Rockies Prospect Primer: Arms on the way

Some players are on the verge of stardom, others are entering a crucial phase of their development and still others are getting their first tastes of full-season ball. With the 2015 season approaching, MiLB.com takes a look at the most intriguing prospects from each MLB organization.

Shining star: David Dahl, OF

Dahl entered last season ready to put behind him his much-discussed 2013 season, in which he played in just 10 games first due to a disciplinary issue and then due to a torn hamstring. The Rockies' No. 3 prospect accomplished that convincingly a year ago, leading Class A Asheville to a South Atlantic League title and getting his first taste of Class A Advanced ball. In 119 games between Asheville and Modesto, Dahl batted .299/.335/.492 with 14 home runs and 55 RBIs.

"There's no doubt he's become a professional over the last couple of years," said Rockies senior director of player development Zach Wilson. "There's a different presence and confidence about what he's doing every day, both on the field but certainly off in how he conducts himself, what he does with his day-to-day work, how he shows up every day, how he walks in the clubhouse every day. When you start to make that transition, you're really making progress developmentally."

Dahl flashes five-tool potential and surged to a promotion to the California League on the back of a .368/.395/.513 slash line in 117 at-bats to start the second half in Asheville. After hitting safely in his final 12 games with Modesto, Dahl returned to Asheville to aid the Tourists' playoff push and did so by putting together a .367/.424/.700 line in seven postseason games. The Birmingham native also plays a smooth center field and possesses an above-average arm.

"To challenge him at the next level midway through the year, he was ready for that. Certainly physically but also mentally, he was ready for that," Wilson said. "Then sending him back to Asheville and being able to play in that environment, under that pressure where the guys around you are counting on you, that certainly helped with his experiences under pressure, with knowing you have to win that night's game or things could end. That experience helps any player, and that's why certainly we try to compete and get to the playoffs at all our levels because to get under the lights in that type of way is, I think, imperative for a player's development."

A lengthy stay with Double-A New Britain is the likely goal for Dahl this season, though he could start the year in Modesto.

"He's not worried about -- just like we're not worried about where he's going to start," Wilson said. "I think where he finishes is probably more important than where he starts."

Major League-ready: Jon Gray and Eddie Butler, RHPs

Since the Rockies selected Gray with the third overall pick in 2013, he and Butler have been linked in the organization as symbols of pitching hope; prospects with talent like few the Rockies have ever developed. Butler made his big league debut last season, and with Gray right on his heels, both have impressed in Major League Spring Training.

"They've come into this camp different," Wilson said. "They walked into that clubhouse differently, with a sense of belonging, knowing that they have what it takes to compete at this level. I think that's been the biggest difference for them in camp. For both of them, the stuff is what it is. It's lights out stuff. It's big league stuff. A lot of it is Major League-ready now."

The Rockies' top prospect is Gray, a University of Oklahoma product who made 24 starts for Double-A Tulsa last season, going 10-5 with a 3.91 ERA and earning Texas League All-Star honors. The workhorse righty wore down toward the end of his first full professional season and was shut down with shoulder fatigue in late August.

Butler, Colorado's No. 2, was the 46th overall pick in 2012 out of Virginia's Radford University and pitched in 20 Minor League games over three levels, going 6-10 with a 3.75 ERA, in addition to three big league appearances. He debuted at Coors Field in June but went on the disabled list with shoulder soreness shortly thereafter. For the Rockies, he posted a pedestrian 1-1 record and 6.75 ERA.

Despite the down finishes to 2014, Gray and Butler have prepared for a big 2015.

"Both of them spent a lot of time in the offseason really focused on their mental game and how they can take one pitch at a time and how they can get through the ups and downs of a nine-inning game, the ups and downs of starting once every fifth day," Wilson said. "They've learned probably more from those experiences and will continue to grow in those ways, and as long as they do, they'll be ready hopefully sooner than later for all our benefit."

The pair is likely to begin this year in a stacked Triple-A Albuquerque rotation, but they should join fellow homegrown prospect Tyler Matzek in the Rockies rotation in short order.

