PHILADELPHIA -- If you’re wondering what the arrival of top prospect Brendan Rodgers means for second baseman Ryan McMahon's future opportunities with the Rockies, you’ll find out when McMahon does.

“I’ll let you know in a week, after I’ve had to deal with it for a bit,” McMahon said.

While Colorado manager Bud Black plans to take a good look at Rodgers in the lineup, he plans to feed McMahon enough time. And Black can point to the outfield, where he is juggling veteran Ian Desmond with younger players David Dahl and Raimel Tapia, as an example of making it work.

In addition to having to wait and see about playing time, McMahon has a major performance challenge -- a “reverse split,” with a .344/.382/.500 slash line left-on-left versus a .194/.316/.299 line against right-handed pitching.

“It’s been tough,” McMahon said. “I’m just trying to stay positive. I’m trying to focus on who I am as a person. You can’t always be a great baseball player, but you can always be a great person.

“You just focus on the little victories. That’s the key. And not getting discouraged.”

On May 3, McMahon homered off D-backs lefty T.J. McFarland, and in two games off the bench at Boston he had two hits, a walk and a run. In Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Phillies, McMahon's pinch-hit RBI double in the seventh (off righty Aaron Nola) scored Colorado's only run. Saturday's hit was another confidence builder.

The next opportunities, however, apparently will be spaced out for McMahon as Rodgers -- Colorado's No. 1 prospect and No. 10 prospect overall per MLB Pipeline -- tries to establish himself. Interestingly, fans and those who saw his Minor League numbers were clamoring for McMahon to receive regular playing time. Now it’s Rodgers who is the darling of the let’s-see-the-prospect set.

“I basically told him Brendan’s here, we’re going to play him, but we’re also going to play you,” Black said. “We didn’t map out every single day how we’re going to do it. It’s not unlike what we’re doing in the outfield.

“We can do some of the same things we’re going to do in the infield, as well. I think that will be shown over a long period of time, meaning a month, two months.”

In the outfield, where Charlie Blackmon is a fixture in right but the other starters rotate, the results have been solid. The two other starters Saturday against the Phillies were Dahl, who entered batting .298, and Tapia, hitting .295. Desmond homered Friday night and is hitting .219, but that average had risen 31 points over the previous 10 games as his stats began to match his quality of contact.

The outfield rotation has been implemented to rest the body of the 33-year-old Desmond and take some load off the younger players’ minds.

“A lot of times with a younger player, if you press them into playing every single day, it works against their development,” Black said. “That’s what we’ve done with David. That’s what we’ve done with Tapia, and I can foresee us doing that with Mac and Brendan.

“It’s managing people, that’s all it is. The leadership part of managing and coaching is managing the players on your team, from young to old. It doesn’t matter. Everybody needs communication, whether you’re the youngest player on the team or the oldest.”

Black said McMahon’s successes against lefties could be a testament to a solid approach, and struggles against righties could be skewed by a small sample size. McMahon missed time early in the season with an elbow injury and entered Saturday at 99 at-bats on the year. McMahon said there are aspects of the left-on-left swing he can use against righty pitchers.

“I’ve always hit lefties well for average,” McMahon said. “I know that the only way I can beat them is by executing my approach the way I need to. There’s a little less freedom in that swing but it produces some base knocks.

“Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way on and off the field. That’s part of this game. So you’ve got to stay locked in, stay focused and wait for your opportunities.”