The summer brought new faces to the Colorado Rockies dugout due to several veteran players being added to the injured list. There is still time for Nolan Jones, Brendan Rodgers, Sean Bouchard, Jordan Beck, and Kris Bryant to return and have a good season. In the meantime, a couple new faces are getting a shot in the big show.
Many fans were excited to see number 1 himself, Adael Amador, called up from the Hartford Yard Goats. Amador traditionally plays shortstop, but he is unlikely to see time at that position beyond some late inning relief since the current 22-year-old shortstop, Ezequiel Tovar, is arguably considered the Rockies’ best player. Amador has instead found himself filling in for Rodgers at second base.
In his first full major league series with the Rockies, Amador faced the Minnesota Twins and did not fair so hot by going 1-for-11 at the plate in that 3-game outing. Before being called up, Amador had a .666 OPS this season and was slashing .194/.337/.329. In the field for the Yard Goats, Amador has recorded 44 games this season with 57 putouts and 115 assists. Amador is looking to impress management, but so far, he has just been meeting the minimum requirement for the position. Amador, 21, will most likely need more time on the farm to rise to the level the Rockies expect he can achieve. This outing is unlikely to turn out to be Amador’s permanent move to the majors.
The other new face in the dugout is Greg Jones who is also a shortstop. Jones joined the crew on June 6th in the series against the Seattle Mariners. Oddly, Jones has found himself in right field as a relief for Elehuris Montero. Jones has been climbing the ladder of minor league promotion this season after starting out on the ACL Rockies and moving up to the Albuquerque Isotopes after three games. Jones has been hitting well for the Isotopes with a .264/.349/.433 and a .782 OPS, but he has yet to record a hit in his five games with the MLB Rockies thus far. He is fielding a thousand, with two major league putouts under his belt, but this has the look of another player just getting some big-league exposure while the Rockies wait for their veterans to return from the injured list.
With Nolan Jones’ return to the Rockies active roster set for Friday against the Pittsburg Pirates, this may mean Hunter Goodman’s time to return to the minors is fast approaching. Goodman was another player called up to replace the injured and to capitalize on a hitting streak he was having at the end of April. Since then, Goodman has cooled to .156/.206/.313 and remains on the roster passed Jones’ return because there was coincidentally a space opened by catcher Elias Diaz’s placement on the injured list for a strained calf.
Lots of new faces on the field and in the dugout could mean some unexpected performance in the coming weeks, or it could bring on larger losses. At 24-44 this season and 17 games back in the National League West, the Rockies are hoping any of these players might bring a spark to start another winning streak.
