Dom Nuñez is one of those prospects who feels like he should be older than he is because he’s been around so long. The lefty-hitting catcher has appeared on 12 consecutive PuRPs lists, dating back to 2013. Yet he’s just 24-years-old. If all goes well for Nuñez, he’d be on track to debut at about the same age as Tom Murphy did in 2015.

Nuñez only played in two games this past week, but his second game alone could be considered a fine week at the plate. In the Albuquerque Isotopes’s 23-2 shellacking of the Tacoma Rainiers on Sunday, Nuñez hit three home runs in four at bats (and took a walk as well). They were home runs 4, 5, and 6 for the season. Nuñez has developed as a solid defensive backstop who works well with catchers, but his hitting acumen has always left a lot to be desired. He’s always been good at taking walks, but Nuñez hasn’t hit well since he was in Asheville in 2015.

So far in 2019, however, Nuñez is hitting .375/.512/.906. He probably hasn’t turned into a world beater at the plate overnight, but this is a great indication that Nuñez could very well be something more than the next Tony Wolters.

Top 30 PuRPs

Triple-A Albuquerque, 4-3 (11-7)

Number 1 PuRP Brendan Rodgers had a rough week, pulling in just two hits in 17 at bats. He’s still yet to find his groove in Triple-A. The Rockies top pitching prospect, however, had a fine week. Peter Lambert, number 2 PuRP, gave up 5 runs in 10 innings of work, but he struck out 9 and walked just 2 in those innings.

Double-A Hartford, 4-2 (8-9)

Colton Welker (number 3 PuRP) had a good week, as he had a couple of three-hit games, include knocking two home runs on Saturday, to continue his solid start. The leap to Double-A is a difficult one, and it’s nice to see one of the Rockies best position player prospects hold his own without a lag period.

Class A Advanced Lancaster, 2-4 (7-10)

Lancaster is this year’s almost PuRPless squad. Number 9 PuRP Ryan Vilade, however, is at least an interesting one. He had a 6-for-14 week with four walks. Those walks elevated a nice week at the plate to an excellent one in which he got on base over fifty percent of the time. Walking is a skill Vilade has showed throughout his minor league career, and that’s not changing, as he now sports a .431 on-base percentage.

Class A Asheville, 2-2 (7-9)

Ryan Rolison (number 5 PuRP) continues to be the story from Asheville. On Tuesday, struck out seven batters without allowing a baserunner in six innings of work. Rolison could challenge for top PuRP honors sooner rather than later. If only we could say the same about Riley Pint. The 2016 first rounder has only thrown three innings this season, but he’s walked 9 batters and has given up 6 runs.

Finally, number 10 PuRP Terrin Vavra had a similar week to Vilade. He went 6-for-16, but he also pulled in 6 walks. His slash line is sitting at .365/.485/.538.

Week of 4/15-4/21 Name PuRP Ranking Level H/AB HR SO BB Name PuRP Ranking Level H/AB HR SO BB Brendan Rodgers 1 AAA 2/17 0 3 1 Colton Welker 3 AA 6/16 0 2 1 Garrett Hampson 4 MLB Grant Lavigne 6 A- 4/16 1 4 5 Tyler Nevin 7 AA 7/18 0 4 4 Ryan Vilade 9 A+ 6/15 0 4 4 Sam Hilliard 11 AAA 7/23 1 9 3 Terrin Vavra 13 A- 6/16 0 5 6 Yonathan Daza 14 AAA 7/11 1 Josh Fuentes 16 AAA 4/10 2 Vince Fernandez 21 AA 9/21 1 9 1 Daniel Montano 22 A- 4/18 0 4 2 Roberto Ramos 26 AAA 6/17 0 6 3 Bret Boswell 28 AA 2/21 0 9 2 Brian Mundell 29 AAA 8/18 0 5 1 Dom Nuñez 30 AAA 4/7 3 1 4 Eddy Diaz HM Niko Decolati HM Willie Abreu HM AA 7/16 1 5 1 Pitchers Name PuRP Ranking Level IP RA SO BB Peter Lambert 2 AAA 10.0 5 9 2 Ryan Rolison 5 A- 6.0 0 7 0 Riley Pint 8 A- 0.1 2 1 2 Ryan Castellani 10 AAA Jesus Tinoco 12 AAA 1.0 0 0 0 Justin Lawrence 15 AAA 2.2 1 1 1 Ben Bowden 17 AA 1.0 0 3 0 Reid Humphreys 18 AA Ryan Feltner 19 A- 5.2 2 4 1 Rico Garcia 20 AA 5.0 1 8 3 Robert Tyler 23 A+ Sam Howard 24 AAA 1.0 0 1 0 Breiling Eusebio 25 A- Tommy Doyle 27 A+ 2.0 0 1 0 Mike Nikorak HM A- 2.0 1 1 1 Mitchell Kilkenny HM