Breakout prospect: Kyle Freeland, LHP

In terms of "homegrown," lefty Freeland is as the definition of the term. A Denver native, the Rockies snagged their No. 4 prospect out of Indiana's Evansville University him with the eighth pick in last year's First-Year Player Draft. Though some teams shied away from Freeland due to concerns about his health, the Rockies didn't. Colorado's team doctor performed arthroscopic surgery on Freeland's elbow in high school.

The southpaw rewarded his home team's faith with a dominant debut season. After going 1-0 with a 1.56 ERA in five starts with Rookie-level Grand Junction, Freeland ascended to Class A Asheville and was even better, posting a 2-0 record and a 0.83 ERA. In total, Freeland struck out 33 batters while walking just six in 39 innings, recording a 0.92 WHIP and .213 opponents' average.

"He's got an advanced feel for pitchability," Wilson said. "Obviously, he's got stuff. He's walked in this organization with a professional, mature attitude from Day 1, so he's advanced in those ways too. I think that's one of the reasons we were able to push him along so quickly last year.

"The key with Kyle is going to be making sure that we have a balance for him where he can find success but also be challenged in certain ways and make sure that he can grow from both sides of that spectrum. That'll be the challenge for him this year."

Freeland could leap over Class A entirely and start 2015 with Double-A New Britain and may even make the Majors before the year is out.

Back and healthy: Tommy Murphy, C

The Rockies have traditionally struggled to develop Major League-caliber catchers, but they believe they've got one on the way in Murphy. The University of Buffalo product played in just 27 games last season before being shut down with a right rotator cuff strain, but he avoided surgery and was near 100 percent by season's end.

Colorado's No. 8 prospect, Murphy is a powerful 6-foot-1, 220 pounds and has bashed 33 homers in 182 professional games since he was a third-round pick in 2012.

"There's some rust, I think, because it's been a while since he played, so he's starting to knock the rust off," Wilson explained. "Tommy Murphy's the type of kid who's going to outwork everybody, and so it's not going to take him long to get back in the groove. Here's a guy who has a chance to impact both sides of the ball."

In addition to his offensive tools -- Murphy owns a .278/.360/.514 slash line through three seasons -- the backstop handles his position well with an above-average arm in both strength and accuracy and an advanced approach in receiving and blocking.

"Whenever you can find a catcher at a premium position that's able to do that," Wilson said, "can really catch and throw -- and he's got power that plays at the Major League level -- all those things combined are going to present an impact player for us at some point."

Murphy will be challenged with an assignment to Triple-A in 2015.

Full-season debutant: Forrest Wall, 2B

Like the catching position, the Rockies have not produced many impact second basemen in franchise history. In fact, entering 2015, Colorado has started a different second baseman on every Opening Day for the last decade.

Though young, Wall could soon change that for the Rockies. Taken in the supplemental first round last year out of high school, Colorado's No. 6 prospect ravaged the Rookie-level Pioneer League to the tune of a .318/.416/.490 slash line in 41 games with 15 extra-base hits and 24 RBIs at just 18 years old.

"Forrest has a special bat," Wilson said. "He's a natural left-handed hitter, and that's certainly his carry tool, but he also plays pretty good second base. If we can make an offensive second baseman out of him, he's going to be a special player."

While in high school, Wall had labrum surgery in November of 2011, and a rushed rehabilitation hampered his arm strength. Still, he plays his position well and saw improvement in his throwing last year. Wall is likely ticketed for Class A Asheville in 2015.

More to keep an eye on: Outfielder Raimel Tapia is one of the most athletic players in the system and finished in the top three in the South Atlantic League in runs scored (second, 93), batting average (third, .326) and hits (third, 157). ... Right-hander Antonio Senzatela dominated the Sally League last year, going 15-2 with a 3.11 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. ... Former first-rounder Tyler Anderson has been rehabbing a stress fracture in his left elbow originally suffered in 2013 this spring but said his arm feels as good as it ever has. .. The Rockies will test Rosell Herrera in the outfield this year. "He's got a natural instinct to run around out there and get some breaks and track balls down," Wilson said.