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Rockies Expected To Promote Yanquiel Fernandez

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The Rockies are calling up outfield prospect Yanquiel Fernández, reports Francys Romero. Colorado is off tonight, so they’re unlikely to announce the move until tomorrow. Fernandez is on the 40-man roster, meaning the Rox will only need to make an active roster move.

Fernandez, 22, was signed by the Rockies out of Cuba and made his pro debut back in 2021. A consensus top-100 prospect prior to the 2024 season after breaking out to a .319/.354/.605 slash line at High-A the year prior, Fernandez posted solid numbers at Double-A throughout the majority of 2024 but struggled badly at Triple-A with a paltry .211/.268/.313 slash line in 33 games at the highest level of the minors

That poor performance was enough to knock him off the majority of league-wide prospect lists, but this year he’s turned things around in his second attempt at the level. Across 271 plate appearances, he’s hitting .284/.347/.502. That sounds like a robust figure, but given the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League it’s actually good for a rather pedestrian 96 wRC+. Still, Fernandez’s 14 doubles and 13 homers in 64 games this year is intriguing enough power potential that the Rockies are giving Fernandez a shot in the majors.

It remains to be seen which player Fernandez will be replacing on Colorado’s roster, but Jordan Beck, Tyler Freeman, Sam Hilliard, and Mickey Moniak are currently mixing and matching in the outfield corners while Brenton Doyle patrols center. Fernandez’s role as a left-handed corner bat is one that’s already held by both Moniak and Hilliard. Both have identical 95 wRC+ marks overall, though Hilliard’s performance is propped up by six extra-base hits in just 20 games despite him striking out at a 37.7% clip this season. Neither Moniak nor Hilliard have options remaining, so either one would either need to be placed on the injured list or designated for assignment if Fernandez is to replace them on the roster. Of course, it’s not impossible to imagine the club rostering all three with Freeman moving back to the infield or into a utility role.

Trade Deadline Outlook: Colorado Rockies

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MLBTR's team-by-team look at the upcoming trade deadline continues with a look at the Colorado Rockies, who are on pace to break the 2024 White Sox' modern-day record for losses in a single season. General manager Bill Schmidt's club is on pace for a staggering 37 wins this season -- a mark that 23 of the game's 29 other clubs have already reached as of late June. The Rockies are a clear seller -- or at least, they should be. The Rox typically march to the beat of their own drum, however, and owner Dick Monfort seems particularly averse to any large-scale sell-offs.

Still, given the Rockies' historic futility in 2025, the expectation is that they'll move some veteran pieces, while the fan base's hope might be for an uncharacteristically active deadline on the sell side of things.

Record: 18-62 (0% playoff odds, per FanGraphs)

Other series entries: Giants, Phillies, Pirates, Astros, Marlins

Sell Mode

Impending free agents: Germán Márquez, Thairo Estrada, Austin Gomber, Kyle Farmer, Orlando Arcia

Márquez has been a pillar for the Rockies' staff since coming over in a 2015-16 offseason trade that sent outfielder Corey Dickerson to the Rays. The Rox have resisted trading him in the past, twice signing him to extensions. He's now in his first full season post-Tommy John surgery, earning $10MM. There'll be about $3.17MM of that sum yet to be paid out of as of deadline day. Márquez got out to an awful start but has turned in a 3.21 ERA in 47 2/3 innings over his past nine starts (though that includes six unearned runs in his last start against the Dodgers). His 17.6% strikeout rate in that span is nowhere near peak levels, but his command has been good and he's averaging better than 95 mph on his heater. Plenty of teams would look at Marquez's velocity and track record of missing bats and think they could turn him around further.

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NL West Notes: Carroll, Glasnow, Garcia, Freeland, Black

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Corbin Carroll has missed the Diamondbacks’ last four games due to a sore left hand, after the outfielder was hit by a pitch in Wednesday’s 8-1 loss to the Blue Jays.  X-rays were negative and manager Torey Lovullo indicated today that Carroll’s hand was improving to some extent, but the skipper told MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert and other media that Carroll would undergo an MRI as an extra precaution.  “Just because it’s not progressing as quickly as we wanted it to, and because of what we’ve just gone through with [Gabriel Moreno] and several of the injuries that we’ve been taking on, we want to definitely get a baseline,” Lovullo said.

