Can't Keep Goodman Down

 

The good news is that, generally, the 2026 Colorado Rockies can be described as 'not as bad as last year's.' The bad news is that since April ended they haven't exactly been acting like it.

Look, here's what should sum it up. Yesterday the Rockies called up Cole Carrigg, a centerfield prospect looking to stake his claim on the team. To remind you, this team has already gone through so many 'here's the big new prospect' moments that haven't worked. This has been since like 2024. We've seen Drew Romo, Zac Veen, Yanquiel Fernandez, Warming Bernabel, Braxton Fulford, Jordan Beck, Ryan Ritter, Kyle Karros, Adael Amador, McCade Brown, Carson Palmquist and Bradley Blalock in the bigs, and with the exception of a few decent months from Beck, a solid week from Bernabel and maybe some of Karros's recent stuff, there's been little to no impact. 

The goal is to build a team upwards with young talent, and it's not gonna work if all of them can't play in the bigs. It's bad enough that there's two actual good pitching talents that absolutely refuse to stay healthy, meaning Dollander and Feltner are leaving major responsibilities to veterans on one year deals AGAIN. But the lineup is mostly replacement-level guys because the prospects aren't panning out. Brenton Doyle might even be cooked at this point. Dude started his career with two straight gold gloves and hasn't been competent since. 

So what is working? Well, once again, Hunter Goodman, who's got 17 homers and 31 RBIs already. Dude's a born hitter perfect for Coors Field, his power work has been very helpful as usual. T.J. Rumfield and Troy Johnston are having great offensive campaigns as supporting players. Jake McCarthy and Willi Castro are playing pivotal roles...seeing as Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle really aren't. The bullpen's still great, and Seth Halvorsen's finally stepping up in a big way. Feltner's been great his last few starts. Tomoyuki Sugano might be the perfect Rockies starter because he's a fly ball pitcher anyway and these guys are used to the air difference, plus he's efficient without overexerting himself. Everything else is kind of forgettable, especially the major pieces like Freeland and Tovar.

Hopefully Carrigg can provide some level of stability upon his call-up. I know they've got people coming, Roc Riggio eventually, Veen again at some point, and hopefully that can work better than what they've got. If they can eventually build something sustainable, then we can really talk, but until then it's gonna be stuff like this. And as long as it's not 2025-bad, I think we'll be alright.

Coming Tonight: In a very good sign for the club, the Red Sox are once again calling up homegrown pitchers who can actually keep runs down. 

Meanwhile, In The Basement

 

The Phillies, in Denver this week, feel like they've won the lottery. They already made quick work of the Pirates, they regained first place, and now they get to play the worst team in the majors. Only 8 wins to their name at the moment. Virtually no pitching, a handful of decent power hitters and a lot of mediocrity. The Rockies are already one manager down, and seeing as the new guy, Warren Schaeffer, is 1-6 at the moment, they may be going through more.

Here is how I best sum up the Rockies at the moment. Hunter Goodman is the team's best hitter. He's 25, and he's having a breakout year, hitting .292 with 7 homers, 29 RBIs and 11 doubles. I knew he'd factor into this season, as he got a lot of play last year off the bench. What I did not know was that he's a catcher. I assumed he was a corner infielder. No, his primary position is catcher. Meaning he made the team as starting catcher, Jacob Stallings made the team as backup, and Drew Romo, who many people consider to be the future of the team, is stuck in the minors rehabbing from an injury. Even when he does return to playing shape, which should be soon, he will be confined to Albuquerque. The Colorado Rockies, where literally the only person doing well is stopping the team from progressing. 

And look, you can say, truthfully, that big prospects like Romo, Zac Veen and Adael Amador haven't done shit in the majors. They really haven't. Veen got his shot in April, didn't do a thing and then Jordan Beck took his roster spot and hasn't looked back. Amador has been filling 2nd and is hitting .145 with a -1.0 WAR. Romo is trying, certainly, and if it weren't for that finger thing he'd accumulated after the team foolishly kept him back from the Opening Day roster he'd be factoring into things right now. But instead, in need of an extra catcher for a spell, the Rockies had to call up Braxton Fulford for a series or so, which must have been infuriating for Romo. 

