ROCKIES' FARM REPORT: Sky Sox's Smith finds groove

Published July 21, 2007 at midnight

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At the end of June, Triple-A Colorado Springs right fielder Seth Smith had a respectable .289 average and enough at-bats (249) to suggest any upward climb would be gradual.

That sort of mathematical logic overlooked one point. Namely, that Smith would punish Pacific Coast League pitchers to an absurd degree. He’s hitting .333 with 10 homers and 56 RBI, thanks to a spree this month that has been sustained, to say the least.

Smith is hitting .500 this month, going 33-for-66 with eight doubles, two triples, five homers and 20 RBI. Shortly before his average crossed the .330 threshold, Sky Sox hitting coach Carney Lansford said he told Sky Sox manager Tom Runnells, "It would not surprise me if he ends up hitting .350 with 20-plus home runs."

It’s not that the left-handed hitting Smith hasn’t shown he’s quite capable at the plate. On the contrary, he brought a .309 career average over 1,317 professional at-bats into this season, having hit .369 at Rookie Casper in 2004, after the Rockies drafted Smith in the second round out of the University of Mississippi, .300 at high Single-A Modesto in 2005 and .294 last year at Double-A Tulsa. He led the Texas League with 46 doubles last year, one more than he had at Modesto, and has 22 doubles this season.

Smith was hitting .220 after play on May 1, meaning he has since batted .359.

"He just needed to keep playing," Lansford said, "because coming out of spring training, even the exhibition game we played against the Rockies here (March 30), he was probably the most locked in with his mechanics of anybody on the team."

Smith went 2-for-5 when the Sky Sox opened the season as scheduled April 5. They then lost three straight games to snow and cold, just enough time for Smith to fall into a 2-for-19 slide and lose his hitting groove.

"I knew that it was just a matter of time and he would get that back," Lansford said. "It might have taken a little bit longer than I thought it would. But I knew if people were patient and just let him keep playing games that he would get that swing back."

Smith turns 25 on Sept. 30. The Rockies put him on their 40-man roster for the first time last winter, meaning he went to big league camp for the first time this year. Words like natural, pretty and simple are used within the Rockies organization to describe Smith’s swing and approach at the plate.

"He does have a short, quick swing but it’s not a swing where he stays inside the ball and hits the ball to left field a lot," Lansford said.

"He hits a lot of balls hard to the middle, line drives to center field. He’ll hit some balls to the left-center gap, but he hits a lot of balls to the right-center gap and hits a lot of balls on the right-field line and hits them hard."

Smith has a .395 on-base percentage and his .530 slugging percentage is slightly higher than that of first baseman Joe Koshansky (.526), who leads the Sky Sox in home runs (15) and RBI (82).

The last time Smith went hitless in consecutive starts was April 26-27. He took a 10-game hitting streak into Friday’s game at Fresno and had hit safely in 18 of his past 19 games. The 10-game streak includes seven multi-hit games as well as four

consecutive two-hit games through Thursday. In all during the 10-game streak, Smith has gone 19-for-37 with 10 RBI.

He hit a career-high 15 home runs last year at Tulsa and this season had five homers through June. Smith has equaled that total this month, with three of those five homers coming at home and two on the road.

"He’s loading now and getting back in his stance where he can attack the ball," Lansford said. "And before he wasn’t quite getting back and he was hitting a lot of balls on the end of the bat. You could just tell the timing was off. Right now, he has the same swing working really that he had in spring training when he was with the major league team."

Triple-A Colorado Springs (53-45, first, 1/2 game ahead)

Marc Kaiser (6-4, 5.72) is tied for the Pacific Coast League with 62 walks in 85 innings compared with just 35 strikeouts. Ubaldo Jimenez (8-5, 5.85), who made his 2007 Rockies debut Wednesday, also has 62 walks but in 103 innings. For the sixth straight start Wednesday, Kaiser issued five walks. He walked three in the second but only two — both in the fifth — in his final five innings ... Second baseman Jayson Nix (.295-5-33) was given Thursday off to regroup from a 3-for-25 slide. Nix has two RBI in 69 at-bats this month ... With 15 walks and 19 strikeouts in 185 at-bats, catcher Edwin Bellorin (.330-7-39) has a .380 on-base percentage. He went hitless in five at-bats in a game Thursday for the first time this season ... First baseman Joe Koshansky (.319-15-82) leads the league in RBI. He had four doubles in 59 at-bats this month before doubling twice Thursday to give him 23 for the season. The left-handed hitting Koshansky has been extremely consistent this season with averages of .324 at home, .315 on the road, .322 in 118 at-bats against left-handers and .317 in 230 at-bats against right-handers ... Outfielder Sean Barker (.330-6-46) underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam Thursday on the hamstring tendon behind his left knee that he injured last Friday. Barker has had issues with that tendon in the past few years, and this latest injury could cause the Rockies to look to add an outfielder for the Sky Sox, since their only true outfielders are Smith, Joe Gaetti (.313-5-16) and Alexis Gomez (.285-4-28).

