Top Rockies prospect Brendan Rodgers called up to majors

DENVER – The Colorado Rockies are running a little cool at second base.

That opened the door for Brendan Rodgers, the team’s top prospect who’s swinging a hot bat.

Colorado called up the 22-year-old for a weekend series in Philadelphia that started Friday. In addition to selecting the contract of the prospect from Albuquerque, the Rockies optioned right-hander DJ Johnson and infielder Pat Valaika to the Triple-A team and activated left-hander Jake McGee from the 10-day injured list after he recovered from a sprained left knee.

Rodgers was hitting .356 with nine homers and 21 RBIs in 35 games this season with Triple-A Albuquerque. He was playing mostly at second base for the Isotopes with an occasional appearance at shortstop and third base.

His promotion makes sense: So far this season, Colorado’s second basemen are hitting .200 with no homers and 11 RBIs.

Invited to spring training, Rodgers hit .222 in 18 games. Still, Rockies manager Bud Black appreciated his moxie.

“He’s really confident in his abilities,” Black said at the time. “He knows he’s a good player and he knows he’s talented. The way I see him move around the clubhouse and how he’s interacting with the coaches and the players, his personality is more at ease. I think he’s showing who he is.”

Rodgers is a .296 hitter with 66 homers spanning all minor league levels over five seasons.

The road to the majors has been jammed for Rodgers, with All-Star slugger Nolan Arenado entrenched at third and Story at short. The tentative plan was some sort of platoon between versatile infielder Ryan McMahon and Garrett Hampson at second.

Hampson was recently optioned to Albuquerque.