The Rockies announced that they have selected first base prospect Michael Toglia to their roster and recalled infielder/outfielder Sean Bouchard. Outfielders Wynton Bernard and Sam Hilliard were optioned to Triple-A in corresponding moves. The club already had a vacancy on their 40-man roster for Toglia. Thomas Harding of MLB.com tweeted about Toglia’s promotion before the official announcement.
Toglia, 24, was a first-round draft pick, being selected 23rd overall by the Rockies in 2019. He landed on Baseball America’s list of top Colorado farmhands in 2020 and has been there ever since. He got into 41 games at Low-A the year of his draft, but missed out on formal game action in 2020 when the pandemic canceled the minor league seasons.
Getting back into action last year, the switch-hitter split his time between High-A and Double-A, hitting 22 home runs and stealing 10 bases in 115 games. Overall, he hit .228/.333/.445, walking in an impressive 13% of his plate appearances but also striking out in 28.5% of them. In 2022, he’s produced fairly similar results while splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A. In 114 games between those two levels, he’s hit 30 long balls and swiped seven bags. His .249/.341/.510 batting line comes with a 12.1% walk rate but a 30.1% strikeout rate. Despite that high-strikeout approach, he’s still been 24% above average at the plate for the year, as evidenced by his 124 wRC+.
Defensively, Toglia has primarily played first base in his young career thus far, though he also played right field in nine games this season. The Rox have used C.J. Cron as their primary first baseman in recent seasons, though it may be possible for both he and Toglia to share the lineup. Cron is in the designated hitter slot tonight while Toglia will be making his MLB debut and playing first base. That could potentially limit the club’s flexibility if Toglia proves himself worthy of everyday at-bats, though Cron will be a free agent in just over a year. Also, if the club deems Toglia a passable defender in the outfield, he could see some time out there. The Rockies are 55-74 and in the NL West basement, 15 1/2 games out of a playoff spot. They can use the remaining weeks of the season to evaluate young players for future roles, with Toglia now stepping up for his audition.
Toglia has 75 total plate appearances so far at Triple-A and has 22 hits and 9 walks in those 75 PA’s.
Dude has quietly become a major prospect this year, with 30 HR’s (mostly in a not very hitter friendly league), lots of plate discipline, and plus-plus 1B defense. Good for him.
I’ll probably be the only guy more interested in seeing what Bouchard can do. Unheralded prospect that just turned 26, so not *that* old. Has put up over a 1.000 OPS in 300+ PAs this year with 41 XBHs and 12 SBs. They’ve been playing him at every position except MIF and C down in Albuquerque. He had a brief 3-game stint with CO earlier this summer, but I think he could be a great bench/UTIL option for them going forward.
Yeah Bouchard can flat rake. Rockies (as they tend to do) gave up on him after a random assortment of PA’s earlier this year. If I’m a rebuilding GM or even a team in need of a little RHH pop, I’d call them about him this off-season. They play favorites, and he’s not one of them.
Another fun thing: Toglia and Bouchard were college teammates.
I’m a little confused why you think they’ve given up on Bouchard, if they just brought him up.
His minor league numbers have been OK but not earthshattering, and they’ve steadily promoted him.
@Devlsh, I think that’s more referencing they brought him up for just a 3-game stretch earlier this year before sending him down. Although looking back at it, I believe he had an oblique injury, recovered, and then just remained in the minors after rehabbing.
They should have left him up when they tried him out earlier. They didn’t give up on him permanently. But they had plenty of evidence that Hilliard can’t hit major league pitching and that Joe was a flash in the pan at that point. Should have given Bouchard a long run.
His injury kind of hurt his audition as well. By the time he was healthy, Montero had gotten hot and Bouchard didn’t really have an available spot. Hilliard has more upside and plays better outfield defense. And Joe is just too popular with the fans and especially the announcers for his story, so cutting him at this point would do more harm than good.
Bouchard would make a capable replacement for Hampson in the total utility guy should they decide to non tender or trade Hampy this offseason.
Hope Rocks can turn this around, but as long as Montfort is running the show, I am not optimistic.
With another successful season ending, lets hope the Rockies extend Bud Black and their dynamic General Manager. This team showed it has the hitting, fielding and pitching to be considered at the top. Getting rid of Colton Welker (even though he is destined for success) was a great move as the Rocks have enough good players right now. Cant wait till next year and hope they will do as well as this season.Plaudits to their owner for great decision making.