Double-A Tulsa (47-47 overall, 12-14 second half, third, 4-1/2 games behind)

Left-hander Zack Parker (2-1, 6.55) was released. In 16 games, including five starts, Parker, who turns 26 on Aug. 19, was in his seventh season in the Rockies organization ... Sean Thompson, 24, will replace Parker in the Drillers rotation. Thompson, a left-hander, is a native of La Junta, Col., who went to Thunder Ridge High School and was drafted by San Diego in the fifth round in 2002. Thompson was on the Padres’ winter roster and went 4-7, 3.57 in 16 starts this season for Double-A San Antonio — he spent most of 2005 and all of 2006 at the Double-A level — before the Padres designated him for assignment on June 29. Kansas City claimed Thompson on July 3 and he made three scoreless appearances totaling one inning for Triple-A Omaha. The Royals designated Thompson for assignment and the Rockies claimed him ... Thompson’s arrival means Matt Daley (1-4, 3.57) will go back to the bullpen. Daley has pitched in 29 games, going 0-3, 4.72 in 10 starts and 1-1, 2.20 in 19 relief appearances ... After going 13 starts without a victory, left-hander Franklin Morales (2-4, 3.51) is 2-0, 1.18 in his past two starts, allowing seven hits and two runs in 15 1/3 innings with three walks and 16 strikeouts. He reached season-highs in innings (8) and strikeouts (10) on Wednesday in a 6-1 win against Springfield. Drillers pitching coach Bo McLaughlin said it was the best game of the season for Morales, who threw 66 of his 103 pitches for strikes. He was 92-98 mph with his fastball, pitched at 95 mph and threw 52 of 80 fastballs for strikes. Morales also threw eight of 14 curveballs and six of nine changeups for strikes ... Morales victory Wednesday was the Drillers’ third straight, their longest winning streak since they won a season-high four in a row for the second time June 17-20. But a 6-5 loss in 11 innings Thursday at Arkansas kept the Drillers from their third four-game winning streak ... Greg Reynolds (4-1, 1.42) should start throwing very soon as he continues his rehabilitation in Denver from an inflamed rotator cuff. The Rockies training staff has been encouraged by the results of his range-of-motion and strengthening exercises. But Reynolds, who has been restricted to light tossing and whose June 19 start was his only one after May 15, could face a timetable that before long could make it more realistic for him to next pitch in the Arizona Fall League ... Third baseman Christian Colonel (.306-11-55) is leading the Texas League in doubles (31) and hits (108) but has one double in 60 at-bats this month ... Speedy second baseman Corey Wimberly (.246-2-19) has a .307 on-base percentage and .308 slugging percentage. His 59 hits include nine doubles and 11 for extra-bases, none in 58 at-bats in his past 13 games ... Right fielder Jordan Czarniecki (.280-6-35), who is hitting .326 at home and .231 on the road, raised his average to a season-high Thursday when he hit safely in his sixth consecutive game (11-for-22), eighth in the past nine and 11th in the past 13 ... .Center fielder Chris Frey (.288-1-27) is hitting .255 at home and .325 on the road. Frey has hit safely in nine of his past 10 games, going 11-for-33 with three doubles and three RBI. Frey has had three two-RBI games this season, the last on May 29.

High Single-A Modesto (50-47 overall, 16-11 second half, first, 1/2 game ahead)

Shortstop Chris Nelson (.272-12-63) has 26 RBI in 17 games this month when his 25 hits — in 72 at-bats — include eight doubles, one triple and six homers. That spree has raised Nelson’s average to its highest point since he was hitting .274 on June 5 ... The Nuts have won four of their past five games, eight of 11 and 13 of their 17 ... Second baseman Eric Young Jr. (.281-6-38) was hitting .248 on July 1 but has since gone 30-for-68 with 27 runs scored in 17 games. Young is 52-for-63 in stolen base attempts and was thrown out Saturday for the first time since June 22, ending a string of 16 consecutive stolen bases ... Brandon Hynick (12-2, 2.33) has allowed more then two walks in just two of 20 starts — three in seven innings May 22 and four in 3 1/3 innings June

