Ian Stewart - Stewing in Triple-A awhile?

The buzz around the Colorado Rockies this spring centered around 2nd base, where the Rockies tried currently red-hot farmhand Ian Stewart for a spell. Apparently they didn't like what they saw. Not enough, anyway, to give Stewart the job out of camp.

Instead, Colorado dropped Stewart back into Triple-A, released journeyman Marcus Giles and handed over the position to Jayson Nix. The Nix experiment (.111 avg., 12 K in 45 AB) has now been officially nixed, leaving Clint Barmes (remember his groceries, er, deer meat accident that derailed a supurb rookie season?) as the Rockies best effort at 2nd.

Barmes has done well (.305 avg. through Saturday, 4/26), but most fantasy baseball writers/experts believe Stewart would play 2nd at Triple-A in order to learn the position well enough defensively to take over sometime this season at Coors. Given the shaky situation with Nix and Barmes (a lifetime .256 hitter) the pivot looked like Stewart's to take.

This, however, does to look to be the case. Through 20 games with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox Stewart has yet to play a single inning at 2nd base. It would appear the 2nd base experiment is over, or perhaps it never really got started. One recent Denver Post Rockies Mailbag discussion didn't even mention the possibility of Stewart moving from the hot corner (his current position), which leaves Spitting Seeds to believe he's mired behind all-star candidate Garrett Atkins for the foreseeable future.

If Stewart truly has holes in his swing (18 K in 76 AB at Colorado Springs), it hasn't stopped his run production (2o R, 21 RBI). He's still stuck behind Atkins until the Rockies either fall out of the race (Atkins gets traded? Walks after the year?) or make another postseason run (Stewart becomes trade fodder for pitching? A real-life 2nd baseman?). Only time will tell, and that means it could be until late July before Stewart gets his shot at the big leagues, whether at Coors or some other major league ballpark. We hear Brian Roberts might be available.