Colorado Rockies welcome new faces as Spring Training begins
The Rockies Opening Day lineup will look significantly different from last season's as the team tries to form a new identity
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Spring Training is officially underway as Rockies pitchers and catchers reported to Salt River Fields in Scottsdale on Wednesday with a few new faces.
On Tuesday the Rockies announced the 22 non-roster invitees who were invited to spring training. According to MLB.com’s Thomas Harding, three of the club’s Top 30 MLB Pipeline prospects and competitors for the first-base and pitching jobs highlight the Rockies’ non-roster invitees.
Here is our group of 22 non-roster invitees for Major League camp.#RoxSpring begins in two days! ☀️🌵⚾️ pic.twitter.com/D1jYS4HyGu
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) February 16, 2021
Left-handed pitcher Ryan Rolison (Rockies’ No. 2), third baseman-outfielder Ryan Vilade (No. 4) and outfielder Jameson Hannah (No. 16) headline the list of prospects.
According to Nick Groke of The Athletic, first base will be the “most heated” competition in spring training this year. Last season Josh Fuentes took over the job for Daniel Murphy, but during the offseason the team signed veteran players in C.J. Cron and Greg Bird.
Cron was signed to a minor league contract and previously played for the Detroit Tigers in 2020 before a knee injury took him out for the season. He appeared in just 13 games with 52 plate appearances, but has recorded 55 home runs over two seasons from 2018-2019.
Bird is a graduate of Colorado’s Grandview High and got his call home early last week. In 2015 Bird hit 11 homers with 31 RBI after getting called up in mid-August with the New York Yankees, but has battles injuries since. Bird missed the entire 2016 season after getting shoulder surgery and only appeared in 140 games for the Yankees from 2017-2019.
Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to begin their workouts on Thursday, Feb. 19, with the first full-squad workout happening on Feb. 23.
Due to COVID-19, all stadiums in the Arizona Cactus League will operate at reduced capacities. The Rockies’ facility (Salt River Fields at Talking Stick) will be capped at 17 percent, allowing around 2,200 fans to attend spring training games.
Colorado opens the Spring Training schedule Feb. 28 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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