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Rockies Release Elias Diaz, Promote Drew Romo

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3:10pm: The Rockies announced that Diaz has been given his unconditional release. He’s a free agent who can sign with any club at any point. Romo’s contract has indeed been selected from Triple-A Albuquerque in his place.

Colorado also reinstated left-hander Lucas Gilbreath from the 60-day injured list. A spot on the 40-man roster was already cleared by yesterday’s outright of Josh Rogers. Gilbreath has been out since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March of 2023.

1:55pm: In place of Diaz, the Rockies are expected to select the contract of catching prospect Drew Romo, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. He’ll presumably slot into the Rockies’ primary catching role down the stretch and audition for a potential long-term gig behind the plate in Denver.

1:45pm: The Rockies are releasing catcher Elias Diaz, whom they placed on outright waivers earlier this week, reports Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base. Once he’s cleared release waivers, he’ll be free to sign with any club. The new team would only owe Diaz the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster or injured list. The Rockies will be on the hook for the remainder of this season’s $6MM salary.

That Diaz is slated to be released is an indicator that no other club was willing to take on his remaining $1.45MM salary (plus the $50K fee for placing a waiver claim). Colorado could’ve simply kept Diaz on the roster and attempted to waive him again later this month when he was owed less money, but it seems they’ll instead part ways with the veteran backstop entirely, granting him extra time to settle in with a contending club down the stretch. Diaz had been in the final season of a three-year, $14.5MM contract with the Rockies and is a free agent at season’s end anyhow, so the move to release him appears to primarily be about affording him the ability to latch on with a contending club while also clearing time for a look at Romo.

Releasing Diaz now will naturally raise questions as to why the Rockies didn’t move Diaz for even a modest return at last month’s trade deadline. It’s a fair gripe on the surface, although it stands to reason that if Diaz went unclaimed when he’d cost other teams around $1.5MM in total, there probably wasn’t a robust trade market for him when he was owed more money and the Rockies were seeking prospect value in return.

It’s still plenty arguable that the Rox should’ve sold high on him at last year’s trade deadline or perhaps in the offseason, but the Rox instead added some modest pieces and entered this year with visions of a more competitive club than they’ve ultimately fielded.

Diaz, 33, is hitting .270/.315/.378 on the season. That’s a solid-looking line, particularly for a catcher, though metrics like wRC+ (80) and OPS+ (88) feel he’s been below-average at the plate after adjusting for the Rockies’ hitter-friendly home environment. Either of those marks is passable for a backstop with solid defensive grades, however, and Diaz is just that. He’s delivered markedly improved framing grades in 2024 and been credited with plus marks in Defensive Runs Saved (5) and Outs Above Average (5).

Diaz has never been a plus hitter outside of a strong 2018 showing with the Pirates, but he owns a .254/.306/.406 line over the past four seasons, during which he’s averaged 17 homers per 162 games played. He’s not an elite catcher but is a serviceable option who’s had his share of big league success and experience. At the very least, he’s an upgrade over the backup option for many postseason hopefuls. And as long as he signs with a new club on or before Aug. 31, he’ll be eligible for his new team’s postseason roster.

As for the 22-year-old Romo, he was the No. 35 overall pick by the Rockies back in 2020 and ranked among the game’s top-100 prospects as recently as the 2022-23 offseason. He’s considered to be a glove-first catcher but has shown more offense in the upper minors across the past two seasons, including a quality .297/.339/.499 batting line in a very hitter-friendly Albuquerque setting this season (103 wRC+).

Scouting reports at FanGraphs, Baseball America and other outlets praise the switch-hitting Romo as a plus defender with a plus arm but well below-average power. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen noted that Romo had some uncharacteristic throwing issues last year (19% caught-stealing rate), but he’s bounced back in a big way with a heartier 29% rate in 2024.

With Diaz released and fellow backstop Jacob Stallings also playing on an expiring contract, Romo ought to be given a full run as the team’s starting catcher. Colorado doesn’t have any other near-ready catching prospects — Hunter Goodman can catch some, but they’ve used him more in the outfield — and certainly doesn’t have another one with Romo’s defensive chops.

Romo and Goodman could potentially shoulder the workload behind the plate down the stretch, depending on what comes of Stallings, who’s hitting .266/.367/.457 in 216 plate appearances while playing on a one-year, $2MM contract. Speculatively speaking, if the Rox are comfortable with Goodman collecting more playing time behind the plate, they could make a similar move with Stallings to the one they’ve made with Diaz.