In Moreno’s case, what apparently seemed like a minor hand injury ended up leading to a much longer expected absence, as a second MRI revealed a hairline fracture in the catcher’s right index figure.  Such an outcome for Carroll would be devastating, as the young star has bounced back from a fairly ordinary 2024 campaign to hit .255/.341/.573 with 20 home runs in his first 323 plate appearances of 2025.  Only 12 players in baseball have a higher wRC+ than Carroll’s 148, so naturally even losing him for a few days has been a hit to Arizona’s lineup.  Losing Carroll to a more serious hand issue might well change the trajectory of the Diamondbacks’ season, as it would make it even harder for the Snakes to make up ground in both the crowded NL West or in the NL wild card picture.

More from around the NL West…

  • Tyler Glasnow and Luis Garcia each began minor league rehab assignments today, with Glasnow tossing two innings for the Dodgers’ Triple-A Oklahoma City and Garcia throwing an inning with the Dodgers’ A-ball affiliate in Rancho Cucamonga.  Glasnow has been on the injured list (first the 15-day and then the 60-day) since late April due to shoulder inflammation, and is expected to make at least three rehab outings before a potential return to the Los Angeles rotation.  Garcia has been out since late May due to an adductor strain and probably won’t need as much of a build-up to return to his bullpen role, so a return before the end of June seems possible.
  • Kyle Freeland is hoping to return from the 15-day IL when first eligible on Friday, the Rockies left-hander told MLB.com’s Thomas Harding and other reporters.  Lower back stiffness led to Freeland’s IL placement, but he said “everything felt great” after a 50-pitch bullpen session today.  The plan is for a shorter bullpen session on Tuesday as the final step in an abbreviated recovery process, and the extended 50-pitch outing today was meant to get Freeland into something of a simulated game environment without the need for any rehab starts.
  • Sticking with the Rockies, another quick return of a more unusual fashion may be occurring if Bud Black rejoins the organization.  Fired as Colorado’s manager on May 11, “Black is a strong candidate to rejoin the Rockies as a pitching director or special assistant,” USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes.  While some managers are occasionally re-assigned to a new role within an organization in lieu of being altogether axed, such shuffling usually happens at the time of a managerial change, not a little over a month afterwards.  Black managed the Rockies to a 544-690 record over eight-plus seasons, as playoff appearances in 2017-18 gave way to six straight losing seasons, plus Colorado’s current 18-60 record under Black and interim manager Warren Schaeffer.

Rockies Outright Keston Hiura

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June 19: Hiura cleared waivers and was outrighted back to Triple-A, according to the MLB.com transaction log. It’s not clear if he’ll elect free agency.

June 16: The Rockies announced that first baseman Michael Toglia has been recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque. Infielder Keston Hiura has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.

This is the reversal of a transaction from a few weeks back. On May 31st, Toglia was optioned to Albuquerque, with Hiura selected to the roster to take his place. Toglia had a nice season in 2024 but got out to an awful start in 2025.

Last year, he hit 25 home runs in just 116 games and took over as the clubs’ regular first baseman. His 32.1% strikeout rate was high and his batting average was low, but he drew walks at an 11.8% clip. His .218/.311/.456 line actually translated to a subpar 98 wRC+, thanks to the hitter-friendly nature of Coors Field, but that still made him one of the better hitters on a bad team.

This year, prior to being sent down, his walk rate fell to 8.7% and his strikeout rate climbed even higher to 39.1%. He currently has a .194/.266/.349 slash and a 55 wRC+. Since getting optioned, he has played 11 Triple-A games, with numbers in line with his 2024 season. He hit three home runs with an 11.8% walk rate and 29.4% strikeout rate for a .273/.353/.568 line and 112 wRC+.

