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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 Sign Orlando Arcia

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May 28: The Rockies have just made it official, announcing their signing of Arcia. Infielder Aaron Schunk has been optioned as the corresponding move. The 40-man roster count goes from 38 to 39.

May 27: Arcia and the Rox are in agreement on a big league deal, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post.

May 26: The Rockies and free agent infielder Orlando Arcia are in the final stages of contract talks, according to Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extra Base.  Should the deal be completed, it will mark a quick turn-around in the open market for Arcia, who was released just yesterday by the Braves after he cleared waivers. Arcia is repped by World Sports Agency.

Ezequiel Tovar is locked in as Colorado’s everyday shortstop, so adding Arcia probably means the Rockies are either looking at the 30-year-old as a depth piece.  Second baseman Adael Amador hasn’t hit much at all since being called up to the majors, so the Rockies might be considering sending him back down to Triple-A since Thairo Estrada is close to returning from the injured list.  This leaves Arcia, Kyle Farmer, Tyler Freeman and Aaron Schunk on hand as the bench depth, barring another move.

Arcia has mostly played shortstop during his 10 Major League seasons, and his generally solid glovework has helped him carve out that long career despite a modest .241/.294/.373 slash line.  His most consistent offensive run came with the Braves in 2022 and during the first half of the 2023 season, and Arcia was even named to the All-Star team for his strong performance at the plate in the opening months of the 2023 campaign.

Since then, however, Arcia’s bat has normalized back its usual levels, and he lost his starting shortstop job in Atlanta to Nick Allen.  Arcia has appeared in only 14 games this season, and batted .194/.219/.226 in 32 trips to the plate.  Since Arcia was no longer in the team’s plans, the Braves designated him for assignment and released him earlier this week.

Owed $2MM in 2025, Arcia is still owed around $1.376MM of that salary, plus his contract contains a $2MM club option for 2026 with a $1MM buyout.  The Rockies only owe the prorated MLB minimum portion of what remains of his 2025 salary, with Atlanta booting the rest of the bill.

The price tag is small enough that the Rockies may have felt it was worth it to bring in a veteran player with some relatively recent success on his track record — perhaps as a trade chip for the deadline, or perhaps just as an upgrade over its other backup infield options.  Since Colorado certainly looks like it will be a seller at the deadline, any number of roster spots could be opening up after July 31.  If Arcia himself isn’t moved, he can cover innings for the Rockies in the event that perhaps Estrada, Farmer, or Freeman are moved, or if the Rox explore a bigger trade like moving Ryan McMahon.

Rockies Select Carson Palmquist

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The Rockies announced that they have selected left-hander Carson Palmquist to their roster. Thomas Harding of MLB.com reported yesterday that Palmquist was likely to be promoted and to make his major league debut starting tonight’s game. They also reinstated infielders Ezequiel Tovar, Tyler Freeman and Aaron Schunk from the 10-day injured list. To make room for those four, outfielder Sean Bouchard and right-hander Anthony Molina have been optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque while infielders Owen Miller and Alan Trejo have been designated for assignment.

Palmquist, now 24, was selected by the Rockies in the third round of the 2022 draft. Since then, he has been climbing the minor league ladder, putting up some good strikeout numbers but also giving out a fairly high number of free passes.

Overall, he has 246 1/3 minor league innings under his belt with a 3.91 earned run average. He has punched out 31.1% of opponents but also given out a walk 117 times, an 11.2% clip. He has also plunked 21 batters, only adding to the number of free bases he’s given out.

That includes 70 2/3 Triple-A innings, starting in August of last year and continuing through the present. For the Isotopes, who play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, Palmquist has a 4.84 ERA, 24.1% strikeout rate and 14.3% walk rate.

Coming into 2025, Baseball America ranked Palmquist as the #8 prospect in the Rockies’ system. They note that the sidearming lefty doesn’t have overpowering stuff, with his fastball generally sitting in the low-90s, but with his angle and extension helping him get results from it. He’s been able to generate a lot of whiffs with his slider while also mixing in a cutter and a changeup. FanGraphs ranked him #6 in the system with a fairly similar report.

