Rockies Place Ryan Feltner On 15-Day Injured List
The Rockies placed right-hander Ryan Feltner on the 15-day injured list on Friday, and called up left-hander Sammy Peralta from Triple-A in the corresponding move. Feltner is dealing with right ulnar nerve inflammation, which forced him out of his start on Thursday (a 10-8 Rockies loss to the Padres) after two innings of work.
Manager Warren Schaeffer described the issue as “just a little elbow inflammation” when speaking with MLB.com’s Bill Ladson and other reporters. Since Feltner’s “MRI looked pretty good,” the Rox are hopeful that the righty will be back after just a minimal 15-day absence.
Feltner allowed two runs in his abbreviated outing against San Diego, boosting his ERA to 6.30 over five starts and 20 innings this season. His 4.46 SIERA is almost two runs lower than his ERA and Thursday’s start could be considered a wash due to his injury, yet Feltner’s Statcast metrics are uniformly below average at this early point in the season. In particular, opposing batters have been laying into Feltner’s pitches to the tune of a 49.2% hard-hit ball rate and a 15.9% barrel rate.
As Ladson observed, injuries have been a persistent issue for Feltner during his career, including a 2025 season that saw the righty limited to 30 1/3 innings due to back spasms and a shoulder problem. The most frightening of Feltner’s injuries was a skull fracture and a concussion sustained after he was hit in the head by a Nick Castellanos line drive in May 2023, which resulted in another shortened season of only 43 1/3 frames.
The Rockies’ scheduled game with the Mets today has been rained out, and the two teams will play a doubleheader on Sunday. With the pitching schedule already a little scrambled, the Rox will likely get through the doubleheader and then Monday’s offday before addressing Feltner’s rotation spot. Kyle Freeland has been on the 15-day IL since April 13 due to some minor shoulder inflammation and could be back when first eligible, as Freeland tossed 41 pitches over a two-inning simulated outing on Wednesday.
Rockies Trade Nicky Lopez To Cubs
The Rockies announced they’ve traded minor league infielder Nicky Lopez to the Cubs for cash. He was on a minor league contract and will not immediately occupy a 40-man roster spot for Chicago.
Lopez has been an organizational favorite of the Cubs as a depth infielder. He appeared in 14 MLB games for them last year between April and May. Lopez had also been with the club last spring on a minor league deal before being granted his release to pursue an MLB opportunity with the Angels. The Cubs waived him in late May but brought him back on a new minor league contract in August.
The Naperville, Illinois native signed with Colorado in December. He’s out to a nice start with Triple-A Albuquerque, batting .333 with a home run and a couple stolen bases over 15 games. Although the offense is surely inflated by playing in the Pacific Coast League, he’s showing his typically strong bat-to-ball ability while playing in the middle of the diamond.
Lopez is a lifetime .245/.310/.311 hitter in a little under 700 big league contests. He’s a quality defender at any of second base, third base, or shortstop. If the Cubs wanted to call him back up, he could replace Scott Kingery (who still has a minor league option) as the team’s utility infielder. Chicago would need to select Lopez onto the 40-man roster but essentially has a free roster spot with Porter Hodge a lock to move to the 60-day injured list after this week’s UCL surgery.
Rockies Claim Blas Castaño, Designate Luis Peralta For Assignment
The Rockies have claimed right-handed Blas Castaño off waivers from the Mariners, according to announcements from both clubs. The righty had been designated for assignment by the Mariners a week ago. The Rockies have optioned him to Triple-A Albuquerque. In a corresponding move, left-hander Luis Peralta has been designated for assignment.
Castaño, 27, was originally an international signing of the Yankees out of the Dominican Republic. He was released in the summer of 2023 and scooped up by the Mariners. He impressed his new club in 2024, posting a 4.38 earned run average in 125 1/3 minor league innings, spending most of that in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He was added to the 40-man roster in November of 2024 to keep him from reaching minor league free agency.
He has spent the past year-plus as a depth arm for the Mariners without being needed much. He has only made one big league appearance, which was a three-inning relief outing in May of last year.
