The Rockies are calling up outfield prospect Yanquiel Fernández, reports Francys Romero. Colorado is off tonight, so they’re unlikely to announce the move until tomorrow. Fernandez is on the 40-man roster, meaning the Rox will only need to make an active roster move.
Fernandez, 22, was signed by the Rockies out of Cuba and made his pro debut back in 2021. A consensus top-100 prospect prior to the 2024 season after breaking out to a .319/.354/.605 slash line at High-A the year prior, Fernandez posted solid numbers at Double-A throughout the majority of 2024 but struggled badly at Triple-A with a paltry .211/.268/.313 slash line in 33 games at the highest level of the minors
That poor performance was enough to knock him off the majority of league-wide prospect lists, but this year he’s turned things around in his second attempt at the level. Across 271 plate appearances, he’s hitting .284/.347/.502. That sounds like a robust figure, but given the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League it’s actually good for a rather pedestrian 96 wRC+. Still, Fernandez’s 14 doubles and 13 homers in 64 games this year is intriguing enough power potential that the Rockies are giving Fernandez a shot in the majors.
It remains to be seen which player Fernandez will be replacing on Colorado’s roster, but Jordan Beck, Tyler Freeman, Sam Hilliard, and Mickey Moniak are currently mixing and matching in the outfield corners while Brenton Doyle patrols center. Fernandez’s role as a left-handed corner bat is one that’s already held by both Moniak and Hilliard. Both have identical 95 wRC+ marks overall, though Hilliard’s performance is propped up by six extra-base hits in just 20 games despite him striking out at a 37.7% clip this season. Neither Moniak nor Hilliard have options remaining, so either one would either need to be placed on the injured list or designated for assignment if Fernandez is to replace them on the roster. Of course, it’s not impossible to imagine the club rostering all three with Freeman moving back to the infield or into a utility role.
Kid is toolsy
Yankees expected to promote Raquiel Fernandez
Who will they send down? DFA Hillard?
Probably, although maybe there is an injury that hasn’t been reported yet.
At some point in his career-if Yanquiel is a Yankee-I will smile
He needs to be a Yankee at some point, it’s only fitting.
… as a mediocre platoon player with a sub .600 OPS.
Where’s he gonna play?!?
I don’t think a team on pace to lose a record number of games has to worry about this problem!!!
colorado.
Denver Colorado.
Send down Doyle. Please.
Absolutely not, he’s been the MLB’s best defensive Center Field; something you vastly at Coors Field.
Good-bye Sam Hilliard?
Yeah probably. I hate it though because Sam is a really good guy. People always say, what will it hurt for the young guys to play. Well it hurts veterans like Sam. You could just as easily say, what would it really hurt to let Sam stay through the year. It would be one thing if Yanquiel was going to start every day, but he would be coming up as the 5th outfielder.
They’re calling him up while he’s on a super hot streak. If it’s to be a fifth outfielder, this organization is even worse at player development than I previously thought. Let him start. Almost no one has earned a starting job on that roster.
Then again, he might not.
Saw him a couple times in Spring Training. Unless his defense has improved a lot, or if I happened to catch him on his worst days, his position is likely to be DH.
Looks like veteran catcher Austin Nola is going to be selected also. My guess is Hillard gets DFA’d, Hunter Goodman to the IL, and Yanquiel and Nola to the bigs. They do have an open spot on the 40 man right now, so they could option Beck or Doyle or Toglia in order to keep everyone. But I;d say they just take the easy route of dumping Hilliard.
I have no idea why they are picking Austin Nola over Drew Romo though.
Fulford optioned instead of Goodman to IL. Maybe Nola had some kind of opt out clause with a July 1 deadline.
That is just puzzling then. Why do this after you release Jacob Stallings? To keep both Romo and Fulford down while going with the 35 year old back up catcher makes ZERO sense. Especially when Romo and Fulford are both on the 40 man roster.
How about sending Doyle to the Braves for Harris. Both nice defenders and both struggling at the plate. Maybe a change of scenery will help both and take some pressure off of them. If Harris can’t hit at Coors Field, then he just can’t hit!
Doyle is struggling because his wife had a miscarriage in May. No one would be performing 100% at their job after that happens. A man does not magically get over losing a child by changing cities. I remember when Jean Segura lost his young child early in his career, his numbers were awful for about two full years before he recovered. Doyle needs to stay exactly where he is.