Both outlets feel Palmquist has a shot to be a serviceable back-end starter. There’s not much stopping the Rockies from letting him begin that journey now. The team has a dreadful 7-36 record, easily the worst in the majors. Since Ryan Feltner landed on the injured list a couple of weeks ago, they have had a four-man rotation core of Germán Márquez, Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela and Chase Dollander, while also giving spot starts to Bradley Blalock and Tanner Gordon.

Both Blalock and Gordon are currently on optional assignment in the minors. Each of Márquez, Freeland, Senzatela and Dollander has an ERA above 6.00. The Rockies are about to play 13 straight games, starting tonight. Perhaps this will just be a spot start for Palmquist, though he could also get three turns if he stays up for the rest of this 13-game stretch.

Even if Palmquist doesn’t get an extended rotation look right away, there’s a long-term path. Márquez is an impending free agent, as is Austin Gomber, who is currently on the IL. Senzatela and Freeland are both only signed through 2026. Senzatela’s pact has a $14MM club option for 2027 though it’s hard to see that being picked up right now. Freeland can unlock a $17MM player option for 2027 by pitching 170 innings in 2026, though he has only hit that number twice in his career. Even if he’s trending towards hitting it next season, the Rockies would probably be wise to reduce his workload and not allow him to, unless he is having far better results between now and then. In that scenario, he might turn down his option and head to free agency.

Regardless of how those options play out, there should be room for young guys like Dollander, Palmquist and Blalock to take over rotation jobs in the long run, though the difficulties of pitching at Coors Field make that a tricky task even for the most talented pitching prospects.

On the position player side, Tovar, Freeman and Schunk are all back in the infield mix. That squeezes out Trejo and Miller, each of whom are out of minor league options. Trejo returned to the organization last month in a trade with Texas. He hit .175 in 14 games. Miller, acquired in a minor league deal with Milwaukee over the offseason, was promoted around the same time. He went 2-14 over nine contests. Both players figure to land on waivers in the next few days.

Rockies Place Ezequiel Tovar On 10-Day Injured List

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2:14PM: Gomber provided an update on his situation to Just Baseball’s Patrick Lyons, saying that he hasn’t thrown since March 28 and that he received a PRP injection two weeks ago.  “It’s definitely going to be more of a buildup than it was in Spring Training,” Gomber said, though he noted that the range of motion in his left arm has returned in the aftermath of the injection.

12:16PM: The Rockies announced a collection of roster moves, including the news that shortstop Ezequiel Tovar has been placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to April 16) due to a left hip contusion.  Outfielder Brenton Doyle was also placed on the bereavement list (retroactive to April 17), and Colorado filled the two roster spots by calling up outfielder Jordan Beck from Triple-A and selecting Aaron Schunk’s contract from Triple-A.  Left-hander Austin Gomber was moved to the 60-day injured list to create a 40-man roster spot for Schunk.

Tovar’s injury adds to what has been a lackluster start to the shortstop’s third full MLB season.  While far from the only Rockies hitter who is struggling at the plate, Tovar is hitting only .212/.257/.303 through 70 plate appearances, after he delivered a .269/.295/.469 slash line (plus 26 homers and a league-leading 45 doubles) in 2024.  Colorado’s road-heavy early schedule might have something to do with Tovar’s slow start and the team’s lack of hitting in general to date, yet naturally the Rox were hopeful that Tovar’s continued development would include more consistency outside of Coors Field.

Beck is a former top prospect that will get another chance to show what he can do after a lackluster 207 MLB plate appearances over the last two seasons.  He’ll be joined on the active roster by Schunk, who also made his big league debut in 2024 in the form of 39 games and 98 PA (with a .234/.265/.330 slash line) for Colorado.  Schunk has spent most of his minor league career at third base but he has plenty of experience at the middle infield spots, so he can act as a utility infielder to add depth with Tovar out.  Kyle Farmer seems likeliest to move into an everyday shortstop role in Tovar’s absence, and Farmer has already been a fixture in the Rockies’ lineup given his hot bat.

