Apr. 3—Chris Forbes sat in the fourth-floor press box at Rio Grande Credit Union Field on Thursday afternoon overlooking a pristine baseball field full of the future.
As the Colorado Rockies Director of Player Development talked big picture goals and aspirations for the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Triple-A affiliate of the parent club in Denver, he spoke of an optimistic, and deliberate, mix of youth and experience that he hopes lead to winning — in New Mexico and 450 miles up I-25 in Denver.
"This group is interesting because it's younger, you know? (We're) trying to blend some of the salty vets, I like to call them, with a younger group," Forbes said of the Isotopes.
"Having a guy like Owen Miller (the 28-year-old infielder with four seasons in the Majors under his belt) is critical to a team like this, and Keston Hiura (another 28-year-old infielder with five seasons in the Majors). When we have such youth up here (six of the organization's Top 30 prospects appeared in Thursday's game) ... it's good to have some veteran guys in there that kind of, kind of help them, because this becomes the advanced refinement piece of player development."
There is, as many in professional sports have come to realize, a certain point where the physical is no longer the missing piece.
There's learning how to play baseball and then there's learning to play the game — sometimes a task only accomplished with experience or learning from those veteran players about.
"That's part of this level," Forbes continued. "When you see Triple A teams, they can out-baseball you, and that's why you've got to learn the game of baseball here."
As Forbes spoke during what would be a 5-3 Isotopes loss to the visiting Salt Lake Bees, the players on the field seemed to be offering up the perfect visual representation of how the mix of young prospects and some veterans still more than capable of getting back to the big leagues themselves is the identity, at least for right now, of this Isotopes squad.
On the right side of the infield was 21-year-old second baseman Adael Amador, the Rockies No. 7 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, playing next to 22-year-old first baseman Warming Bernabel. Both having made their Triple A debuts in the past week.
On the left side of the infield were 27-year-old third baseman Aaron Schunk (eight professional seasons including one in the majors) and 25-year-old Julio Carreras (already in his seventh year of professional baseball).
The outfield went, left to right, 23-year-old Zac veen (the Rockies No. 8 prospect), 31-year-old Sam Hilliard (the Isotopes' all-time home run leader who has also played parts of six seasons, and 312 games, in the Majors) and 22-year-old Yanquil Fernandez (the Rockies No. 6 prospect).
Forbes said there is no specific timeline on when any player will be up in Denver helping the Rockies — "they're ready when they're ready" — but the obvious goal is to have as many players as ready as possible for whenever they may be needed.
They don't want to rush players, but there's also a new reality in the sport.
"Triple A across the industry is getting younger in a sense," Forbes said, noting there are about six teams that have a lot of big league level players on their Triple A rosters, and the rest are organizations still developing younger players.
"But there's these other teams that are (pulling) this younger group of prospects up here just to kind of get them to a point to where they're as ready as you can get them. Guys are getting to big leagues with less innings pitched in the minor leagues and less at bats than they've ever had."
SAME MESSAGE: A year ago, the pre- and early-season ...
