Yency Almonte impressing Bud Black

Colorado Rockies pitching prospect Yency Almonte is impressing all the right people this spring training as he vies for a higher spot on the depth chart or, if he keeps producing like he has and the right dominos fall, a spot in the team’s starting rotation.

The 23-year-old right-hander made his third appearance of the preseason on March 5, taking over for Adam Ottavino in the seventh inning of the team’s contest with the Chicago Cubs. After three perfect innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks six days earlier, he picked up where left off and retired the first seven he faced, broken down into a three-pitch strikeout, two groundouts and four flyouts. He sat on the edges of the plate, primarily relying on his fastball that topped out at just over 95 mph on the day.

He ran into issues in the ninth, however, after a comebacker off the bat of Cubs catcher Ali Solis deflected off his throwing arm. Second baseman Garrett Hampson recovered to make the play, but Almonte lost precision afterward. The next hitter, Ryan Court, turned around a middle-middle fastball for a home run to center, and Almonte walked the following two hitters before being removed from the game. Amid concern that Almonte was injured by the one-hopper, Rockies manager Bud Black quelled concerns about both the pitcher’s health and late collapse to the media in a postgame conference.

“He’s fine,” Black said. “He threw the ball great. Boy, those first two innings were crisp. The home run was on a fastball just right down the middle.”

Court’s home run accounts for only the second run and second extra-base hit Almonte has allowed in his now 7.1 innings of work so far in training camp. Of those, he retired the side in order in six innings. While he may be three or four spots out of an MLB rotation spot as the depth chart currently stands, his work and repertoire to this point has caught the eyes of Black and Co.

“Good tight slider, nice velocity to the fastball,” Black said. “Really encouraged by how Yency has thrown this spring. He’s much more confident, much more in control, he’s throwing strikes, he’s bouncing back from a little bit of a rough Fall League but he is in a really good place right now.”

In 2017, Almonte dominated at Double-A Hartford to the tune of a flat 2.00 ERA and a .212 batting average against before earning a promotion to Triple-A Albuquerque in late July. In the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, his numbers ballooned, and he struggled as a member of the Salt River Rafters in the Arizona Fall League as well. But he was still just one step from Denver, slating him for his big league debut in 2018 and adding to the list of young starting pitching weapons in purple pinstripes, and is finding early success trying to prove his worth in MLB camp.

With the volatility of not just starting pitching in general, but the fleet of sub-30-year-old arms the Rockies will rely on in the search for a second straight playoff berth, don’t be surprised to hear Reed Saunders announce Almonte’s name in the not-too-distant future. Especially if he keeps tearing through the Cactus League as March presses on.