He tossed 126 2/3 innings for Triple-A Tacoma last year with a 5.19 ERA, in the unfriendly confines of the PCL. His 17.8% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate weren’t especially strong but he did induce grounders on 46% of balls in play. So far this year, he has been pitching out of the bullpen, throwing 6 1/3 innings over six appearances for the Rainiers. His 1.42 ERA in that small sample looks nice but his strikeout and ground ball rates are around the same level as last year.
The Mariners bumped him off their roster but the Rockies will take a shot on him. They may be attracted to his diverse pitch mix, something that has seemingly become an organizational preference. Statcast categorizes him as a five-pitch guy. He doesn’t throw his four-seamer often, leading instead with his sinker, in addition to a slider, cutter and changeup. His fastball and sinker average around 94 miles per hour, the cutter around 90, the changeup in the high-80s and the slider in the low-80s.
The Rockies could stretch him back out or keep in a relief role. They need pitching either way. They had a 5.99 ERA as a team last year, easily worst in the majors. They have a 4.40 mark so far this year, bumping them into them out of the bottom ten of MLB clubs, but in a much smaller number of games. Whether he’s working as a starter or a reliever, the Rockies can keep him at Triple-A until he’s needed. He can still be optioned for the remainder of this season and another season as well.
Peralta, 25, was acquired from the Pirates in the 2024 deadline deal which sent Jalen Beeks to Pittsburgh. Peralta, the younger brother of Freddy Peralta, showed some potential around the time of that trade but his stock has fallen.
Initially a starter, he was moved to a relief role by the Pirates. Between the Bucs and the Rockies, he tossed 47 2/3 minor league innings in 2024 with a 0.94 ERA. His 11.2% walk rate was high but he struck out 40.1% of opponents and induced grounders at a 48.8% clip. He also posted a 0.73 ERA in his first 12 1/3 big league innings.
2025 was a big step back, as he posted an ERA above 9.00 in both the majors and the minors. His 28% strikeout rate in Triple-A was still good but a big drop, while his walk rate climbed all the way up to 15.4%. In the majors, his 17.8% walk rate was worse than in the minors and also higher than his 15.8% strikeout rate, with both of those figures being well worse than average. So far this year, he has thrown 7 1/3 innings in Triple-A with a 31.1% strikeout rate but a 28.9% walk rate and 14 earned runs allowed.
Those struggles have nudged him off Colorado’s roster. DFA limbo can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Rockies could take as long as five days to explore trade interest. His recent numbers are obviously not good but perhaps some clubs see a path to getting him back to the dominant form he showed in 2024. He still has options and could be sent to the minors if any club acquires him in the coming days.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
NL West Notes: Susac, Bailey, Freeland, Dollander, Ryan
Daniel Susac went 2-for-5 in the Giants‘ 10-5 win over the Nationals yesterday, as the catcher is now hitting an absurd .524/.545/.714 over the first 22 plate appearances of his Major League career. Susac was a Rule 5 Draft pick initially from the Athletics organization before he was taken by the Twins and then immediately dealt to the Giants.
A big Spring Training performance clinched Susac’s roster spot and a role as Patrick Bailey‘s backup, yet Susac’s dream start is earning him more playing time, with starts in three of San Francisco’s last five games. On Thursday, Giants manager Tony Vitello told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser and other reporters that the team intends on “involving [Susac] as much as possible, see if we get into an every other day situation, or whatever it might be.”
Bailey has never shown much at the plate over his four MLB seasons, but he is off to a particularly ugly start by hitting only .128/.180/.128 in 50 PA. While Bailey’s elite defense has been reason enough to earn him starting catcher duties in the past, the Giants’ offense has struggled so much (Friday notwithstanding) that the club has nothing to lose by riding the hot hand in Susac.