Gomber started the season on the 15-day IL due to shoulder inflammation, and his move to the 60-day now puts him on the sidelines until at least the last week of May.  Gomber was seemingly on track for a relatively quick return to action in early April but his second minor league rehab start was scratched due to more shoulder inflammation, and that setback has now considerably lengthened the southpaw’s time away from Colorado’s rotation.

Rockies Outright Aaron Schunk

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The Rockies announced that infielder Aaron Schunk has passed through waivers unclaimed and been sent outright to Triple-A. He was designated for assignment earlier this week when the club signed left-hander Scott Alexander. He stays in big league camp but now as a non-roster invitee.

Schunk, 27, was selected to the club’s roster in June. He got to make his major league debut last year, stepping to the plate 98 times across 39 games. He put up a line of .234/.265/.330 in those, walking just 4.1% of the time and striking out at a 31.6% clip. Defensively, he split his time between second base, third base and shortstop.

His offense has been better in the minors. Over the past three seasons, he has 1,304 plate appearances on the farm, drawing walks in 7.6% of those and getting punched out 22.2% of the time. He hit a combined .278/.335/.450 for a 98 wRC+ over those seasons.

That wasn’t enough for any club to put in a claim. Since this is Schunk’s first career outright and he has less than three years of major league service time, he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency. He’ll stick with the Rockies and provide them with some infield depth but without taking up a roster spot.

The Rockies have Ryan McMahon locked in at third base and Ezequiel Tovar at shortstop. Second base is a bit more open after the club moved on from Brendan Rodgers. Prospect Adael Amador is perhaps the long-term plan, though he’s played just ten games above the Double-A level thus far and still has options. Thairo Estrada should hold down the position for now, with Kyle Farmer on the roster as a bench/utility infielder.

The Rox have guys like Owen Miller and Keston Hiura in camp as non-roster invitees, with Schunk now joining them in that category. If Schunk gets added back to the roster at any point, he has a full slate of options and less than a year of service time.

Rockies Sign Scott Alexander, Designate Aaron Schunk

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1:32pm: Alexander gets $2MM, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

11:24am: The Rockies have signed left-handed reliever Scott Alexander to a one-year, major league contract, per Patrick Lyons of Just Baseball. Infielder Aaron Schunk was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Alexander is represented by Apex Baseball.

Alexander, 35, is coming off a strong but injury-shortened season with the A’s. He missed time due to a ribcage injury and tendinitis in his shoulder, but when Alexander was healthy he logged 38 2/3 innings of 2.56 ERA ball.

Alexander fanned a below-average 19.4% of opponents against a higher-than-average 9.4% walk rate, but his mammoth 60% ground-ball rate was among the highest in MLB and helped to offset some of his more pedestrian rate stats in other areas. Of the 474 pitchers who tossed at least 30 big league innings last year, only 11 turned in a ground-ball rate of 60% or higher. Alexander was tied with Giants righty Camilo Doval at exactly 60%, sitting tenth in the game.

The 2024 season was the tenth of Alexander’s career. A sixth-round pick by the Royals back in 2010, he’s tossed 309 1/3 major league innings and combined for a 3.20 ERA, 18% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and a colossal 67.4% ground-ball rate. That ability to pile up grounders at a higher rate than just about any pitcher in MLB surely appealed to the Rockies, whose Coors Field home is notorious for its homer-friendly nature and sprawling, expansive outfield. With quality defenders all around the infield — Ryan McMahon, Ezequiel Tovar, Thairo Estrada, Michael Toglia — the Rox are an even more natural fit.

While Alexander has never worked as a closer — 10 career saves notwithstanding — he’s no stranger to high-leverage spots. He picked up 10 holds for the A’s in 2024, has a career-high of 21 holds (Dodgers, 2018) and has amassed 62 holds in his major league career. The Rox have plenty of interesting young arms in their bullpen competition (e.g. Seth Halvorsen, Angel Chivilli, Luis Peralta, Jeff Criswell), but Alexander will provide a seasoned veteran who can comfortably pitch in late-inning spots as needed.

