Rockies Draft Report

Late change of heart

By Jack Etkin
June 7, 2006

DENVER--A late surge by Stanford righthander Greg Reynolds increased his stature with the Rockies, who selected him with the second pick in the draft.

The Rockies opted for Reynolds over third baseman Evan Longoria of Long Beach State.

Reynolds was 7-5, 3.36 this year when the Rockies drafted him. He began the season with a polished changeup to go with a four-seam fastball that ranges between 91-94 mph. But this spring, Reynolds developed a two-seam fastball that was consistently in the 88-89 mph range and allowed him to control both sides of the plate.

"I can't put my finger on one thing," Reynolds said of his rise up the prospects' charts, "but one of the most important was I started to get quick outs. I had been working on a two-seam fastball for a year. That got me a lot of groundballs and allowed me to go deeper into games."

Reynolds' eye-opening surge came when he threw three consecutive complete-game victories and in the final two beat Tim Lincecum of Washingon and Brandon Morrow of California, both of whom were first-round picks. Reynolds followed those games up with a complete-game win against North Carolina State in the NCAA tournament when his fastball was hitting 94 mph in the ninth.

"That showed something about his character and the competitor he is," Rockies scouting director Bill Schmidt said. "There were scouts in there not just to see him, but the other guys, too, and he performed well."

Reynolds said he expected to sign quickly once his college season ends with speculation he will receive a signing bonus of $3.25 million, which is $750,000 less than third baseman Alex Gordon got last year from Kansas City as the No. 2 pick.

Schmidt selected infielders in the first round each of the past three years and after choosing Reynolds, opted for offensive potential by taking outfielder David Christensen of Stoneman Douglass High School in Parkland, Fla., in the second round and took an 11th round gamble with outfielder Aaron Miller of Channelview (Texas) High School.

Christensen, who has raw power and a strong arm but needs better plate discipline, has a scholarship to Miami. Miller, whose indication he wanted first-round money caused him to tumble in the draft, has signed a letter of intent with Baylor.

Miller is similar to outfielder Dexter Fowler, whom the Rockies chose in the 14th round two years ago despite his opportunities to play basketball at Harvard and baseball at Miami. He eventually signed for $925,000, a record for a 14th-round pick, and is playing at low Class A Asheville and is one of the Rockies' elite prospects.

ROCKY ROADS

• After missing the first 55 games, center fielder Jeff Salazar finally made his 2006 debut for Triple-A Colorado Springs. He had been in extended spring training, recovering from a ligament injury in his left (throwing) elbow.

• High Class A Modesto coach Glenallen Hill took over as the club's manager in early June, when Chad Kreuter left to become head coach at the University of Southern California, replacing his father-in-law Mike Gillespie.