Brendan Rodgers may be the next in a long line of excellent Colorado Rockies power-hitting shortstops.
Player Profile
The Colorado Rockies drafted Brendan Austin Rodgers with the 3rd overall selection in the 2015 draft.
With a trio of elite shortstops available at the top of the 2015 draft, and many thought Rodgers had the most talent of the three, but he was a high school prospect, whereas Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman, who went #1 and #2, were college prospects and were likely to move more quickly through the minor league system.
The Colorado Rockies were aggressive with Rodgers, sending him to their advanced rookie team at Grand Junction in the Pioneer League. He hit .273/.340/.420 with 3 home runs, 4 stolen bases, 9.43% walk rate, and 23.27% strikeout rate.
His draft pedigree and solid first season led to very good rankings across the board. He was rated #40 by Baseball America, #12 by MLB Pipeline, and #20 by Baseball Prospectus.
Rodgers jumped up to full season ball with the Rockies low-A South Atlantic League affiliate in Asheville. He hit .281/.342/.480 with 19 home runs and 6 stolen bases. He smacked 31 doubles and posted a 7.13% walk rate and a 19.96% strikeout rate.
Rodgers did play 24 games at second base in 2016 and 56 at shortstop as the Rockies worked to improve his versatility.
Rankers weren’t sure what to do with Rodgers as he moved down in midseason rankings and bounced back some in end-of-season rankings, with BA rating him #16, MLB Pipeline dropping him down to #15, and BP ranking him #11.
I had him at #20 in my top 125 for Call To The Pen that came out back in January.
Next: Rodgers' scouting report