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Apr. 17—To hear 22-year-old Warming Bernabel talk about it, you'd think it was a skinned knee.
It's just that when he was shot — yes, just shot — in the back during a mugging attempt in his native Dominican Republic a mere 16 months ago, the bullet went in one side of his back, narrowly missing his spinal cord and and organs, and exited through the other side before hitting his wife in the biceps, causing little major damage to either.
"It wasn't too bad," Bernabel, the Albuquerque Isotopes infielder who hit a pair of home runs and drove in three runs in Thursday's 11-8 win over the visiting El Paso Chihuahuas, said through a translator. "I was back working out in two weeks."
None of that is to suggest his life didn't change dramatically on that December day in 2023. Quite the contrary. It just didn't have the long term physical effects you might assume would be the result of, you know, having a bullet fly through your body.
As he explained in previous published reports, three men assaulted Bernable and his wife as they were walking to a restaurant in his hometown of Bani, trying to steal a gold chain from his neck. The store's owner fired a gun, scaring the attackers off, but in their retreat, one shot a gun back, striking Bernabel.
The end of a promising baseball career, or worse, could have been how the night went. Instead, it has become something that's made Bernabel more appreciative of his opportunity to play baseball for a living and continue his journey toward the major leagues, especially in the Colorado Rockies organization.
"When that happened, it got me closer to my family," Bernabel said. "It got me to a point where I needed to start working harder because there's a purpose for me in life — to help my family."
Fast forward 16 months from that day in Bani and one of the three attackers has been arrested, but not the other two. In terms of baseball, Bernabel is still on the road back in some respects.
Already in his sixth professional season at just 22-years-old, his stock has risen, fallen and is rising again (it seems) within the organization.
After tearing through 91 Single-A games (split between Single-A Fresno and High-A Spokane) in 2022, hitting .313 with 14 home runs and 71 RBIs, he climbed to No. 8 on MLB Pipeline's Colorado Rockies prospects rankings.
Then he hit just .236 in 2023, primarily with Double-A Hartford. But last year, Bernabel saw his numbers, and big league prospects, start to rise again in Hartford.
This year, opening the season with the Triple-A Isotopes, Bernable has split time between first base and third base, his natural position.
After Thursday's 2-for-4, two home run, one walk, three RBI, three runs scored day at the plate, he's now hitting .283 in his first season at Triple-A with four home runs and eight RBI.
He says this season's success started in the offseason when he dropped 20 pounds and feels like he's in the best shape of his life. More recently, though, is when things have really been clicking. He has seven hits, two walks and just one strikeout in his past four games.
"I've felt really good since we got home (from last week's series at Sugar Land)," Bernabel said. "I've been coming out every day, like around 12:30, 1 o'clock, just to work on my hitting and making sure that I stay ready. I feel like I'm in a good place right now."
That doesn't mean he's putting any pressure or timetable on when he expects to get a Big League call. But it does mean he's happy with the progress he's making on that journey.
And he's not the only one.
"He needs to keep on working the things that he's been working on, but I agree that I think he's in a good place right now," said third-year Isotopes manager Pedro Lopez, who also serves as a fantastic pinch-hit translator.
"... The main thing right now is just keep him healthy, make sure that he keeps having quality at-bats and making great plays on the field. If he does those things, the sky's the limit."
MOON SAFE, CONCERT OFF: Saturday's pregame concert planned at Isotopes Park with Keith Sanchez and the Moon Thieves has been postponed due to forecasted bad weather.
A makeup date has not yet been scheduled.
Saturday's game is still scheduled for 6:35 p.m. with gates opening at 5 p.m. and the first 1,500 fans receiving a specially-designed Duke City Flag as part of the season-long, multi-event "City Roots" series of games.
The postgame firework show is also still scheduled, weather permitting.
Continue reading...
It's just that when he was shot — yes, just shot — in the back during a mugging attempt in his native Dominican Republic a mere 16 months ago, the bullet went in one side of his back, narrowly missing his spinal cord and and organs, and exited through the other side before hitting his wife in the biceps, causing little major damage to either.
"It wasn't too bad," Bernabel, the Albuquerque Isotopes infielder who hit a pair of home runs and drove in three runs in Thursday's 11-8 win over the visiting El Paso Chihuahuas, said through a translator. "I was back working out in two weeks."
None of that is to suggest his life didn't change dramatically on that December day in 2023. Quite the contrary. It just didn't have the long term physical effects you might assume would be the result of, you know, having a bullet fly through your body.
As he explained in previous published reports, three men assaulted Bernable and his wife as they were walking to a restaurant in his hometown of Bani, trying to steal a gold chain from his neck. The store's owner fired a gun, scaring the attackers off, but in their retreat, one shot a gun back, striking Bernabel.
The end of a promising baseball career, or worse, could have been how the night went. Instead, it has become something that's made Bernabel more appreciative of his opportunity to play baseball for a living and continue his journey toward the major leagues, especially in the Colorado Rockies organization.
"When that happened, it got me closer to my family," Bernabel said. "It got me to a point where I needed to start working harder because there's a purpose for me in life — to help my family."
Fast forward 16 months from that day in Bani and one of the three attackers has been arrested, but not the other two. In terms of baseball, Bernabel is still on the road back in some respects.
Already in his sixth professional season at just 22-years-old, his stock has risen, fallen and is rising again (it seems) within the organization.
After tearing through 91 Single-A games (split between Single-A Fresno and High-A Spokane) in 2022, hitting .313 with 14 home runs and 71 RBIs, he climbed to No. 8 on MLB Pipeline's Colorado Rockies prospects rankings.
Then he hit just .236 in 2023, primarily with Double-A Hartford. But last year, Bernabel saw his numbers, and big league prospects, start to rise again in Hartford.
This year, opening the season with the Triple-A Isotopes, Bernable has split time between first base and third base, his natural position.
After Thursday's 2-for-4, two home run, one walk, three RBI, three runs scored day at the plate, he's now hitting .283 in his first season at Triple-A with four home runs and eight RBI.
He says this season's success started in the offseason when he dropped 20 pounds and feels like he's in the best shape of his life. More recently, though, is when things have really been clicking. He has seven hits, two walks and just one strikeout in his past four games.
"I've felt really good since we got home (from last week's series at Sugar Land)," Bernabel said. "I've been coming out every day, like around 12:30, 1 o'clock, just to work on my hitting and making sure that I stay ready. I feel like I'm in a good place right now."
That doesn't mean he's putting any pressure or timetable on when he expects to get a Big League call. But it does mean he's happy with the progress he's making on that journey.
And he's not the only one.
"He needs to keep on working the things that he's been working on, but I agree that I think he's in a good place right now," said third-year Isotopes manager Pedro Lopez, who also serves as a fantastic pinch-hit translator.
"... The main thing right now is just keep him healthy, make sure that he keeps having quality at-bats and making great plays on the field. If he does those things, the sky's the limit."
MOON SAFE, CONCERT OFF: Saturday's pregame concert planned at Isotopes Park with Keith Sanchez and the Moon Thieves has been postponed due to forecasted bad weather.
A makeup date has not yet been scheduled.
Saturday's game is still scheduled for 6:35 p.m. with gates opening at 5 p.m. and the first 1,500 fans receiving a specially-designed Duke City Flag as part of the season-long, multi-event "City Roots" series of games.
The postgame firework show is also still scheduled, weather permitting.
Continue reading...
