New Staff Brings a Fresh Start for the Rocky Mountain Vibes in 2022.
After their Colorado Springs debut in 2019, the Rocky Mountain Vibes are back for rookie league baseball action at the city’s UC Health Park. During the off-season, the team went through drastic changes, and they came to the 2022 season with basically brand new staff, coaching and players.
During last year’s season, the Vibes struggled with a losing record throughout most of the season. But the team’s success came in the form of developing more players into the Major League Baseball (MLB) farm team system than any other team in the Pioneer League. Therefore, after losing several players to promotions, the Vibes start their season this year with five returning players on the roster.
When the Vibes started in 2019, they were in the MLB Pioneer League and they were a rookie farm team for the Milwaukee Brewers franchise. But then in 2020, the same year the league had to take a break due to the pandemic, MLB restructured their farm team system which ended in the league cutting two entire leagues and over 40 teams from the MLB (including the Vibes).
The Pioneer and Appalachian Leagues were the two to get completely axed, but they still continued on starting in 2021 as MLB Partnership Leagues. However, the MLB’s move to nix the teams meant that they would no longer have any affiliation with any MLB club franchise.
So, in order to keep a baseball team in Colorado Springs, Vibes’ officials ended up partnering with the Acereros de Monclova, which is a Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (LMB) team based out of Mexico for 2021. Since the partnership went so well last year, the team renewed the contract for 2022.
Vibes Change Contract and Revamp Team Mid-Season
After struggling to win in the first half of the season, the Vibes’ management decided to make a drastic change to the team in June. The Vibes’ re-worked their contract with Monclova to where they could recruit both players from the Mexican team and their own players from around the U.S.
In the end, the Vibes’ parted ways with their coaching staff and several players to recruit new talent playing on the field and coaching in the dugout. “While the Vibes themselves haven’t had a long-standing history, baseball in Colorado Springs has, and we felt that it was important to give the fans a winning ball club,” The Vibes’ General Manager Chris Jones stated. “Our relationship with Monclova still stands strong, and we look forward to this new era in Vibes baseball. A mix of Monclova players with an infusion of home-grown talent should take this team farther than most in the Pioneer League both on and off the field.”.
Among the several new players on the team, outfielder Domonique Hernandez and first baseman Caleb Marquez are excited to take the next step in their careers and be a part of the Pioneer League.
Marquez comes to the league after playing two years in the Arizona League and one year of college ball at St. Cloud State. “What’s important for me was to get back into that professional environment,” Marquez said. “I’m glad to get back into an organization like this where all of the players want to put in the work each day to get to the next level.”
Hernandez is also not new to the world of minor league baseball, but he is happy to be a part of the Vibes and the Pioneer League. “After playing in the Pecos League, I figured I had done my job here, now it’s time to go to the next level,” Hernandez said. “Now my job here is to keep moving up as fast as possible because the ultimate goal is to make it to the MLB.”
Hernandez Compares Playing with the Vibes vs. the Peco League
Before joining the Vibes this year, Hernandez played for the Wasco Reserve, a Pecos League team in Southern California. He said that the major difference between the two leagues is that his last organization lacked local support.
Vibes players use host families in the Colorado Springs area that house them while they play. But, Hernandez said players in the Pecos League are not that fortunate.
“We didn’t have any host families and at one time we had 10 to 12 guys staying in an office space,” Hernandez said. “We had to travel on our own to all of our games and we didn’t get paid at all. It made me realize how much I love the game of baseball because I was willing to go out there every single day and work hard.”
The changes don’t end there. “Coming here from the Pecos League is a big change and it’s really nice. We get food and we have a clubhouse that we come to every single day to see our team and become a family,” Hernandez says. “We travel to games together and we don’t have to take separate cars or carpool. The fields have been really well-maintained. In the Pecos League, we had to do all of the work on the field.”
To check out the 2022 schedule visit https://www.vibesbaseball.com/Team/Schedule.
