Yard Goats first baseman Tyler Nevin
Tyler Nevin is one of the Rockies’ top prospects, a corner infielder with an advanced offensive approach that he hasn’t been able to fully showcase due to a litany of injuries.
The 2015 supplemental first-round pick tore his hamstring in his first spring training in 2016, costing him all but one at-bat that season. Then a fractured hand in 2017 and a quad strain in 2018 — the first season he’d played 100 games in his professional career — limited him.
But last year, after rehabbing from his quad issue to dominate Single-a Advanced Lancaster with a .328 average, Nevin finally saw some baseball karma come back his way. A shoulder injury to No. 1 prospect Brendan Rodgers caused Rodgers to withdraw from the Arizona Fall League; Colorado then gave Nevin the roster spot instead, and he went on to win the batting title with a .426 average.
“In the (AFL), I was playing how I think I should be playing,” Nevin said. “I was disciplined at the plate, and when I got my pitch, I wasn’t missing.”
Nevin rode his AFL success into his first nonroster invitation to major league camp this past spring, and then to a promotion to Double-a Hartford to begin the season. He admitted he’s “started off slower than I would’ve liked” with a .221 average, but that the adversity he’s faced so far in the minors has helped him with his approach to the game.
“The injuries gave me time to look at how I prepare for the game, and how grueling this game is on your body,” Nevin said. “So I learned the importance of taking care of yourself every day, and getting a good routine in. You can’t play in the big leagues if you can’t play in the minor leagues because you’re hurt.”
The son of major-league veteran and current Yankees third-base coach Phil Nevin, the 21-year-old said he’s never felt the pressure to live up to his dad’s name — and his dad never forced that expectation on him, either.
“My dad is my greatest baseball resource,” Nevin explained. “I don’t really talk to him about mechanics or (technical) things like that. … But I learn from him how to go about each day in this profession, and how to handle yourself.”
Now, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound righthanded hitter’s main goal is to stay on the diamond the whole season.
“I want a long, healthy and consistent year,” Nevin said. “I want to play as many games as I possibly can. If I do that, the numbers will be where they will, and things should fall into place.”