Eddie Butler On The Mound
MLB.com announced their 2014 Top 100 Prospects List. Among the four Colorado Rockies farm players listed, was former first-round draft selection RHP Eddie Butler, who is ranked 41st.
Butler was originally drafted in the 35th round of the 2009 June Draft by the Texas Rangers. He opted not to sign with Texas and chose to pursue his college degree at Radford University in Virginia. The Colorado Rockies then selected him in the first round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft. Butler signed with the Rockies and was assigned to Grand Junction to begin his professional career. During the 2012 season in Grand Junction, he went 7-1 with a 2.13 ERA, in 67.2 IP with a 55:13 K|BB ratio.
The 2013 season saw success for the 22-year-old starting pitcher. He began his first full professional season with Low-A Asheville. He was then promoted to the Nuts roughly a month into the season. With the Nuts, he went 3-4 with a 2.39 in 67.2 IP and 67 strikeouts. Butler pitched for Modesto until late July when he was promoted to Double-A Tulsa. He went 1-0 with an astounding 0.65 ERA in 27.2 IP in Tulsa. Butler was invited to play in the 2013 Futures Game among fellow Cal-League players, Addison Russell, Kyle Crick, Delino DeShields and Austin Hedges. He pitched a scoreless inning during the game and struck out number two top Xander Bogaerts, a top prospect at the time who went on to debut in August.
Following the 2013 season, Baseball America named Butler the Rockies second best prospect. They also awarded him best slider and best changeup among Rockies' minor leaguers. He was invited to Major League Spring Training Camp as a non-roster invitee in February 2014.
In a Twitter Q&A with Rockies Owner Dick Monfort, the question of Butler MLB Debut was presented.
With just two professional seasons under his belt, Eddie Butler's career is already shining bright. The Colorado Rockies have struggled with pitching in recent years but that could change when Butler steps onto the mound at Coors Field, hopefully sooner rather than later.