Rockies Place Chase Dollander On IL With Elbow Sprain
The Rockies announced a series of roster moves today. Most notably, right-hander Chase Dollander has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right elbow sprain. (The Rockies initially said it was a strain but later issued a correction.) Left-hander Sammy Peralta has been recalled to take his spot on the roster. The Rockies also placed infielder/outfielder Tyler Freeman on the paternity list. Outfielder Sterlin Thompson has been recalled for Freeman and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.
To this point, not a lot of details have been made public regarding Dollander, but the signs are a bit ominous. Dollander departed yesterday’s start in the second inning, with the team providing a vague diagnosis of arm tightness. Quickly placing him on the IL might not necessarily be any kind of flag, since it makes sense that they would be cautious with their prized young righty. But a sprain, by definition, means there is some degree of tearing or stretching involving a ligament.
Perhaps the team will have more information on his status later. At the very least, they will be proceeding without Dollander in the rotation for the next couple of weeks. Dollander has technically been working as a reliever for the most part this year, but his relief outings have seen him pitch multiple innings behind an opener, effectively a starter’s workload. Four spots in the rotation are taken by Kyle Freeland, Michael Lorenzen, Jose Quintana and Tomoyuki Sugano. They don’t have an off-day until May 28th, so some kind of solution will be needed for the fifth spot.
Tanner Gordon has been pitching three- and four-inning stints out of the bullpen, including four frames following Dollander yesterday, so he is perhaps the simplest guy to slot in. Ryan Feltner is currently on the IL and doesn’t appear close to a return, though he could be a factor down the line. In Triple-A, the Rockies have Gabriel Hughes, Carson Palmquist, Valente Bellozo and Blas Castaño, who are all on the 40-man roster, so one of them could be recalled.
Thompson, 25 next month, was drafted 31st overall in 2022. He has since been climbing the minor league ladder. The Rockies added him to their 40-man roster in November of last year, to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
He has a tremendous .344/.491/.496 line in Triple-A this year. That’s surely a bit misleading since he’s been playing in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and also has an unsustainable .419 batting average on balls in play. Still, his 18.6% walk rate is massive and higher than his 17.4% strikeout rate. However, the offensive part of his game has never really been the concern. Some evaluators think he’ll be a below average defender, even in an outfield corner. That means he’ll really have to hit to provide value.
It’s possible this will just be a brief call for Thompson. Stints on the paternity list last for one to three days, so Freeman should be back relatively quickly. The Rockies have Mickey Moniak, Jake McCarthy, Brenton Doyle and Jordan Beck getting playing time in their outfield at the moment. If Thompson doesn’t have a path to regular at-bats, it makes sense for him to go back down when Freeman returns, but he can get a taste of big league life now.
Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images
Rockies Notes: Dollander, Herget, Criswell
The Rockies are dealing with an injury concern for their top young pitcher. Chase Dollander left this afternoon’s start in Pittsburgh in the second inning on account of right arm tightness.
Dollander told Thomas Harding of MLB.com postgame that the club had not scheduled any imaging. “I don’t know; I’m not sure,” he replied when asked about his level of concern. “I don’t want to say too much before anything else happens – not to freak myself out or anyone else.”
The ninth overall pick in the 2023 draft, Dollander struggled at Coors Field as a rookie last season. He has taken a major step forward this year, entering today’s outing with a 3.35 ERA across 43 innings. He’d punched out 26% of opponents while averaging 99 mph on his four-seam fastball. Pittsburgh rocked him for five hits and three runs in an inning-plus today, although it’s fair to attribute the ugly start to the arm discomfort.
Dollander tells Harding he first felt some arm discomfort coming out of last Friday’s start in Philadelphia. He had a slight velocity dip this afternoon, sitting 97-98 mph with the heater instead of his usual 99. That’s not much of a concern in itself — it was the first inning and the game temperature was in the high 40s — but becomes more alarming in conjunction with the arm discomfort.
The Rox haven’t revealed whether Dollander will go on the injured list. It’d behoove them to exercise caution with the most important member of their pitching staff. Today’s loss dropped Colorado to an NL-worst 17-27 record. They’re still early in what’ll be a long-term rebuild, so the focus should be on Dollander’s health.
Tanner Gordon helped preserve the bullpen by tossing four innings of one-run ball in mop-up work. Gordon wasn’t even on the active roster until this morning, as Colorado recalled him from Triple-A Albuquerque before the game. That came as the corresponding move for reliever Jimmy Herget, who landed on the 15-day injured list with a shoulder impingement.
A waiver claim after the 2024 season, Herget provided the Rox 83 1/3 innings of 2.48 ERA ball a year ago. He has a less impressive 5.06 mark through 16 frames this year, albeit with similar strikeout and walk rates as he posted last season. Herget has always attacked the strike zone. He doesn’t have huge stuff but is missing a decent number of bats with a heavy dose of breaking balls from a sidearm delivery.
Herget is playing on a $1.55MM arbitration salary and has one year of control after this one. He’s not going to be any contender’s top bullpen target but could draw deadline interest as a deception-based middle reliever if he’s healthy. The Rockies would presumably be happy to move him for a lottery ticket prospect if the opportunity presents itself.
