Isotopes begin season, always with close eye on Denver SEASON OPENER
ALBUQUERQUE — The hideous carpet that covers the floor of Glenallen Hill’s bunker-like office inside Isotopes Park is, in a lot of ways, a lot like his managerial style.
That striped rug can be loud and boisterous, what with its bright orange lines and retro ’70s feel. It can also be comforting and familiar, as welcoming as the stadium itself.
Entering his sixth season as manager of the Colorado Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate — the last four of which have been with the Albuquerque Isotopes — Hill is equal parts loud and boisterous yet quiet and familiar. He admits there are times he can drop the hammer and yell at his players, but in moments like earlier this week, when he gabbed with the media before a light workout at “The Lab,” he is easygoing and playful.
“I can be all things,” Hill said. “Let’s just get that clear. It is what it is.”
What it is for the Isotopes, who open their season Thursday night at Salt Lake, is pretty simple. The parent Rockies have stocked the Albuquerque When: 6:35 p.m. Thursday, Albuquerque Isotopes at Salt Lake Bees Radio: KNML-AM 610 Live stats: www.MiLB.com
roster with young talent that is expected to make frequent and profound impacts at the big league level at some point this year. A playoff team in the National League’s wild-card round last fall, Colorado is an organization known for its home grown talent, and
2018 will be no different.
“Honestly, that’s one thing about this franchise that, I’m sure, all of us are aware of,” said Drew Weeks, a newcomer to Triple A and the only one of four outfielders on the team’s roster not on the Rockies’ 40-man to start the year.
Ahead of him are veterans David Dahl, Raimel Tapia and Noel Cuevas, all three of whom return to the Isotopes after spending all or part of last season in the minors. Tapia had a brief stint in Denver while Dahl was limited to just 17 games due to injury.
“Getting back and being healthy has obviously been the main focus for me,” Dahl said. “That’s all I’m concentrating on right now. I want, I need, a good healthy season.”
All told, eight Isotopes are on the big league roster, meaning they can get the call to Colorado at any point. That includes infielder Jordan Patterson, who spent part of last season in the big leagues, as well as catcher Tom Murphy. The others are pitchers Sam Howard, Jairo Diaz and Yency Almonte.
Almonte is a lean 6-foot-3 flamethrower out of Miami who led the organization’s farm system in strikeouts two years ago.
“Obviously we’ve got some guys who can bring it 96, 97 [miles per hour] but we’ve also got guys who can work in some breaking stuff,” Hill said.
Getting Almonte and all the others over the hump and on a plane to Denver is Job No. 1 for Hill. A former big leaguer himself, he knows exactly what buttons to push and when to push them.
“I’m very hands on,” he said. “Each player is an individual so you gotta be able to meet the player wherever he’s at. I have a master plan and sometimes a player’s not ready for that. Sometimes you have the patience to see where that player is and keep them moving it forward.”
And when that doesn’t work, the ugly side — like the carpeting in his office — comes out with a vengeance.
“I’m not a psychologist,” he said. “I’m a mindset coach. I didn’t go to college to get that label, so I’m not going to claim that one right now.”
TEAM NOTES
The Isotopes went 68-73 last year, finishing 4½ games behind El Paso in the Pacific Coast League’s Pacific Southern Division. They never won more than four games in a row, but stayed within seven games of first place the entire season. … The Topes have posted losing records in eight of their 15 years and have reached the playoffs just three times. They haven’t been above .500 since 2013 when they were still affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Their last playoff appearance was in 2012 when they won the American South but were beaten by Omaha 3 games to 2 in the opening round. … The average age of this year’s team is just 26. Almonte is the youngest at 23 while pitcher Keith Hessler is the oldest at 29.