Rockies Outright Josh Rogers

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The Rockies have sent left-hander Josh Rogers outright to Triple-A Albuquerque. MLBTR has confirmed the move, which was reflected on the lefty’s transaction tracker at MLB.com. There was no previous public indication that Rogers was removed from the club’s 40-man roster, so their count drops to 39.

It’s the second outright of the year for Rogers. Signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, he has twice been selected to the roster but without pitching a ton at the big league level. He was first added at the end of May but he landed on the injured list in the middle of June with a left shoulder rotator cuff strain. He came off the IL a month later but was quickly optioned, designated for assignment and outrighted to Albuquerque.

Since he had previous career outrights, Rogers had the right to elect free agency but chose to accept his assignment. That allowed him to be selected back to the club’s roster on Sunday and he tossed an inning and two thirds for Colorado that day. After that outing, he was optioned to Albuquerque and it appears the club quietly put him on waivers as well, passing him through unclaimed in recent days. He still has the right to elect free agency but may accept as he did earlier in the year.

Around those transactions, Rogers has thrown 11 innings for the Rockies this year, allowing eight earned runs for a 6.55 ERA. Combined with his previous work with the Orioles and Nationals, he has a 5.55 ERA in 99 career innings. His 8.9% walk rate is around league average but his 10.9% strikeout rate is far below par. He’s also thrown 57 2/3 Triple-A innings this year with a 6.71 ERA, 14.4% strikeout rate and 4.5% walk rate.

Chasen Shreve Elects Free Agency

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Left-hander Chasen Shreve, who was recently designated for assignment by the Rockies, rejected an outright assignment and elected free agency, per the MLB.com transactions log. He’s back on the open market.

Shreve, 34, only pitched one inning with the Rockies. He retired all three hitters he faced on a trio of grounders. It was just one inning, but that frame now gives Shreve a stretch of 11 consecutive seasons pitching in the big leagues in some capacity. Though he hasn’t gotten much of a look in the majors this year, Shreve has been pitching well in Triple-A. He’s spent time in the Yankees’ and Rangers’ systems as well, totaling 34 1/3 innings with a 2.62 earned run average, 26.7% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate and 41.5% ground-ball rate.

Of course, Shreve has a lengthy big league track record and has been effective more often than not in the majors. He’s tallied 357 MLB frames dating back to 2014 and pitched to a career 3.96 ERA that’s supported by a 3.87 SIERA. Shreve’s career strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates (25.2%, 10.8% and 41.9%, respectively) more or less closely mirror the marks he’s demonstrated in Triple-A this season. He pitched just two innings with the 2019 Cardinals and had a tough 26-inning run with the 2022 Mets (6.49 ERA) but has otherwise been a serviceable middle-innings arm who can capably be relied upon to hold opponents to around four runs for every nine innings pitched.

Shreve is hardly an elite arm, but he’s an experienced lefty who’s pitched in a variety of roles and could help a contending club down the stretch. Any team that signs him would be able to carry him on the postseason roster so long as he’s in the organization prior to Sept. 1. The Mets, Cubs and Mariners are among the teams who currently have only one southpaw in their big league bullpen, although Shreve could certainly latch on with an organization that has more left-handed bullpen depth than that.

Rockies Place Elias Diaz On Waivers

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The Rockies placed veteran catcher Elias Díaz on waivers this afternoon, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. The process will be resolved on Friday. Díaz is eligible to play while he’s on waivers, though that’s immaterial with Colorado having an off day tomorrow.

It’s possible but by no means guaranteed that this marks the end of his four-plus year stint in Denver. Waivers are irrevocable, so the Rockies cannot retract the placement if another team makes a claim. If he goes unclaimed, the Rox could simply retain him on the MLB roster for the last six weeks of the season.

Colorado reportedly expressed openness to moving Díaz before the trade deadline. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman wrote at the time that the Rox weren’t planning to explore another extension with the impending free agent. Since the Rox are out of playoff contention, there was little reason for them not to try to get some kind of young talent in return. Rosenthal writes that the Rockies didn’t find any team with significant interest in a trade, though, and Colorado ultimately held him past the deadline.

There’s no longer any chance for the Rockies to get anything in return for Díaz. MLB did away with the old August revocable waiver trade system back in 2019. Any player who has been on a 40-man roster during the season cannot be traded after the deadline. The only benefit to Colorado in placing Díaz on waivers is possible cost savings.