More from around the NL West…
- Kyle Freeland‘s MRI on his inflamed left shoulder didn’t reveal any structural damage, Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer told the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders and other reporters. Freeland was retroactively played on the 15-day injured list on April 13, and the good diagnosis means that the veteran southpaw likely won’t miss too much time. The injury interrupted Freeland’s strong start to the season, as he had a 2.30 ERA over his first three outings.
- Chase Dollander is another Rockies pitcher getting good early results, as the former third overall pick has a 3.32 ERA, 28.7% strikeout rate, and 7.5% walk rate over 19 innings. Dollander has yet to start any of his five appearances, however, and Schaeffer told Saunders and company that Dollander will continue pitching behind an opener for the time being. The manager’s logic is simple: Dollander is “having a lot of success” as a bulk pitcher. “He’s settled into a routine, and routines are very different from being in the bullpen and starting. Obviously, we want him to be a starter, long-term. But right now we don’t want to mess with the routine,” Schaeffer said.
- The Dodgers‘ Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City placed River Ryan on the seven-day injured list yesterday, and Jack Harris of the California Post indicated that the placement is likely due to a hamstring injury. Ryan posted a 1.33 ERA over his first 20 1/3 MLB innings in 2024, but a Tommy John surgery in August of that year sidelined the right-hander for the entirety of the 2025 campaign. Returning to action with Oklahoma City this year, Ryan’s excellent peripherals and a .450 BABIP over seven innings of work indicate that he has pitched much better than his 5.14 ERA would imply. The IL stint will delay his eventual return to Los Angeles in what will probably be a bullpen role, as there isn’t room for Ryan even in a six-man Dodgers rotation if everyone is healthy.
Rockies Place Kyle Freeland On IL
The Rockies announced today that left-hander Kyle Freeland has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 13th, due to left shoulder inflammation. Fellow lefty Jose Quintana was reinstated from his own stint on the IL as a corresponding move.
Freeland was scheduled to start for the Rockies three days ago but he was scratched due to some tightness in his shoulder. Details on his health are still not clear but the Rockies will let him rest up for at least a few turns through the rotation.
It’s an unfortunate setback for Freeland personally. He was out to a strong start this year, with a 2.30 earned run average through his first three appearances. But beyond that, this reduces the chances of him triggering his $17MM vesting player option for 2027.
Unlocking the player option was always going to be tough, as Freeland needs to throw 170 innings this year. That’s a mark he has hit only twice in his career. Way back in 2018, he got to 202 1/3 innings. His second-best season in that category was 2022, when he only barely got there, finishing at 174 2/3. Last year, a minimal stint on the IL for a back injury knocked him out for 15 days. He took the ball 31 times and logged 162 2/3 innings.
Naturally, Freeland’s best path to hitting that benchmark would be to stay healthy and pitch deep into games. Any kind of injury setback, even a small one, reduces his chances of getting to that line.
Presumably, the Rockies wouldn’t want him to trigger that option. They are rebuilding, having lost 119 games last year, and don’t have strong motivation to spend at that level on a starting pitcher. They did bolster the rotation this winter by signing some pitchers but all to notably lower salaries than that. They gave Michael Lorenzen $8MM, Quintana $6MM and Tomoyuki Sugano $5.1MM. Even if they are willing to bring back Freeland next year, it would make sense for them to prefer to negotiate a salary, as opposed to Freeland having the freedom to just lock in $17MM.
In terms of the on-field results, it’s not a huge deal in the short term. Quintana missed a couple of weeks with a hamstring strain but slots right into Freeland’s position in the rotation. He is taking the ball tonight, followed by Sugano, Ryan Feltner, Chase Dollander and then Lorenzen.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
Broncos’ Ownership Group Purchases Minority Share In Rockies
Penner Sports Group, a company run by the Penner family which owns the NFL’s Denver Broncos, has purchased a minority share in the Rockies. The MLB franchise announced the news this afternoon.
The Rockies specified only that the Penner investment made them the largest minority stakeholder under the Monfort family, which retains majority ownership. Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post provides specifics, reporting that the Penners are purchasing a 40% share of the franchise.
