Many of Brendan Rodgers' teammates did not recognize the shortstop a week into Spring Training. After sporting long, flowing hair since before his signing with the Rockies last summer, Rodgers decided to go with a different look shortly after his arrival in Arizona.

"It was super weird," Rodgers said of his closely cropped hair. "I had some bad tan lines back there because it hasn't been really cut since about sixth grade. It's always been longish with the flow out the back. I woke up the next morning and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, what did I just do?' It definitely feels better on my head, but I'll probably wind up growing it back out."

To Rodgers' relief, his new hairstyle has not resulted in any Samson-like loss of strength. In fact, the third overall pick and the first high school player selected in the 2015 First-Year Player Draft has put together an impressive first month in his first full season of pro baseball.

After hitting .273/.340/.420 with three home runs and 20 RBIs in 37 games last year at Grand Junction in the Rookie-level Pioneer League, Rodgers is raking for both power and average at Asheville. The infielder has hit safely in 19 of his first 22 games with nine multi-hit outings, including five straight from April 22-28 when he was a combined 11-for-19. In his last nine contests entering Wednesday, the right-handed hitter was batting at a .455 clip (15-for-33) with 10 RBIs.

Overall, Rodgers had a slash line of .345/.427/.595 and was leading the Tourists with five home runs and 19 RBIs entering Wednesday. He was also tied for third in the South Atlantic League with 21 runs scored and ranked fourth with 50 total bases, tied for fourth in slugging percentage and seventh in batting average.

"He's done a nice job so far in every aspect of the game," said Asheville manager Warren Schaeffer. "He's a good hitter with excellent bat speed who makes solid contact. He has a good approach that leads to quality at-bats just about every time he goes up to the plate. He's been impressive."

The youngest of three brothers, Rodgers grew up in Florida in a family that gave soccer the most attention. Brendan, however, was drawn to baseball as soon as he began playing the game. Coincidentally, one of his early travel ball coaches was former Rockies outfielder Dante Bichette.

"I started to really love the game when I was 11 or 12 years old," said Rodgers, who picked up tips at shortstop by watching Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Jeter on television. "That's when I knew baseball was what I wanted to do. I kept playing other sports until I was about 14, but I started focusing on baseball when I was in eighth grade. I came a long way during that time. I was very tiny, skinny, not mature at all. I knew I had to make a change and get bigger and stronger and faster. I made that change and it paid off."

Rodgers' game came together in a major way during the summer following his junior year of high school when he excelled on the showcase circuit. Scouts loved his ability to drive the ball consistently while he also displayed soft hands and average-plus arm strength at shortstop. He emerged as the nation's top prep player and did not relinquish that spot until he joined the Rockies with a franchise-record $5.5 million signing bonus.

"I've tried not to think about pressure or anything like that too much," the 19-year-old said. "When I'm playing, I don't hear much from the stands. When I'm hitting, it's just me and the pitcher. I focus on the mindset I've stuck with over the years and it's paid off."

In brief

Daza also a dandy: Rodgers is not the only Asheville player swinging the bat well. Right fielder Yonathan Daza is hitting .452 (14-for-31) over his last nine games and is now batting .321/.349/.469 on the season. The 22-year-old native of Venezuela is tied for second in the SAL with nine doubles and has nine multi-hit contests in 22 outings.

Payano pitching with aplomb: Hickory right-hander Pedro Payano is leading the SAL with a 0.38 ERA and an opponents' batting average of .089 while ranking third with a 0.75 WHIP. After tossing five innings in each of his first three starts this season, Payano took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in his last outing on April 27 before Greensboro's Isael Soto singled to left field. Payano completed the one-hit shutout in the Crawdads' 2-0 victory while throwing 99 pitches. He walked two Grasshoppers, struck out 11 and faced one batter over the minimum when two of the three batters to reach base were erased on double plays.

Leftwich lifts Lakewood: Lakewood right-hander Luke Leftwich struck out 11 Greenville batters over six innings in a one-run, three-hit effort on April 29. A seventh-round pick in 2015 out of Wofford College, Leftwich became the first BlueClaws pitcher to accumulate 11 whiffs in a game since Colin Kleven accomplished the feat on July 3, 2012 at Hagerstown. After notching six strikeouts in each of his first three appearances, all of which went four frames, Leftwich has 29 strikeouts in 18 innings.