LAD), #186 Steven Duggar (SF), #192 Edwin Rios (LAD), #254 Koda Glover (WAS), #404 Max Schrock (WAS)