Tinoco shines in his first Asheville start

Last week's deal between the Rockies and Blue Jays may forever be known as the Troy Tulowitzki trade, but Jesus Tinoco did a pretty good job of starting to hold up his end of the bargain. 

The 20-year-old right-hander, who came to the Colorado system with fellow hurlers Jeff Hoffman and Miguel Castro last Tuesday, scattered four hits over six innings Sunday in his Class A Asheville debut to lead the Tourists to a 2-0 win over Savannah at Grayson Stadium. He struck out seven and didn't give up any walks.

"I saw a guy who, No. 1, looked completely in control," said Tourists pitching coach Mark Brewer. "He was under control physically. He was in control of his stuff. His command of all three pitches -- his fastball, slider and changeup -- was very good."

The seven punchouts matched Tinoco's second-highest total in a start this season, only bested by his 10-strikeout effort for Lansing on June 13. The outing also marked the fourth time in 16 starts this season that he did not issue a free pass. No Sand Gnat reached scoring position until the sixth, when Natanael Ramos singled and was stranded at third. After getting John Mora to ground out to first, Tinoco's day was done after 87 pitches, 59 of which were for strikes. 

"He actually looked really comfortable here, being his first game and all," Brewer said. "He didn't show any signs of butterflies for me. It was a hot, humid day. The game got started a little late [after a 35-minute delay]. There were any number of reasons why he could have hit a few bumps today, but he just attacked hitters and got six zeros."

The Venezuela native joined Asheville on Wednesday and was able to get his first work in front of Brewer on Friday in a scheduled side session. MLB.com gave Tinoco, who posted a 3.54 ERA with 68 strikeouts and 22 walks in 81 1/3 innings at Lansing, an above-average 60 grade for his mid-90s fastball on the 20-80 scale, a 50 on his slider, a 45 on his changeup and a 45 for his control -- based on a 3.0 career BB/9 rate -- during its midseason update last week. Brewer said he had a similar scouting report despite having not seen the right-hander live.

"I actually had just a little bit of info, basically what his tendencies were over there," said the pitching coach of the Rockies' No. 18 prospect. "He had a tendency to get out of control here and there, but I didn't see that today. He was around the plate with everything he had. He had good momentum to home plate.

"Based on the three-and-a-half days with him previous to this start, he showed the same personality I've come to know from him. He was under control, had a good arm to his fastball. His slider had depth. His changeup had armside depth and movement. It was all very good."

It should be noted that this was just the first step in what should be a long road ahead in the Rockies system for Tinoco. Among the three arms Colorado received for Tulowitzki, he's considered by far the rawest prospect. But if he's laying a foundation, he set a pretty sturdy one Sunday.

"At this point for me, I'll relay to my peers that I don't think there's anything that needs work," Brewer said. "I don't know what to tell him personally. I didn't see him do anything wrong. No walks, seven strikeouts, that's really good. If it's not broke, don't fix it."

Second baseman Shane Hoelscher went 2-for-4 with a double and plated both the Tourists' runs.