At the very least the rotation has no shortage of starting opportunities, but it's guys like Chase Dollander, Bradley Blalock, Tanner Gordon and Carson Palmquist just thrust right into the ringer. Of course it's not gonna go well, you're not developing them properly, you're just trying to plug holes while the boat's missing a half. Dollander, through 8 starts, is 2-5 with a 6.28 ERA, and he's considered one of the team's better starters. Palmquist gave up 5 runs in his first start. Until the Rockies find a way of leveling their stadium and doing something with the air quality that prevents this sort of thing, these young pitchers are gonna keep getting killed like this. And this isn't a team that can just outhit the competition. These guys aren't exactly Bichette, Walker and Castilla.

The misery will likely keep going at this pace. The Rockies may challenge the White Sox' record they just set last year. Rob Manfred will once again ignore calls to do something to prevent against 110+ loss teams. And Drew Romo won't be the only person in Colorado with an overextended finger.

Coming Tonight: That's odd, usually the breakout hard-hitting infielders in Tampa aren't homegrown..

Uncustomed Heroes of 2023: Rockies

 

It was a year where three teams were expected to compete, and the one that wasn't was at least expected to chase them a bit. Which left the Rockies in last, where they stayed for a lot of the season. 

Not that anyone was really expecting anything from the Rockies this year, but with Kris Bryant and Jurickson Profar secured, the hope was that they wouldn't lose 100 games, and they did, because Bryant was hurt again and Profar underwhelmed. It also didn't help that the rotation was even more hurt than usual, with both Senzatela and Marquez down for the count, meaning that aside from Freeland and Gomber, the team needed to rely on replacement options. Hence the 100 losses. 

Profar coming in was a big deal, as he'd been a big part of recent A's and Padres successes. It is wild to me that, after breaking into the league in 2012 with the Rangers, 2023 was Profar's age-30 season. A lot of people coming up, their age-30 season is, like, their third year. Perhaps we're getting away from that now that we're bringing people up at 19 again, but Profar is a weird little unicorn, in that he was in the league at 19 and didn't start playing truly well until 25. That said, after his strong stretch of his late 20s, Profar's Rockies numbers were among the worst of his career. In 111 games, he hit .236 with 39 RBIs and 8 homers, and regressed defensively. Despite being one of the Rockies' highest-profile additions heading into the year, the team cut him with a month or so left in the season. At which point he returned to San Diego and figured out how to hit again, with a .295 average in 14 games.

2024 Prediction: Look, let's be clear, wherever he's going, he's sure as hell staying away from Denver. Honestly, maybe he stays in San Diego, he seems to do well there.

After C.J. Cron was dropped, 1st base went to usual infield also-ran Elehuris Montero. This was Montero's fullest season in Denver, and in 85 games, he hit .243 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs. These were solid offensive numbers and when paired with passable defense, he made for a nice piece the Rox can hang the future on.

2024 Prediction: Of all of the guys the Rockies have decided on going forward, Montero has the most to prove, so I'd say he has a breakout year that brings him to the heart of the lineup.

In a season where the Rockies bullpen was one of the biggest surprises in baseball, one of their most crucial pieces was former Brewers role-player Brent Suter, who, despite the array of rotation openings, remained a bullpen piece this year. In 57 games, Suter had a 3.38 ERA with 55 Ks, his best season to date as a pure relief piece.

2024 Prediction: Gets some reps next year, but isn't as reliable as he was.

A rookie that came up late as a utility piece as Hunter Goodman, who added some power boosts with 17 RBIs in 23 games; for comparison's sake, it took Mike Moustakas 47 games to get to that amount. Goodman didn't exactly hit for average, and isn't a great defensive piece, but the Rockies could use him as a bench bat or DH going forward.

2024 Prediction: Similar use, but I think he'll have way more to do as Blackmon is phased out.

And then Brendan Rodgers also played this year. Took him a bit, as he was out til the last weeks of the year, but the perennial Rockies standout did manage to show his head late in the season, after all the hoopla had died down. In 46 games, Rodgers hit .258 with 4 homers and 20 RBIs, a total that indicates a season that was just getting going as the season wrapped up.

2024 Prediction: If he's fully healed, there'll be no problems, and he'll lead this team to something a lot better. If not...they might need to figure out what to do with him.

Coming Tomorrow- The Royals are going to look a lot different next year, and here's some of the energy they'll be leaving behind.