Hiura, 28, got a small amount of big league playing time and didn’t do much with it. He got 21 plate appearances over eight games. He did not draw a walk but struck out seven times. He knocked four hits, including one double. It all added up to a .222/.333/.278 line and 71 wRC+.

Presumably, Toglia will now be retaking the regular first base job after this brief reset. In his absence, Hiura got a decent chunk of the time there, with utility players like Orlando Arcia and Kyle Farmer also chipping in.

Hiura now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Rockies can technically take five days to explore trades. There’s not likely to be a ton of interest. Hiura was performing well enough in the minors prior to coming up but it’s been the case for years now that he shows pop in the minors and then strikes out too much in the majors. He now has 1,105 big league plate appearances with 50 home runs but a massive 35.9% strikeout rate.

He exhausted his final option year with the Brewers in 2022, which pushed him into journeyman status. Over the past few years, he has repeatedly cleared waivers and signed minor league deals with clubs like the Tigers, Angels and Rockies, occasionally getting brief looks in the majors. If he clears waivers again, he’ll have the choice of electing free agency or reporting back to Albuquerque.

Photo courtesy of Rhona Wise, Imagn Images

Rockies Place Kyle Freeland On 15-Day Injured List

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The Rockies announced that southpaw Kyle Freeland has been placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to June 12) due to lower back stiffness.  Left-hander Carson Palmquist was just optioned to Triple-A three days ago, but he’ll now be recalled back to Colorado’s active roster and will start Monday’s game against the Nationals.

Freeland has a 5.13 ERA over 14 starts and 73 2/3 innings this season, with a subpar 17.4% strikeout rate but an outstanding 4.6% walk rate.  That latter number is on pace to be the best walk rate within a career of solid control for Freeland, and a 3.99 SIERA reflects the 58.4% strand rate and .362 BABIP that has inflated his real-world ERA.  Playing for the woeful Rockies also hasn’t helped Freeland’s fortunes, as his average run support of 3.05 runs per nine innings is among the lowest in baseball.

There isn’t any indication that his back issue is particularly serious, though he’ll get at least a couple of weeks to recover before returning to Colorado’s rotation.  Now in his ninth season with the Rox, Freeland probably doesn’t hold much value as a potential trade candidate at the deadline, given his middling numbers, lack of strikeouts, and pricey contract.  The left-hander is earning the remainder of a $16MM salary in 2025 and is owed another $16MM in 2026, which is the final guaranteed year of the five-year, $64.5MM extension Freeland signed with the Rockies back in April 2022.  The deal has a $17MM vesting player option for 2027 that will trigger if Freeland tosses 170 innings in 2026, and while he has only topped the 170-IP threshold twice in his career, that stands as another reason rival clubs may be wary of inquiring about a deadline deal.

Rockies Activate Austin Gomber

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TODAY: Colorado officially activated Gomber from the 60-day IL. In corresponding moves, right-hander Zach Agnos was optioned to Triple-A, and Ryan Feltner was moved from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. Feltner was initially placed on the injured list on April 29 due to back spasms, and since he wasn’t expected back until late June anyway, the shift to the 60-day IL only formalizes that timeline.

JUNE 12: The Rockies will reinstate lefty Austin Gomber from the 60-day injured list this weekend, reports Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. He’ll start Sunday’s game in Atlanta, where he’ll take on reigning Cy Young winner Chris Sale. The Rox announced that Carson Palmquist, who’d been in line to start that game, was optioned to Triple-A today. Righty Anthony Molina was recalled from Triple-A, adding another arm to the ’pen in the meantime. Colorado will need to make a 40-man roster move to reinstate Gomber prior to Sunday’s start.

Gomber, 31, will make his season debut when he takes the mound Sunday. He’s been out all year due to a left shoulder injury but has looked sharp in four Triple-A rehab starts, tossing a dozen innings with three runs allowed on six hits and five walks. He’s fanned 13 of 48 opponents along the way.