The 33-year-old catcher is playing this year on a $6MM salary. There’ll be a little over $1.4MM to be paid out between Friday and the end of the season. A claiming team would take that entire sum off Colorado’s books. Teams cannot negotiate with the Rockies to pay down a portion of the remaining money. A waiver acquisition is an all or nothing move. Díaz would be eligible for postseason play if another club put in a claim since he’d be in their organization before the start of September.

Díaz had the best season of his career in 2023. He connected on 14 homers with a .267/.316/.409 slash line over a career-high 526 plate appearances. Díaz popped another home run in the All-Star Game and collected the Midsummer Classic’s MVP award. His offensive production has taken a step back this season, as he’s hitting .270/.315/.378 over 84 contests. That’s still reasonable production for a #2 catcher, and Díaz has had a strong year defensively. He has cut down nearly 28% of stolen base attempts and has slightly above-average pitch framing grades from Statcast.

Clubs tend to be reluctant to acquire catchers midseason — Danny Jansen and Carson Kelly were the only backstops traded at the deadline — because of the challenge of quickly learning a new pitching staff’s strengths and weaknesses. Still, Díaz’s production this season would be an upgrade on what some teams have gotten out of their backup options.

Waiver priority is inverse order of the standings without regard to American or National League. The White Sox have the top priority, followed by the Marlins. Neither team is going to put in a claim, since there’s no incentive for them to take on the salary of an impending free agent.

The Cubs, who are 5.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot in the NL, are relying on a catching tandem of Miguel Amaya and Christian Bethancourt. Public estimates have them right on the border of the luxury tax threshold, though, and it’s hard to believe they’d claim Díaz for a very long shot playoff push if doing so moved them past that line. The Rays have fallen 6.5 back of a Wild Card spot and might not consider a claim worthwhile. The Mariners, Padres and Diamondbacks are a little further down the waiver order but could be potential fits.

A claim would allow Díaz to participate in a playoff race while shaving a bit of money from Colorado’s books. It’d presumably set the stage for the Rox to take their first look at prospect Drew Romo, whom they view as the catcher of the future. They’ll need to add Romo to the 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft by next offseason. The 35th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Romo is hitting .297/.339/.499 this year with Triple-A Albuquerque.

Rockies Outright John Curtiss

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Rockies right-hander John Curtiss went unclaimed on waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Albuquerque, per the team’s MLB.com transaction log. He has the right to reject that assignment in favor of free agency. If he accepts, he’ll stick with the Rox organization in Triple-A but no longer occupy a spot on the 40-man roster.

Curtiss signed a minor league deal with Colorado over the winter, was selected to the big league roster in May, and rejected an outright assignment after being designated for assignment. He’s since returned on an additional pair of minor league deals — opting out once along the way — and was selected back to the big league roster in late July. He’s pitched 2 1/3 MLB innings this year and been tagged for four runs. His Triple-A work has been vastly better. In an extremely hitter-friendly setting, he’s posted 38 innings of 4.03 ERA ball with a sub-par 18.5% strikeout rate against a strong 7.4% walk rate.

The Rockies are the seventh big league team for which the journeyman Curtiss has pitched. He’s amassed 108 2/3 innings in the majors and sports a lifetime 4.06 ERA with a roughly average 22.7% strikeout rate and sharp 7% walk rate. He was at his best in 2020-21 when he pitched 69 1/3 frames with a 2.86 earned run average, 24.1% strikeout rate and 5.2% walk rate between the Rays, Marlins and (much more briefly) Brewers. Milwaukee acquired Curtiss from Miami at the 2021 trade deadline, but he pitched just 4 1/3 innings before requiring Tommy John surgery.

Rockies Place Kris Bryant On Injured List

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The Rockies made a few moves before tonight’s series opener in Arizona. Most notably, Kris Bryant is headed back to the injured list. Colorado placed the former MVP on the 10-day IL, retroactive to August 11, with a back strain. Colorado recalled rookie outfielder Jordan Beck in his place. The Rox also brought up righty Bradley Blalock, whom they acquired from Milwaukee in the Nick Mears trade, while optioning southpaw Josh Rogers to Triple-A Albuquerque.

Bryant goes on the injured list for the eighth time in his Colorado tenure. It’s his third such stint of the season. Bryant lost a month last year to a different back strain. He dealt with another core issue this summer, as an internal oblique strain kept him out between June 3 and July 23. Bryant hit .277/.352/.340 over 13 games before landing back on the shelf.