The team didn’t disclose the sale price, though Saunders writes that it’s believed to be around $672MM. The Rockies’ statement said the influx of cash allows them to “retire all outstanding debt while providing additional investment in the team.” It’s unclear if it’ll have any impact on player payrolls in the future. The Penners will remain focused on the Broncos and are not going to have daily responsibilities with the Rockies, Saunders reports.
Most of the major Denver sports franchises, the Broncos included, have been successful in recent years. The Rockies are coming off the first three 100-loss seasons in franchise history. They’ve had seven straight losing campaigns and dropped 119 games last year, tied for third-most in MLB history.
They’ve started this season respectably, going 6-7 while outscoring opponents by six runs, but are unlikely to be even a .500 club for some time. Colorado opened this season with a $117MM payroll, according to The Associated Press, the 21st-highest mark in the league. That’s down marginally from their $122MM season-opening figure in 2025.
Rockies Claim Sammy Peralta From Brewers
The Rockies have claimed left-hander Sammy Peralta off the Brewers’ waiver wire, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Colorado has officially announced the move, and shifted right-hander McCade Brown to the 60-day injured list to create space for Peralta on the 40-man roster. Peralta has been optioned to the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate.
The Brew Crew designated Peralta for assignment earlier this week to open up a 40-man roster spot for the newly-acquired Luis Matos. Peralta’s tenure with the Brewers will end after two Triple-A appearances and zero big league games, as Milwaukee just claimed Peralta off waivers from the Angels last October.
Appearing in each of the last three MLB seasons, Peralta’s resume in the Show consists of 30 appearances and 45 2/3 innings with the White Sox and Angels from 2023-25. He has a 5.12 ERA, 17.3% strikeout rate, and 11.2% walk rate, and Peralta has averaged only 89.3mph on his fastball during his brief time in the majors.
Peralta drastically cut back on his fastball in 2025 and also cut back on his changeup usage, instead incorporating a sinker a third of the time and boosting his slider up to a 49% usage rate, without any real change in results. While his ERA jumped from 4.80 in 2024 with the Sox to 7.59 with the Angels in 2025, Peralta’s underlying metrics didn’t change much, so his change in pitch repertoire didn’t have any impact on his performance either under the hood or in terms of bottom-line results.
Peralta routinely pitches multiple innings in relief, making him a useful depth option for the Rockies’ bullpen. Brennan Bernardino is also the only left-hander in Colorado’s current relief mix, which could give Peralta some extra opportunity to stick with the team if and when he is eventually called up from Triple-A.
Brown started the season on Colorado’s 15-day IL due to shoulder inflammation, and the move to the 60-day IL ensures that his 2026 debut won’t come until at least the last week of May. 2025 marked Brown’s first taste of the big leagues, as he posted a 7.36 ERA over 25 2/3 innings and seven starts for the Rockies.
Rockies Place Jose Quintana On Injured List
The Rockies announced they’ve placed starter Jose Quintana on the 15-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. The move is retroactive to March 30, meaning he’ll be eligible to return on April 14. Colorado recalled righty Valente Bellozo from Triple-A Albuquerque in a corresponding move.
Colorado also optioned infielder Ryan Ritter this evening. They haven’t replaced him on the active roster but will do so tomorrow. Outfielder Mickey Moniak will be eligible for reinstatement from his 10-day injured list stint; he’ll presumably be the corresponding move.
The Rox are idle tonight before hosting Philadelphia for a three-game weekend series. Teams don’t typically announce minor transactions like this during off days. Injured list placements can be backdated by a maximum of three days, however, so the Rox would have delayed Quintana’s eligibility for reinstatement if they waited to make that move until tomorrow.
Quintana made his team debut on Monday against the Marlins. He allowed four hits and walked four batters in 4 1/3 innings. The veteran southpaw mostly managed to work around the traffic and only allowed two runs. He departed with a one-run lead, though Miami would win 4-3 on Owen Caissie’s walk-off two-run homer with two outs in the ninth.
