High Marks For Rockies’ Marquez

DENVER—Summing up the acquisition of lefthanded reliever Jake McGee, general manager Jeff Bridich said, “There’s an intent here to continue to bombard this organization with impact pitching. And this is just simply another example of that.”

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Bridich wasn’t referring solely to McGee. The trade that sent outfielder Corey Dickerson and third baseman Kevin Padlo to the Rays also netted righthander German Marquez, adding another pitching prospect to Colorado’s system.

Marquez, who turns 22 on Feb. 22, joins that prospect mix. He has held his own while being one of the youngest players at each level since first playing in the U.S. in 2013 in the Rookie-level Appalachian League.

“Those are all good signs,” Bridich said. “There are signs of maturity there. It’s another really good arm and hopefully a really good pitcher that we can hope to finish off. It looks like Tampa has done a nice job of developing him from when they signed him.”

The 6-foot-1, 184-pound Marquez went 7-13, 3.56 in 139 innings last year for High Class A Charlotte, averaging 1.9 walks and 6.7 strikeouts per nine innings. He’s shown the ability to work the lower half of the strike zone, allowing just 13 homers in 290 pro innings.

“This is a low to mid-90s power attack,” Bridich said. “He can really spin a curveball. His changeup is developing and still needs to develop. We dug and did our due diligence on the human being—the character, the makeup. It all checked out. The things we’ve heard, it’s all positive.”

The trade caps a momentous offseason for Marquez, who had been placed on the Rays’ 40-man roster for the first time.

“Obviously, the Rays thought enough of him to protect him,” Bridich said. “And we certainly would’ve as well if he had been in our organization prior to the trade. We just think there’s a lot of upside there with the kid.”

ROCKY ROADS

• Anthony Sanders was named development supervisor at high Class A Modesto. He’s spent nine seasons in the organization, the past three managing Rookie-level Grand Junction.

• After serving as short-season Boise’s hitting coach in his first season in the organization, Andy Gonzalez will manage the team in 2016.