Watch the Colorado Rockies' 5th round selection from 2015 face teammates during a spring training intrasquad game in Scottsdale.
Scottsdale, Ariz. -- When the Colorado Rockies selected right-handed pitcher Parker French in the fifth round of the MLB Draft last summer, they got a polished big-time college hurler fresh off a successful career at the University of Texas. In some ways, they also got a bona fide Texas baseball stereotype: French is hard-working, big, strong, and intense, and yet, polite and amiable.
When the Rockies assigned him to the hitter-friendly Pioneer League, and their rookie-level affiliate in Grand Junction, French didn't so much as bat an eye when it came time to start his pro career.