The Rockies announced that they have selected the contract of infielders Kyle Karros and Aaron Schunk. Thomas Harding of MLB.com reported on those promotions prior to the official announcement. In corresponding moves, they have placed infielder Orlando Arcia on the 10-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation, transferred infielder Thairo Estrada to the 60-day IL and placed right-hander Angel Chivilli on the restricted list. It’s unclear why Chivilli has been placed on the restricted list.
Karros, 23, is the son of Eric Karros. The younger Karros was Colorado’s fifth-round draft pick in 2023. Since then, he has been climbing the minor league ladder, generally putting up good numbers. He has taken 1,010 minor league plate appearances across multiple levels with an 11.5% walk rate, 20.4% strikeout rate, .304/.393/.459 batting line and 135 wRC+. That includes a .301/.398/.476 line this year, mostly at Double-A but also with a few games at the Complex League and at Triple-A.
Baseball America currently lists him as the #14 prospect in the Rockies’ system. Their report notes that he is a strong defender at third base with a good arm. His offensive profile is highlighted by his contact ability, which matches with his numbers. His strikeout and walk numbers are good but he doesn’t appear to have a ton of power. He hit 15 home runs in High-A last year but has just six so far in 2025.
Schunk, 28, was outrighted off the roster in June. He has a dismal .230/.254/.311 line in 127 big league plate appearances. His minor league work has been better but still subpar. From 2023 to the present, he has 1,065 Triple-A plate appearances. His .293/.344/.469 line in that time looks impressive at first glance but actually translates to an 87 wRC+ in the context of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
The Colorado infield took a few recent hits. Estrada landed on the 10-day IL two days ago due to a right hamstring strain. With today’s transfer to the 60-day IL, his season is done. With Arcia landing on the 10-day IL today, that’s two infield vacancies created this week. The club also lost Ryan Ritter to the IL last month due to a finger laceration.
Those injuries have created openings for Karros and Schunk. The Rockies don’t have a lot to play for this year but have long-term opportunities available. Aside from Ezequiel Tovar at shortstop, there’s not much certainty in the infield for future seasons. Guys like Warming Bernabel and Adael Amador are already getting some big league at-bats and now Karros and Schunk can join them.
Circling back to Estrada, this is the final nail in the coffin for his very challenging season. He had a solid three-year run with the Giants from 2021 to 2023. He slashed .266/.320/.416 for a 105 wRC+ in that time while stealing 45 bases and bouncing around the diamond to all three outfield spots and the three infield positions to the left of first base.
He had a rough campaign last year, however. He went to the IL multiple times due to left wrist sprains and slashed just .217/.247/.343 for a 65 wRC+. The Rockies gave him $4MM for 2025 with the hope of a return to form, a logical bet for a rebuilding club. If Estrada had been able to get back to his previous level of production, he could have been an intriguing midseason trade candidate.
That did not come to pass. He was hit by a pitch in spring training and broke his right wrist. That put him on the IL for the first two months of the season. He also missed time with a sprained left thumb and now this hamstring strain has put him out for the rest of the campaign. Around those injuries, he only got into 39 games and hit .253/.285/.370. He can be retained for 2026 via arbitration but is surely going to be non-tendered. He will return to the open market but his appeal should be light on the heels of these two injury-marred seasons.
Photo courtesy of Allan Henry, Imagn Images
A new Karros in the NL West? Someone tell r/NLBest
So far he hasn’t shown to have his father’s bat but nice to see another son of a big leaguer hit the show
I think you’re glorifying Eric’s bat a smidge he was a career 10 WAR player.
.779 OPS with 284 HRs in the majors is no slouch. Low WAR is due to no defensive value.
284 homers in 13 seasons doesn’t inspire me to say “someone doesn’t have his bat”
TBF, Eric had 5 seasons of 30 home runs. If Kyle gets to that the Rockies are probably thrilled.
TBF I’m not saying Eric was Pooh I’m just saying it’s not a mark id use for comparison. One could say Eric doesn’t have his son’s batting average or on base percentage. That’s also “having a bat”
They both have to be taken in perspective. Eric wasn’t Willie Mays, but he was a solid bat in the top half of a lineup for half a decade and continued to be a solid bat another 5 or so. Kyle is a 14th ranked organizational prospect on a team that just graduated a bunch of guys. He was awesome last year and kind of came out of no where to make a real impact at the plate with major league quality patience and just great at bats. He’s probably no Eric Karros but he went from being a nobody to a potential solid contributor in the majors over the last year and a half.
Eric Karros had 1724 hits in the major leagues. That is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, it is something to be very proud of. If Kyle even gets around halfway to that mark, it will be amazing because very few players ever get to 1000 career hits
TGO
The vast majority of players don’t have that bar
Regardless of how inspired you are
cp
“he was a solid bat in the top half of a lineup for half a decade and continued to be a solid bat another 5 or so”
EK’s yearly wRC+ from highest to lowest
143
133
124
–3 seasons as a very good bat
113
110
109
–3 seasons as an above average bat
99
96
95
—3 seasons as averagish bar
88
—1 below average season
He was a “solid bat in the top half of a lineup” for – definitely 3 years. Maybe 3 more years. A decade? Nah.
His dad was known for his bat. Not that it was great, but because everything else was less, and because he was a Dodger.
If nothing else Eric was consistent. Every season from 1992-2000 you basically knew you were getting 25+ Home Runs and 80+ Runs driven in out of what was usually the 4 or 5 spot in the lineup
Rsox
“If nothing else Eric was consistent. Every season from 1992-2000”
His wRC+ ranged between 88 and 143.
He had 3 seasons below 100 and 3 above 120.
I don’t see how that’s “consistent”.
Eric was an above average hitter for his career (108 wRC+) with 3 seasons above 120.
I would be shocked if Kyle reaches those numbers.
a high OBP and good defense will play.
A’s still in search for 3b help, would be nice if prospect for proapecr deals were more common
Well, there aren’t that many proapecrs available.
They might have to settle for amateur apecrs.
But why would the Rockies want to trade away a 3B prospect when they haven’t got the position figured out yet either? If they still had Ryan McMahon, I could see it happening. But Karros is probably the top option until hopefully Ethan Holliday is ready in a couple years.
One of Wilson or De Vries will probably be at 3B by the time they head for Vegas so right not it’s going to be stopgap fillers like Urias, Urshela, Scheumann and Muncy and whoever they add in-between
Muncy could still end up being more than a stopgap. He has a .900 OPS over 325 at bats in AAA.