Center Field Suits Forrest Wall

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—He hasn’t switched positions, but Forrest Wall played more center field than second base in spring training and will do so this season.

The 21-year-old Wall began playing center field in instructional league. The 2014 supplemental first-rounder, who had labrum surgery on his shoulder in high school, worked diligently with the Rockies’ training staff to improve his arm strength.

Wall made gains at second base—where his arm grades as playable—and he has enough arm for center field thanks to his accuracy.

“His first-step quickness is a strength,” farm director Zach Wilson said, “and he’s got make-up speed, so even if he doesn’t take the perfect route, he’s able to make up with his speed and footwork. He’s caught everything he should catch. There’s some roughness around the edges we’ll continue to smooth out, but truly it’s about (getting) game reps.”

Wall will repeat the California League this year at high Class A Lancaster. Last year at Modesto he hit .264/.332/.355 with six home runs and 22 stolen bases in 120 games.

A lefthanded hitter who primarily batted second in the lineup, Wall was wildly inconsistent, hitting .280 in April, .178 in May, .330 in June, .218 in July and .313 in August. Wilson said Wall got pull-oriented at times but has steadily hit line drives with a middle-of-the-field approach this spring.

“There’s going to be more consistent hard contact because of the approach,” Wilson said. “So I think the strikeouts will probably go down and the batting average will go up. And you’ll probably see a year that looks more like his year in (low Class A) Asheville (.280/.355/.438 in 2015) than his year in Modesto.

“He looks like he’s ready to have kind of a re-emergence, if you will. Not that he had a bad year last year, but I think he’s ready to re-emerge back to the prospect that people knew he had a chance to become.”

ROCKY ROADS

• Righthander Rayan Gonzalez suffered an injury in spring training and will have Tommy John surgery in April. He went 2-2, 3.12 in 46 games last year at Double-A Hartford.

• Jonathan Piron, primarily a second baseman, has moved to left field. He hit a combined .256/.293/.395 last season at Asheville and Rookie-level Grand Junction with seven homers and 56 RBIs.

— Jack Etkin is a writer based in Denver