There was no indication that Quintana was injured during the game. It’s unclear if the issue developed during a midweek throwing session. Michael Lorenzen will open the series against Aaron Nola tomorrow. Quintana was slated to oppose Jesús Luzardo on Saturday evening. Bellozo would be on six days rest after throwing three Triple-A frames on Sunday. He could step into Quintana’s rotation spot or work in long relief if they want to give Chase Dollander a couple turns as a starter.
Rockies Sign Andrew Knizner To Minor League Deal
The Rockies signed catcher Andrew Knizner to a minor league contract on Wednesday. Although the team didn’t announce the move, the 31-year-old jumped right into action tonight with Triple-A Albuquerque.
Knizner hit the market at the end of camp when he was released by the Mariners. He had signed a one-year, $1MM free agent deal with Seattle in December. Knizner surely felt he was the favorite to back up Cal Raleigh at the time, as he was the only other catcher on the M’s 40-man roster. They re-signed Mitch Garver on a minor league contract at the beginning of Spring Training.
Seattle opted to run it back with a Raleigh/Garver pairing. They also swung a trade for an optionable third catcher, Jhonny Pereda, in the interim. Knizner has over five years of service time, meaning he could refuse a minor league assignment while collecting his full salary. Rather than report to Triple-A Tacoma, he tested the market for a clearer path back to the big leagues.
That won’t come immediately, but there’s a decent chance he can play his way into an MLB look with Colorado. The Rox opted for light-hitting minor league signee Brett Sullivan as their backup catcher to begin the season. Third catcher Braxton Fulford still has a couple options remaining and has hit .221/.272/.354 in 41 big league contests. Hunter Goodman is going to be in the lineup almost every day, but no one has a firm hold on the backup job.
Knizner hasn’t provided much offensively at the MLB level either. He’s a career .211/.281/.316 hitter in just under 1000 plate appearances. The former seventh-round pick owns a much stronger .292/.387/.443 line over parts of four Triple-A campaigns. He’ll pair with Fulford behind the dish in Albuquerque with Kyle McCann on the injured list.
Rockies Select Valente Bellozo
The Rockies announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Valente Bellozo and optioned him to Triple-A Albuquerque. To open a 40-man spot for him, they placed right-hander RJ Petit on the 60-day injured list. Petit underwent Tommy John surgery recently and will miss the entire 2026 season.
Bellozo, 26, signed a minor league deal with Colorado in the offseason. When a team adds a player to the 40-man roster and immediately options him, it’s usually a sign that the deal had some sort of opt-out or upward mobility clause. Going this route prevents the player from getting away but also doesn’t require the team to bump anyone else off the active roster.
The righty didn’t have an especially strong camp, allowing 11 earned runs in 15 2/3 innings, but the Rockies presumably like his larger track record. He spent the past two years working in a swing role for the Marlins, tossing 150 innings over 45 games, including 19 starts. He allowed 4.20 earned runs per nine. His 15.2% strikeout rate was subpar but he limited walks to a 6.8% clip. The Rockies also might like his arsenal, as he has thrown six different pitches in his career, something the organization is seemingly trying to prioritize this year.
Miami outrighted him off the roster at the end of last season and he elected free agency, which led to his deal with the Rockies. Colorado’s pitching was historically bad last year. They have tried to make it more respectable for 2026 by signing Michael Lorenzen, Jose Quintana and Tomoyuki Sugano. Those three are joining Kyle Freeland and Ryan Feltner in the rotation to start the season. Chase Dollander is beginning the campaign in long relief.
The optionable rotation depth includes Carson Palmquist, Gabriel Hughes and Tanner Gordon. Now Bellozo will jump into that mix. Teams generally need 10 to 15 starters to get through an entire season these days, so Bellozo and those other guys should have opportunities throughout the year.
As for Petit, the Rockies selected him with the first pick in last year’s Rule 5 draft. Due to his surgery, he’ll spend the entire year on the IL. The IL goes away five days after the World Series. If he sticks on the roster through the offseason, the Rule 5 restrictions would carry over until he has spent 90 days on the active roster.
Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images