Since signing with Colorado on a seven-year free agent deal, Bryant has hit .250/.332/.382 across 671 plate appearances. He has appeared in 159 of the Rox’s 443 games (just under 36%) since signing. That’s not the only reason that Colorado is headed for a fourth consecutive last place finish, yet it’s hard to envision a much worse start to the biggest free agent investment in franchise history.

Colorado has alternated Bryant and Charlie Blackmon between right field and designated hitter over the last few weeks. Blackmon is at DH with Jake Cave and Sam Hilliard splitting the corner outfield work tonight. The 23-year-old Beck — a former top 40 draft pick out of Tennessee — rejoins the group and should probably get regular playing time down the stretch. Beck hasn’t hit over his first 23 major league games, but he’s raking at a .319/.402/.558 clip over 39 contests in Albuquerque. That’s excellent production even in an extremely hitter-friendly setting.

As for Blalock, he’s in position to make his team debut. He has made two starts with Double-A Hartford since the trade. Blalock made his big league debut with Milwaukee in June. He has otherwise spent the season in Double-A, turning in a 4.36 ERA over 18 starts. He could work as rotation depth or in a long relief capacity for whatever time he’s on the MLB roster.

Rockies Select Josh Rogers, Place Dakota Hudson On 15-Day IL

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The Rockies have selected left-handed pitcher Josh Rogers from Triple-A Albuquerque, the team announced today. He will replace Dakota Hudson on the active roster; the Rockies placed Hudson on the 15-day IL with right elbow inflammation following his start last night. Colorado already had an open spot for Rogers on the 40-man roster.

Hudson, 29, had his contract selected less than 24 hours ago, and he started for the Rockies on Saturday against the Braves. He lasted only 2 2/3 innings, giving up three hits, four walks, and five earned runs. While he has struggled all season, his particular troubles last night may have had something to do with his injury. The Rockies have not yet provided many details about his status going forward.

Similar to Hudson, Rogers, 30, has already been outrighted by the Rockies once this season. He signed a minor league deal with the club this spring, and Colorado selected him to make his 2024 debut in May. The southpaw gave up seven earned runs over 9 1/3 innings before landing on the IL with a left shoulder rotator cuff strain. He was activated and DFA’d about a month later. However, like Hudson, he chose to accept an outright assignment to Triple-A, and that decision appears to have paid off. He will return to the Rockies bullpen for today’s series finale against the Braves. Rogers has a 6.71 ERA over 14 appearances (11 starts) at Triple-A this season.

Rockies Select Dakota Hudson, DFA Chasen Shreve

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The Rockies have selected the contract of right-hander Dakota Hudson from Triple-A Albuquerque, the team announced. In a corresponding move, left-hander Chasen Shreve has been designated for assignment.

Hudson, 29, accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A earlier this season. He signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract with Colorado this past winter, but following a poor performance over his first 17 starts (career-worst 5.84 ERA, 5.61 SIERA, and 12.3% strikeout rate), he was designated for assignment in early July. After he passed through waivers unclaimed, the Rockies sent him outright to the Albuquerque Isotopes.

Through three starts with the Isotopes, Hudson has given up 14 runs (12 earned) in 11 1/3 innings. He has 10 strikeouts, four walks, and a .360 batting average against. His most recent outing against the Las Vegas Aviators was especially brutal; he lasted just 2 2/3 innings, giving up seven runs (five earned) on seven hits while striking out only two. Nevertheless, the Rockies have selected his contract, and he will start tonight’s contest against the Braves at Coors Field (per Patrick Lyons of Just Baseball).

Lyons reported yesterday that Hudson would be starting today in place of Cal Quantrill, who is dealing with some “general forearm soreness.” The team has pushed back his next outing indefinitely (per Lyons). Presuming Quantrill is ready to get back on the mound within a few days, Hudson will, most likely, remain in the rotation until Ryan Feltner returns from the 15-day IL. Feltner landed on the injured list on Thursday with a right shoulder strain, but his recent MRI came back clean, and he could return as soon as his minimum 15 days on the IL are up (per Lyons). That should mean at least two more starts for Hudson after tonight. While he has struggled this season, Hudson is only two years removed from a solid 2022 campaign with the Cardinals, when he pitched to a 4.45 ERA and 5.11 SIERA over 139 2/3 innings. Those aren’t excellent numbers by any means, but all the Rockies need right now is an innings eater.