In 2024, Gomber tossed a career-high 165 innings over the course of 30 starts, working to a 4.75 ERA. His 16.7% strikeout rate was well shy of the 22% league average, but his 5.5% walk rate was quite strong. Gomber struggled with home runs, as one would expect for a fly-ball pitcher who’s prone to hard contact and plays his home games at Coors Field; he yielded an average of nearly two homers per nine frames at home and a total of 1.64 HR/9 on the season overall.

It’s a fifth starter’s profile, but the pitching-starved Rockies valued his durability and tendered Gomber a contract that pays him $6.35MM in his final year of club control. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end and, if he can get out to a decent start to his 2025 campaign, could end up as a trade chip for the Rox ahead of next month’s deadline as well. Colorado traditionally tends to avoid trading away too many veterans even in non-contending seasons, but at 12-55 with a -202 run differential, there are no delusions of a second-half run. Shipping out Gomber won’t bring much of a return, prospect-wise, but at the very least they’d trim some payroll and add some depth to the minor league ranks.

Rockies Release Jacob Stallings

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The Rockies announced a series of roster moves today. Infielder Ryan Ritter has been selected to the roster, catcher Braxton Fulford has been recalled and right-hander Zach Agnos has been reinstated from the bereavement list. Right-hander Angel Chivilli was optioned after yesterday’s game. To open two more spots, the club has placed shortstop Ezequiel Tovar on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain, retroactive to June 3rd, while catcher Jacob Stallings has been unconditionally released.

Stallings, 35, had a solid season for the Rockies last year but he’s been dreadful this year. Going into 2024, he signed a $2MM deal and went on to hit .263/.357/.453 for a 114 wRC+ in 82 games for Colorado. The defensive reviews were mixed but the Rockies clearly liked him, as it was reported in September of last year that they wanted to bring him back. The two sides eventually reunited on a one-year deal for 2025 with a $2.5MM guarantee, in the form of a $2MM salary and $500K buyout on a $2MM mutual option for 2026.

Unfortunately, his performance has dropped off significantly so far this year. Through 93 plate appearances, he has a .143/.217/.179 line. A drop from last year’s .324 batting average on balls in play to this year’s .226 doesn’t help but that’s not the only thing going on here. He has struck out in a third of his plate appearances, a huge jump from last year’s 23.1% clip. His walk rate has dropped from last year’s 9.6% pace to this year’s 5.4%.

While Stallings has been doing that, Hunter Goodman has been taking over the catcher position. Goodman has ten home runs in 241 plate appearances, helping him produce a .281/.328/.491 line and 114 wRC+. His defensive marks aren’t great but it’s understandable that the Rockies have leaned towards that stronger offensive output. Fulford has been playing well in the minors so he’ll get to come up and join the big league catching ranks, while Stallings has been let go.

Once Stallings clears release waivers, he’ll be able to sign with any club. The Rockies will remain on the hook for the remainder of his salary. If any other club gives him a spot, they would only have to pay him the prorated portion of the league minimum salary for any time spent on the roster.

It’s unclear how long Tovar will be out of action but oblique strains can be difficult, with minor strains sometimes taking weeks or months to recover from. That opens the shortstop position and Thomas Harding of MLB.com suggests that Ritter should get regular playing time, though Orlando Arcia, Tyler Freeman and Kyle Farmer all have some experience at the position.

Ritter, 24, was a fourth-round selection of the Rockies in the 2022 draft. He has since climbed the minor league ladder and is having a good season in Triple-A. He has a .305/.413/.635 line and 149 wRC+ in 52 games for the Isotopes. He already has 16 home runs while drawing walks at a 13.9% clip and keeping his strikeouts down to a 20.4% rate.

Prospect evaluators have often worried about his chase tendencies but he has continued to lower his strikeout rate. He was punched out 29% of the time in 2023 but got that down to 23.6% last year and he’s dropped it even more this year. His defensive reviews are mixed but he’s capable of swiping 20 bags annually. Baseball America now lists him as the #4 prospect in the club’s system.