In other injury news, reliever Jeff Criswell was assigned to Albuquerque this week as he continues his rehab assignment. The righty is working back from Tommy John surgery which he underwent in Spring Training 2025. That interrupted a promising start to Criswell’s MLB career. The University of Michigan product struck out 31% of opponents with a 2.75 ERA over his first 19 2/3 innings back in 2024.
Can Chase Dollander Defeat Coors Field?
Rockies right-hander Chase Dollander fired seven scoreless innings to earn a win against the Mets on Sunday. The outing lowered his April ERA to a pristine 1.29. He’s piled up 34 strikeouts over 28 innings this month. Sunday’s outing was the first traditional start of the season for Dollander. He’d pitched exclusively out of the bullpen to begin the year, typically as a bulk reliever following an opener.
Dollander’s win over the Mets came at Citi Field. It was his fifth appearance on the road this season, compared to just two games at Coors Field. The young righty has been able to tame the hitter-friendly venue so far. Dollander allowed a run over 4 1/3 innings at home against the Phillies in his second outing of the season. He limited the Padres to a run across six innings early last week, piling up nine strikeouts. Colorado scored one run total in Dollander’s two home games, saddling him with the loss both times.
The Rockies took Dollander with the ninth overall pick in the 2023 draft. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the No. 2 prospect in the system in 2024, behind only infielder Adael Amador. Dollander struck out minor leaguers at a healthy 33.9% clip that season. The hard-throwing righty debuted with the Rockies last year. The results were brutal in basically every regard. Dollander struggled to miss bats, failed to find the strike zone consistently, and was frequently barreled. His 6.52 ERA was backed by an xFIP and SIERA near 5.00.
Dollander has taken a step forward in multiple areas in his second attempt as a big leaguer. He’s added a tick to his fastball, which was already extremely hard for a starter. Dollander’s four-seamer is sitting at 99 mph this year, ranking fourth among all pitchers. He’s more than doubled his sinker usage, contributing to a well-above-averge 51.9% groundball rate. Despite the increase in sinkers, Dollander has a strong 13.4% swinging-strike rate.
Keeping the ball on the ground while getting ample whiffs is a great recipe for success. Dollander’s 55.7% hard-hit rate stands out as a red flag, but it’s not turning into damage due to the type of batted balls he’s permitting. Only 8.9% of the contact against Dollander has been pulled in the air. Hard-hit balls on the ground and to the opposite way are generally going to lead to better outcomes for a pitcher than pulled air contact.
Colorado brought in Paul DePodesta to run baseball operations this offseason. He’s tasked with reviving a club that hasn’t won 70 games since 2021. The organization is currently in a seven-year playoff drought. DePodesta’s tenure is off to a solid start. The Rockies are just three games under .500 after sweeping the Mets over the weekend. The acquisitions of TJ Rumfield (trade) and Troy Johnston (waiver claim) have been additive, as has the signing of Tomoyuki Sugano. The Johnston addition came shortly before the DePodesta hire was announced, but it’s still part of what looks to have been a productive winter. DePodesta didn’t draft Dollander, of course, but his regime will be in charge of the righty’s development. The decision to initially use Dollander behind an opener, whether it came from manager Warren Schaeffer or the front office, proved fruitful.
Coors Field remains the most difficult place to pitch in the league. Per Statcast, it has a 112 overall Park Factor over the past three seasons, which ranks first by a significant margin. Chase Field is second on the list at 105. Colorado’s stadium ranks first in park effect for runs, OBP, hits, singles, and doubles, which makes sense given the spacious dimensions. The thin air in Denver also limits the effectiveness of breaking balls, forcing pitchers to reconsider their arsenals.
The Rockies have had the occasional pitcher break through with a productive season, despite the difficult home environment. Kyle Freeland finished eighth in ERA with a 2.85 mark in 2018. Jon Gray had a pair of sub-4.00 ERA seasons in the late 2010s. Jorge De La Rosa and Jhoulys Chacin formed a formidable duo in 2013, each posting sub-3.50 ERAs over 30+ starts. ERA is far from the only relevant pitching stat, but it’s a reliable marker for a successful season in a venue that boosts run production like no other.
Ubaldo Jimenez stands out as one of the only starters to have extended success in Colorado. He’s the name that gets whispered whenever a Rockies pitcher brushes up against relevance. The righty entered the rotation on a full-time basis in 2008. He racked up 16.8 WAR (per Baseball Reference) over the next three seasons. The walks were a bit high, but Jimenez limited damage with the help of a diverse arsenal. The 2010 campaign was his masterpiece. Jimenez posted 221 2/3 frames of a 2.88 ERA with nearly a strikeout per inning. He earned an All-Star selection and finished third in NL Cy Young voting. Jimenez had better numbers on the road, but not by much. He held opponents to a .661 OPS and a .294 wOBA in 101 2/3 innings at Coors Field.