Shreve, 34, has pitched in the majors every year since 2014, appearing for the Braves, Yankees, Cardinals, Mets, Pirates, Tigers, Reds, and, most recently, the Rockies. He has a 3.96 ERA and 3.87 SIERA across 368 career appearances, mostly as a lower-leverage reliever. Despite his serviceable performance in 2023 (4.63 ERA, 3.77 SIERA in 50 games), the veteran southpaw could only land a minor league contract from the Rangers this winter. Texas released him in May, re-signed him, and then released him again in June. Following that, he signed a minor deal with the Yankees, only to be released again in August. After inking a minor league pact with the Rockies earlier this month, Shreve finally made it back to the majors. He made one brief appearance for Colorado on Wednesday, tossing a scoreless inning against the Mets. He will now be placed on waivers, and if he goes unclaimed, he could opt to return to free agency and seek an opportunity with his fourth organization of the season.

Germán Márquez Won’t Return In 2024

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Rockies right-hander Germán Márquez landed on the 15-day injured list last month due to elbow inflammation. Manager Bud Black tells Manny Randhawa of MLB.com that Márquez won’t be able to make it back to the mound this year. As Randhawa relayed on X, the righty’s ulnar collateral ligament is fine but he has a stress reaction in his elbow and won’t be able to throw for six to eight weeks. Since there’s just over seven weeks remaining in the regular season, he won’t be coming back this year.

2024 will ultimately go down as a mostly lost season for the righty. He underwent Tommy John surgery in May of last year and was able to come off the injured list in July. He made just one start, allowing three earned runs in four innings, before going back on the IL.

Today’s news is somewhat positive in the sense that the righty’s UCL is not affected and he can have a normal offseason in preparation for 2025. But it’s also less than ideal for him to be going into next year with just four innings thrown this year. Ideally, he would have had the last couple of months of the schedule to compile a decent workload to build off next year, but that won’t be possible now.

The Colorado rotation has been an issue this year, to put it mildly. The club’s starters have a collective 5.45 earned run average, worst in the majors. That’s not necessarily a surprise, between the usual challenges of pitching at Coors Field and the injury issues the club has had. In addition to Márquez, Antonio Senzatela has also missed the entire season thus far due to his own Tommy John surgery recovery. He’s slated to start a rehab assignment tonight. Kyle Freeland also missed a couple of months due to an elbow strain and has only made 12 starts this year.

With Márquez unable to come back this year, the group is unlikely to get back on track anytime soon. Just today, another domino fell as Ryan Feltner was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain, though it’s not yet known exactly how much time the club is expecting him to miss.

It’s theoretically possible to imagine the group being in better shape next year with with full and healthy seasons from Márquez, Senzatela and Freeland. The Rockies signed all three of those pitchers to extensions as they envisioned that trio as their rotation core. Márquez was in the final season of his deal last year when he went under the knife, but he and the club subsequently reunited on a second extension that goes through 2025.

The extended absence from Márquez complicates things somewhat. He only tossed 20 innings last year, meaning he’ll be going into 2025 with just 24 innings thrown in the previous two seasons. That could lead to tricky questions about how to handle his workload next year. He did toss 975 1/3 innings from 2017 to 2022 with a 4.38 ERA, tossing between 162 and 196 innings in each full season of that stretch as well as 81 2/3 frames in the shortened 2020 campaign, but it’s fair to wonder if his elbow will allow him to simply jump back to that level.

There are other questions to be answered as well. As mentioned, Senzatela will be rehabbing and could get some major league starts under his belt before the season ends. Freeland has been off the IL for about six weeks now and seems healthy apart from a blister he’s been dealing with lately, but he could finish with an ERA above 5.00 for the second straight season. Though to be fair, his .348 BABIP and 62.4% strand rate might be clouding things this year. His 4.13 FIP and 4.24 SIERA suggest a sunnier outlook.

Cal Quantrill figures to be in the mix since he has one more arbitration season left and wasn’t traded prior to the deadline. He has a 4.56 ERA over his 23 starts this year. Feltner is having a decent season and will be part of the calculus as well, as long as this shoulder injury doesn’t linger into next year. His even 5.00 ERA doesn’t look great but his .321 BABIP and and 62.9% strand rate are both on the unlucky side. His 20.1% strikeout rate is a bit low but his 7.3% walk rate and 45.4% ground ball rate are both solid, which is why he has a 4.30 FIP and 4.26 SIERA. Austin Gomber, like Quantrill, can be retained for one more arbitration season and is having decent campaign with a 4.66 ERA in 21 starts.