Even the best prospects can sometimes flounder when first reaching the majors, so time will tell how Ritter handles the jump. If he doesn’t succeed right away, he could be optioned back down to Albuquerque when Tovar is healthy. If he succeeds, he has played some second base in the minors and could perhaps kick over to the other side of the bag, depending on how Thairo Estrada is performing.

Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Imagn Images

Rockies Make Several Roster Moves

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The Rockies announced a slate of roster moves Tuesday, reinstating young righty Chase Dollander from the 15-day IL and placing fellow right-hander Tanner Gordon on the 15-day IL in his place, due to a strained left oblique. Gordon’s IL placement is retroactive to May 31. Colorado also placed righty Zach Agnos on the bereavement list and recalled right-hander Angel Chivilli. Additionally, infielder Aaron Schunk and outfielder Nick Martini cleared waivers and were assigned outright to Triple-A Albuquerque, per the MiLB.com transaction log. Martini elected free agency. Schunk has the right to do the same, by virtue of a prior outright assignment earlier this year, but there’s no indication he’s done so.

Dollander, 23, was the No. 9 overall pick in 2023 and entered the season ranked as one of baseball’s top pitching prospects. He’s had a handful of rough starts since making his MLB debut in April but looked to be righting the ship prior to landing on the IL due to forearm tightness. Dollander held opponents to two runs or fewer in three of his four appearances prior to the injury and had rattled off 10 2/3 innings with three runs allowed (2.53 ERA) and a 13-to-5 K/BB ratio in a pair of road starts against the Rangers and D-backs.

Dollander will slot right back into the Rockies’ rotation and start tonight’s game in Miami, per the team. As one might expect, the right-hander has been far better on the road in his young career than at Denver’s hitter-friendly home park. Dollander has made four starts at Coors Field and four on the road, working to an 8.66 ERA at home compared to a 4.29 mark in other venues. Overall, he carries a 6.28 ERA with a roughly average 22.1% strikeout rate, an elevated 10.5% walk rate and a massive 2.33 HR/9 mark (with six of his ten home runs allowed coming at home).

The 27-year-old Gordon was a sixth-round pick by the Braves back in 2019. He landed with the Rox alongside reliever Victor Vodnik in the trade that sent Pierce Johnson to Atlanta a couple years back. Gordon was rocked for an 8.65 ERA in eight starts during last year’s debut campaign but has provided a more serviceable 4.24 ERA with a 14.1% strikeout rate, 4.2% walk rate and 41.4% grounder rate in three starts (17 innings) so far in 2025. The team didn’t specify the severity of Gordon’s strain, nor was a timetable for his return provided.

Martini, 34, was designated for assignment last week. He totaled 111 plate appearances as a Rockie and hit .225/.288/.294 despite being deployed almost exclusively in platoon-friendly situations. Only five of the lefty-swinging Martini’s plate appearances came versus southpaws.

Over a six-year span from 2018-23, Martini batted .268/.362/.412 with an 11.2% walk rate in 412 plate appearances in the majors. He’s always walked at a huge clip and has been an on-base machine in the upper minors, playing parts of eight Triple-A seasons churning out a .294/.399/.454 batting line in that time. He’ll be a depth option for teams looking for left-handed bats, but he’ll probably need to sign a minor league deal after struggling at the plate in both 2024 and 2025.

The 27-year-old Schunk went 6-for-28 with a double in 29 plate appearances in his second year of partial MLB work with Colorado. The 2019 second-round pick hit .234/.265/.330 in 98 big league plate appearances last year. Schunk shows solid contact skills in Triple-A and has played all four infield spots — primarily third base — but doesn’t walk often or provide much power.

Schunk is a career .291/.346/.469 hitter in 880 Triple-A plate appearances, but given the intensely hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League (and Albuquerque’s home park, in particular), that’s actually about 12% worse than league-average, by measure of wRC+. Assuming he sticks with the organization, he’ll give the Rockies some righty-hitting infield depth at multiple positions.

