22-year-old Ryan Rolison was named to the 60-man player pool for the Colorado Rockies. What do the Rockies have in this left-hander?
- Born: July 11, 1997
- B/T: Right/Left
- 6’2″, 213-lbs
- Drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 1st round of the 2018 MLB June Amateur Draft from University of Mississippi (Oxford, MS)
The Numbers
His raw numbers are listed above courtesy of baseball-reference.com. Let’s aggregate by year then focus on the important numbers for minor leaguers:
A nice blue-green sea other than that ugly WHIP in 2019. Let’s look closer:
Yes, as I note in my book, when you are a hitter in Class-A Lancaster, don’t get too impressed by the numbers, for that is an extreme batters park. Conversely with pitchers, don’t panic too quickly.
We see that Rolison did quite well in Class-A Asheville, and hint hint, that’s a good batter’s park as well, so Rolison showed something there. He reduced his walk rate, even as his strikeout rate faded a bit, but that combo kept his K%-BB% about the same.
Then he goes to Lancaster, and all you can do there is hope he keeps his head above water. Well, he did. He walked more batters, and the hits came as they always do in Lancaster, and that’s the WHIP blowup right there.
He handled lefties and righties just fine, then hit Lancaster and all hell broke loose. Oh well.
A bit toward Left, but on the whole not far from being balanced.
You see a blue line going straight down, and I’m here to say, not so fast, pardner!
Lancaster is a rough trip for pitchers. He started on a high note in April, then faded, but he tried to keep an even keel in May and even fought back, until mid-June when he dropped a bit, then spent July fighting to stay level, before the late season finally got to him.
Yes, it looks like a bear market for stocks, but this was a pitcher doing his level best. And he did.
Rolison has the requisite three pitches he needs to be a starter, with his hammer curve his chief weapon. His FB is in the 90-94 range, just fine for a LHP, and his changeup is average already. If he keeps the feel on that CU, he could be quite effective. As in a #3/#4 SP.
All right, it’s Colorado, so call it a #5.
The Scouts
- Rotowire: Not on their Top 400.
- BaseballHQ: Not on their Top 100.
- Fangraphs: #111 on their Top 120.
- Fantasy Six Pack: Not on their dynasty list.
- Prospects365: Not on Ray Butler’s Top 200.
- Imaginary Brick Wall: #451 on the Top 487.
- Fantrax: Not on the Top 250.
Warnings
We want to see those walks come down again, but after leaving Lancaster, I expect that.
That changeup needs to be solid.
He’s going to pitch for the Rockies, so who are we kidding, right?
Conclusion
I like this kid. Yes, he will pitch in Colorado, but so what, someone has to. I think he will have the stuff to be a good pitcher. Not a knockout ace, but someone you’ll be glad to have on your team’s roster.