Though this year has been rough, the club arguably has six decent starters on hand for its 2025 rotation between Márquez, Senzatela, Freeland, Quantrill, Gomber and Feltner. Baseball rarely allows clubs to follow a script, however, and the picture will undoubtedly change between now and then. The latest on Márquez already puts a bit of a wrench in their plans, though ideally things will progress well after his upcoming shutdown period.

NL West Notes: Snell, Rushing, Senzatela

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Blake Snell’s free agency was one of the top — and most drawn-out — storylines of the 2023-24 offseason. After lingering on the market well into spring training despite having just won his second Cy Young Award, he inked a two-year, $62MM deal with the Giants that affords him the ability to opt out and return to the open market again this offseason (this time without a qualifying offer). Snell’s decision to eventually settle on a two-year pact with San Francisco came months after a reported overture from the Yankees, who pivoted to sign Marcus Stroman after Snell rejected a longer-term offer.

At the time, MLB.com reported that the Yankees had put forth a six-year, $150MM offer to Snell, which he purportedly spurned in hopes of landing a lengthier deal. Snell himself was asked about the reported terms in a recent appearance with hosts Scott Braun, A.J. Pierzynski and Cameron Maybin on Foul Territory (video link). While the two-time Cy Young winner declined to delve into specifics, he stated in no uncertain terms that the numbers which became public were not accurate.

“The deal that came out — that wasn’t what was offered to me,” said Snell. “I can say that. … What they offered wasn’t close to that.”

Snell understandably wasn’t keen on going into specifics, which is common practice for players and executives alike when discussing free-agent interest. (Although Teoscar Hernandez notably divulged the Red Sox’ offer to him in a recent interview.) At this point, the specifics matter little; Snell seemed like a long-shot to join the Yankees once they added Stroman and pushed themselves into the top tier of luxury-tax penalization, meaning Snell would’ve come with a 110% tax hit (thus making his current $31MM AAV an expenditure north of $65MM). He signed with the Giants, and after a disastrous and injury-marred start to his San Francisco tenure, he looks largely back to Cy Young form.

Snell’s upcoming player option will mark a fascinating decision. If he continues at his current post-IL pace or anywhere near it (33 innings, 0.55 ERA, 36.3 K%, 8.8 BB%), he’ll surely turn down that second year and look for a long-term pact. He’s recently blanked the Rockies while punching out 15 batters over six frames and, of course, threw a no-hitter against the Reds his last time out. However, if he begins to struggle or incurs further injuries, there’ll be more consideration given to the second season of the contract. Few finishes in baseball will be more intriguing to follow than that of Snell.

Some other notes from the National League West division…

  • The Dodgers recently promoted catching prospect Dalton Rushing from Double-A to Triple-A and his new team seems to come with a new assignment. Oklahoma City manager Travis Barbary says Rushing will exclusively be playing left field for now, per broadcaster Alex Freedman on X. The move is likely related to the fact that the Dodgers won’t have any playing time available behind the plate for a while. Will Smith recently signed an extension that runs through 2033. He’s essentially locked into the backstop role because Shohei Ohtani will be the designated hitter through 2033 while Freddie Freeman has first base locked up through 2027. Even after trading Thayron Liranzo in the Jack Flaherty deal, the Dodgers have two top 100 catching prospects in Rushing and Diego Cartaya, but Cartaya is considered the better defender with Rushing considered better at the plate. It’s been speculated that the club might deal from this catching surplus but it also seems they’re experimenting with Rushing at other positions to improve his chances of cracking the roster. He has logged some first base time as well as 35 innings in left field in Double-A and he now seems set to add to that total at Triple-A. Before the promotion, he hit 17 home runs in 77 Double-A games and drew walks in 11.4% of his plate appearances, slashing .270/.378/.512 for a wRC+ of 147. If he can generate that kind of offense in the majors or anything close to it, his bat will play at any position.
  • Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela is going to begin a rehab assignment on Thursday, per Patrick Lyons of Just Baseball on X. The righty underwent Tommy John surgery just over a year ago, in July of 2023. His return won’t have a huge impact on this season as the Rockies are 42-72, ahead of only the lowly White Sox. But getting back on the mound before the offseason would be a nice development as the club looks to have a much stronger rotation in 2025 that could consist of Senzatela, Germán Márquez, Kyle Freeland, Cal Quantrill, Austin Gomber and Ryan Feltner. Senzatela and Márquez both underwent Tommy John surgery last year and have missed most of this season while Freeland also missed a couple of months due to a left elbow strain. Márquez was reinstated last month but went back on the IL due to elbow inflammation.
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