Colorado Rockies Top-15 Prospects of 2010, No’s 1 – 5

ALSO SEE – Rockies Top Prospects, No’s 6 – 15

Grades are based on a prospect’s projected value over the course of his career and how likely it is that prospect will fulfill his projected value. Various factors are accounted for including upside, red flags, actual performance, and closeness to the majors. See the 2010 Prospect Primer for more information as it relates to prospect grading and philosophy.

Hitters must have 100 or fewer Major League ABs to qualify for this list. Starting pitchers must have 50 or fewer Major League innings to qualify for this list. Relief pitchers must have 25 or fewer Major League innings to qualify for this list. Ages are listed as of May 1st, 2010. Levels are based on the highest level in which a prospect played in 2009. All grades are subject to change based on any new information I receive before the season starts.

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Player Grades
Fastball – 55 Now | 55 Future
Slider – 55 | 55
Curveball – 60 | 65
Change-Up – 45 | 50
Control – 50 | 55
Command – 50 | 60
Pitchability – 50 | 60
ETA – 2011
Final Grade – B+

Body Type – Athletic and muscular build

Stuff

Fastball – Sits between 90 – 94, touching 95 with good life and a little bit of sink

Curveball – The bread-and-butter pitch, the mid-70′s, 12-to-6 breaking ball can buckle knees with its late break. Perfectly matched for Friedrich’s almost over-the-top arm slot, he can throw it for strikes and bury it in the dirt.

Slider – Another advanced secondary offering with good tilt

Change-Up – A question mark heading into the year, the pitch has developed into an average offering

Scouting Report

Christian Friedrich racked up strikeouts over two levels in 2009 thanks to his advanced secondary offerings and his feel for pitching. Minor league hitters typically have trouble with advanced level breaking balls, and the fact that Friedrich came at them with two advanced level breaking balls made things even more difficult for hitters.

Friedrich has a good feel for pitching and knows how to use his stuff, how to set hitters up and keep them off balance and it showed in stints with Asheville of the Sally League and Modesto of the California League.

Friedrich has somewhat quirky mechanics. His arm action is a little different, but it gives him deception and he has no problem repeating his delivery.

Friedrich does a good job of staying closed and throwing strikes. He still has to work on his fastball command. Despite the strikeouts, when hitters did make contact, hitters had a pretty good rate of success. Friedrich’s BABIP against was .347 in Asheville and .314 in Modesto. That rate is similar to what it was in 2008. Friedrich doesn’t have a fastball with plus movement. While it has good life, he still needs to be able to command the pitch within the strike zone.

Friedrich will likely spend the entire 2010 season in the minors, but he could be a candidate to join the big league rotation in 2011

Best Case Outcome – Top of the rotation starter

More Likely Outcome – No. 2 starter

Player Grades
Fastball – 55 Now | 60 Future
Slider – 50 | 55
Curveball – 55 | 60
Change-Up – 45 | 55
Control – 50 | 60
Command – 45 | 55
Pitchability – 50 | 60
ETA – 2013
Final Grade – B+

Tyler Matzek is another one of the prep pitchers I compiled a scouting report on before last year’s draft. Like most of the others, Matzek did not sign in time to log any professional innings. He’s slated to start the 2010 season in short season Tri-City.

The No. 1 spot was basically a toss up for me. Matzek has more upside, but Friedrich has already proved he can pitch at the pro level and he’s relatively close to MLB-ready.

Matzek is seen by many to be the complete package. His repertoire is deep, most of his pitches are legitimate big league offerings, and he throws all his pitches for strikes.

The big question for me is if the reports that came out on his performance just before last year’s draft hold true. Not that a projectable lefty throwing 91 – 94 is anything to sneeze at, but a projectable lefty touching 98 is an extremely rare bird.

Matzek should advanced pretty quickly for a pitcher just out of high school.

Best Case Outcome – No. 1 starter

More Likely Outcome – Too soon to say

Brief Rundown on Prospects 3 – 5

3. Jhoulys Chacin | RHP | Grade – B – Lost a little luster off his prospect status last year, but he should still make for a solid No. 3 starter at the big league level

4. Wilin Rosario | C | Grade – B/B- – Not a big year in terms of numbers, but has All Star potential

5. Rex Brothers | LHP | Grade – B- – Lefty reliever could move quickly, but needs to shore up his command a bit…unique arm action which I discuss in his report

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UP NEXT – Colorado Rockies Top Prospects, No’s 6 – 15

Other References and Resources Used for This Article – First Inning and Minor League Splits