As things stand, there’s no set closer in Colorado. Veterans Tyler Kinley and Justin Lawrence are the most experienced options. Both have closed games for the Rox in the past, but both pitched to ERAs north of 6.00 in 2024. Those struggles could open the door for a power-armed young reliever like Halvorsen or Victor Vodnik to win the job.

Alexander’s arrival on the Rockies’ roster will come at the expense of the 27-year-old Schunk, who made his big league debut in 2024. Schunk, the Rockies’ second-round pick in 2019, appeared in 39 games with the Rox but batted only .234/.265/.330 in 98 trips to the plate. He’s slashed .291/.346/.464 in 807 turns at the plate in Triple-A over the past two seasons. It’s a solid-looking line, though when weighted for the enormously hitter-friendly environs of the Pacific Coast League (and, specifically, the Rockies’ Triple-A home in Albuquerque), it’s actually a bit shy of league-average production.

Schunk played at second base, third base and shortstop in the majors last year and has minor league experience at all three spots. He’s spent the vast majority of his time at the hot corner in pro ball, logging more than 2800 innings at third base between the minors and last year’s 89 big league frames. He’s been regarded as a sound defender at third base in scouting reports from Baseball America, FanGraphs and MLB.com in the past.

Between his solid minor league output at the plate, that defensive versatility and a full slate of minor league option years remaining, Schunk could hold appeal to a club with less infield certainty than the Rockies currently possess with McMahon, Tovar, Estrada and veteran utilityman Kyle Farmer. The Rockies will have five days to trade him. A player’s DFA window is one week long, but since waivers are a 48-hour process, Schunk would need to be traded by next Monday or else placed on outright waivers.

Rockies Designate Alan Trejo For Assignment

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The Rockies have designated utilityman Alan Trejo for assignment, per a team announcement. His spot on the roster will go to fellow infielder Aaron Schunk, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Albuquerque. Colorado also recalled right-hander Riley Pint from Triple-A. The team had a vacant spot on the active roster after placing reliever Jake Bird on the injured list Thursday.

Trejo, 28, has played in parts of the past four seasons with the Rockies but never provided much offense outside a 35-game showing in 2022, when his .271/.312/.424 line clocked in just slightly below league-average. He’s a career .228/.276/.324 hitter, and the 2024 campaign has been a particular struggle — evidenced by a grim .143/.182/.143 batting line in 67 trips to the plate.

Trejo has never been on the roster for his bat, however. He’s a versatile infielder who can handle every position to the left of first base. He’s drawn particularly strong ratings at second base and third base. He doesn’t run particularly well, but Trejo has shown solid range and sure hands at multiple infield positions.

Because Trejo has exhausted all three of his minor league option years, the Rockies had to designate him for assignment rather than simply option him to Albuquerque. They’ll trade him or place him on outright waivers within the next five days (and waivers themselves would be another two days if he’s eventually placed).

Schunk, 27 next month, was the Rockies’ second-round pick back in 2019. The former Georgia Bulldog ranked among the organization’s 12 best prospects each year from 2020-22, per Baseball America, but an ugly 2021 season in High-A followed by a year of pedestrian offensive output at Double-A in 2022 caused him to fall down the system’s rankings. He hit .290/.350/.461 in Triple-A last season and is at a very similar .291/.339/.469 this year while repeating the level — this time with a far 17.7% strikeout rate that’s far lower than last year’s 24% mark. That said, while Schunk’s rate stats look strong, his overall offensive production is about 7% worse than league-average in the supercharged offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League.

Like Trejo, Schunk is a utility infield option who bats from the right side of the plate and is best suited for work at third base and second base (though he’s played sparingly at shortstop and first base as well). At his best, he ranked fifth in Colorado’s system, per BA, drawing praise for a plus arm, above-average contact skills and average power. The Rox will presumably hope that Schunk can fill the same bench role Trejo held but do so with some more offensive contributions.

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