28 — and with 19 walks in 131 1/3 innings is averaging 1.3 walks per nine innings. Hynick is 3-0, 1.13 in his past three starts ... First baseman Jeff Kindel (.297-8-52) has gone 27-for-61 with seven doubles, two homers and 15 RBI during a 15-game hitting streak, matching the longest by a Modesto player this season. Daniel Carte hit safely in 15 straight games May 8-25 ... .Right fielder Carte (.305-11-59) has six walks and 94 strikeouts in 308 at-bats. However, Carte has raised his on-base percentage to .333 and has raised his average 31 points in his past nine games by going 20-for-38 with four doubles, two homers and 12 RBI ... Left-hander Xavier Cedeño (4-5, 3.70) is 3-0, 0.84 in his past three starts, allowing 13 hits and two runs in 21 1/3 innings with nine walks and 17 strikeouts. Cedeño has allowed three runs in 75 1/3 innings this season ... Catcher Neil Wilson (.271-8-54) has hit safely in seven straight games (12-for-31), 11 of his past 12 and 14 of his past 16 ... Chaz Roe (3-10, 4.84) is tied for the California League in losses and tied for second with 56 walks, an average of 4.2 per nine innings, but has allowed two walks in each of his past two starts, lasting seven and 6 2/3 innings.

Low Single-A Asheville (58-39, 16-12 second half, fourth, 2-1/2 games behind)

Reliever Casey Weathers’ professional debut is imminent. The Rockies first-round pick last month out of Vanderbilt, Weathers has been building up arm strength with the Tourists. He had a lower back strain with Vanderbilt but that was not an issue when he reported to Asheville ... The Tourists have lost four straight, their longest losing streak since their season-worst five-game losing streak June 9-13. They also lost five consecutive games May 18-22 ... Catcher Jhaysson Agustin (.212-4-29) hit for the cycle Sunday, going triple, single, home run, double. Agustin entered the game hitting .193-3-24 in 39 games and had three multi-hit games — all with two hits ... In his past three starts, Esmil Rogers (2-2, 4.18) has allowed 29 hits in 17 1/3 innings and is 0-2, 8.31 ... .Reliever Will Harris (0-2, 1.26) has been scored upon in just four of 24 games. Since last allowing a run June 23, Harris made nine consecutive scoreless outings covering 11 innings. Overall in 28 2/3 innings this season, Harris has seven walks and 39 strikeouts ... Catcher Mike McKenry (.278-12-57) is in a 4-for-26 tailspin. With nearly as many walks (53) as strikeouts (54), McKenry has a .396 on-base percentage ... Andrew Kreidermacher (2-1, 1.20) pitched Sunday for the first time since May 18. He threw a scoreless inning Sunday and another Thursday after being sidelined with shoulder inflammation ... Shortstop Hector Gomez (.288-8-42) has 10 strikeouts in 73 at-bats this month after averaging one strikeout every 3.9 at-bats through the end of June.

Short-season Single-A Tri-City (10-20, fourth, 4 games behind)

The Dust Devils have been outscored 31-14 while losing five straight, a skid that came right after they won four straight. The current losing streak began with losses in the final two games of a three-game series at Boise before the Dust Devils were swept in three games at home by Salem-Keizer, the best team in the Northwest League with a 25-5 record. Tri-City is 0-8 against Salem-Keizer this season and has been outscored 43-23 ... Outfielder Brian Rike (.350-0-2), Colorado’s second-round pick out of Louisiana Tech in last month’s draft, hit safely in his first four professional games, going 7-for-17 before he was hitless in three at-bats Thursday ... Marco Duarte (0-1, 4.85) made two scoreless three-inning relief appearances with no walks and eight strikeouts in his six relief innings but could be headed back to the Dust Devils’ rotation because Sheng-An Kuo (2-3, 4.73) has arm fatigue that has caused his velocity to drop to 85-86 mph from 87-88 mph. In his past two starts, both losses, Kuo has allowed nine hits and nine runs, eight earned, in 7 1/3 innings with six walks and six strikeouts ... In six starts, Bruce Billings (2-2, 2.86) has four walks and 34 strikeouts — including a season-high nine in five innings Wednesday— in 28 1/3 innings. Billings has allowed nine earned runs, five coming in five innings in a July 3 loss at Salem-Keizer. Billings gets up to 92 mph with his fastball and has a decent slider ... Second baseman Evereth Cabrera (.287-0-14) went hitless Wednesday and Thursday, the second time this season he has gone hitless in consecutive games, and has two hits in his past 15 at-bats.

Rookie Casper (6-23, fourth, 13 games behind)

The Rockies 11-4 win Thursday at Missoula was their second in 13 road games. The 11 runs were a season high, and the Rockies nine-run ninth were more runs than they had scored in all but two of their previous 27 games. The exceptions being a 10-9 win in 10 innings July 2 against Orem and an 11-10 loss July 7 at Orem ... Outfielder Orlando Sandoval (.300-0-7) began the season 2-for-23 with 13 strikeouts but has since gone 13-for-27 with three strikeouts ... Eighteen-year-old shortstop Carlos Martinez (.172-0-7) is hitless in 16 at-bats with nine strikeouts in his past five games and has three hits in his past 39 at-bats after beginning the season 8-for-25.

etkinj@RockyMountainNews.com

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