Rockies Option Michael Toglia, Designate Aaron Schunk, Select Keston Hiura

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The Rockies announced three roster moves Saturday, including the selection of Keston Hiura’s minor league contract to the active roster.  In corresponding moves, Colorado designated infielder Aaron Schunk for assignment and optioned Michael Toglia to Triple-A Albuquerque.

Toglia’s demotion is the most noteworthy of the transactions, as the former first-rounder has been the Rockies’ everyday first baseman.  After struggling in limited playing time in 2022-23, Toglia had a borderline breakout over 458 plate appearances in 2024, hitting .218/.311/.456 with 25 home runs.  While this still translated to just a 98 wRC+, Toglia showed some strong power and contact numbers, as well as an outstanding 11.8% walk rate.

Those promising signs have evaporated this season, however, amidst the disaster that is the 2025 Rockies season.  Toglia has hit just .194/.266/.349 with six home runs over 207 PA, with his walk rate dropping to only slightly above the league average.  The swing-and-miss problems that have persisted throughout his brief MLB career have continued, as Toglia has struck out a league-leading 81 times in those 207 PA.

Against these extreme struggles, Toglia will head back to Albuquerque to see if he can get himself on track.  The hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League isn’t exactly the most accurate representation of batting prowess, but posting some good numbers would do well to help Toglia’s confidence in preparation for another call-up later in the year.  As Toglia approaches his 27th birthday in August, it is also fair to wonder if the Rox still view him as a potential long-term answer in the lineup, or if first base could be one of the many positions that may be reviewed when the team takes stock after what might be a record-setting nightmare year.

Hiura was an even more highly-touted prospect during his days in the Brewers’ farm system, as Hiura was viewed as one of the sport’s top minor leaguers.  An outstanding 2019 rookie season seemed to answer that promise, yet Hiura has since hit only .203/.287/.384 over 736 Major League plate appearances since Opening Day 2020.  Like Toglia, Hiura has been very prone to strikeouts, with a 36K% to show for his big league career.  Hiura elected free agency after being cut loose from the Angels last season, and he joined Colorado on a minors deal this past winter.

Toglia was the Rockies’ first-round pick in the 2019 draft, and Schunk went in the second round, selected 62nd overall.  Schunk made his Major League debut last season, and has a .230/.254/.311 slash line to show for 127 PA during the 2024-25 seasons, while playing at second, third, and shortstop.

Kyle Farmer, Orlando Arcia, and Tyler Freeman are utility types on the Rockies’ roster, so even though Schunk is a homegrown product, the Rox felt he was an expendable piece.  Schunk was already designated for assignment and outrighted off the 40-man roster back in February, so if he clears waivers again, he can choose free agency rather than accept another outright to Albuquerque.

Rockies, Nick Anderson Agree To Minor League Deal

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Reliever Nick Anderson has a minor league deal with the Rockies, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2. Anderson, a client of Gaeta Sports Management, had been on a minor league contract with the Cardinals. He triggered an opt-out and quickly found another landing spot.

Anderson had been pitching for the Cards’ top farm team in Memphis. He made 17 appearances, allowing a 6.20 ERA over 20 1/3 innings. His respective strikeout (21.5%) and walk (8.6%) rates weren’t terrible, but he gave up a fair amount of hard contact and had a tough time stranding runners. St. Louis unsurprisingly decided not to call him up when he triggered the out clause.

The 34-year-old Anderson appeared in the majors with the Royals in the first half of last season. He tossed 35 2/3 frames of 4.04 ERA ball with a modest 19% strikeout rate. Anderson subsequently spent time in Triple-A with the Dodgers and Orioles but didn’t get a major league opportunity with either club.

Anderson has been a journeyman middle relief type since his brilliant 2019-20 run between Miami and Tampa Bay. He provided the Braves 35 1/3 innings of 3.06 ERA ball a couple seasons back and still sits in the 94-95 MPH range with his fastball. Colorado’s bullpen has managed a serviceable 4.29 ERA overall, but they’re last in MLB with an 18.9% strikeout rate.

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