Jimenez was the rare pitcher to perform worse after leaving Colorado. He had one good year after getting traded to Cleveland, but didn’t find much success beyond his Rockies tenure. Jimenez did provide what would seem to be a viable blueprint for surviving at Coors Field: above-average velocity, a diverse arsenal, and a pitch mix that isn’t overly reliant on breaking balls. Dollander checks those boxes. He uses a changeup instead of a splitter, but the rest of the repertoire lines up with peak Jimenez. It’s around 60% four-seamer/sinker, 12% changeup, and then a smattering of breaking balls (slider/curveball/sweeper). Dollander has also improved his walk rate to 6.9%. Even in Jimenez’s stellar 2010, he issued free passes at a double-digit clip.
Dollander is just 28 appearances into his big-league career. It’s a seven-game sample of positive results. There’s plenty of season left for him to succumb to the Colorado conditions, which aren’t limited to home games. Rockies players also have to adjust to leaving the Denver altitude for road trips. But the formula is there for Dollander to conquer Coors Field.
Photos courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Denis Poroy, Gary A. Vasquez, 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 To Select T.J. Rumfield, Brett Sullivan
The Rockies will carry first baseman T.J. Rumfield and catcher Brett Sullivan on their Opening Day roster, manager Warren Schaeffer announced over the weekend (link via Thomas Harding of MLB.com). Colorado also tabbed Ryan Feltner as their fifth starter, meaning Chase Dollander will begin the season in the bullpen.
It’s the first major league call for the 25-year-old Rumfield. Colorado added the lefty-swinging first baseman in a trade with the Yankees in January. They sent hard-throwing reliever Angel Chivilli to New York. A former 12th round pick who went unselected in December’s Rule 5 draft, Rumfield isn’t a highly touted prospect. He’s coming off a strong season in Triple-A, though, and the Rockies offered a much clearer path to playing time than he would’ve had behind Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt in the Bronx.
Rumfield hit .285/.378/.447 with 16 homers across 587 plate appearances in the minors last season. He worked walks at a 12% clip while striking out at a lower than average 18.4% rate. Rumfield’s middling batted ball metrics probably held him back from getting a look as a Rule 5 draftee. His 36.6% hard contact rate and 87.8 mph average exit velocity would be at the lower end for an MLB first baseman.
At the same time, Rumfield doesn’t have much more to prove against minor league pitching. He has posted above-average numbers at every stop, including nearly two full seasons in Triple-A. He’s an advanced contact hitter with a quality approach. That was on display this spring as well. Rumfield batted .280 with four homers and remarkably struck out just one time in 58 plate appearances in camp.
There’s a decent chance he’s the starting first baseman on Opening Day. Colorado had the worst first base group in the majors a year ago. They moved on from Michael Toglia over the winter, acquiring Rumfield and Edouard Julien as options at the position. Julien could also factor in at second base depending on how the Rox use utility player Willi Castro.
They can move Castro between second and third, though Schaeffer announced that infielders Ryan Ritter and Kyle Karros also made the team. They account for two bench spots, while Sullivan wins a third as the backup catcher. (The final bench spot is undetermined, as infielder Tyler Freeman is questionable for Opening Day with back soreness.) Sullivan beat out Braxton Fulford for the #2 catcher role; the latter was officially optioned yesterday.
Colorado added Sullivan on a minor league deal over the winter. The 32-year-old played in three big league games with the Pirates last year. He has 43 games and 112 MLB plate appearances under his belt, batting .204/.250/.291 with a pair of home runs. Sullivan had a big camp, hitting .378 with a pair of homers and three walks and strikeouts apiece in 16 games. Fulford hit .270 with three longballs, eight strikeouts and one walk.
Sullivan showed enough that the Rox want to keep him around to back up Hunter Goodman. He’s out of options, so he’ll need to stick on the MLB roster or be exposed to waivers. The Rockies will need to officially select Rumfield’s and Sullivan’s contracts on Wednesday. They can do so without designating anyone for assignment. Pierson Ohl and RJ Petit recently underwent Tommy John surgeries and can be placed on the 60-day injured list.
Meanwhile, the news on the pitching side comes as a surprise. Feltner and Dollander were competing for the final rotation spot behind Kyle Freeland and free agent signees Michael Lorenzen, Jose Quintana and Tomoyuki Sugano. Neither pitcher seized the job during camp. Feltner gave up 13 runs while walking 10 batters in 11 2/3 innings. Dollander surrendered 11 runs (10 earned) with seven walks and three hit batters across 14 frames.
Given Dollander’s pedigree as a former top 10 pick, it seemed that a rebuilding Colorado team would prefer to have him continue to start. They’ve opted for Feltner instead but apparently don’t believe Dollander would benefit from working out of the Triple-A rotation. He’ll join Antonio Senzatela as a multi-inning arm out of the bullpen.
Aside from Freeman’s health, the bullpen is the last unknown part of the Opening Day roster. There a couple middle relief spots up for grabs and one out-of-options player (Keegan Thompson) trying to maintain his spot on the 40-man roster.
Rockies Notes: Rotation, Gordon, Amador
The Rockies made a pair of camp cuts on Tuesday, optioning right-hander Tanner Gordon and second baseman Adael Amador. Both players will open the season in Triple-A Albuquerque.
Gordon made 15 starts a year ago, holding a rotation spot throughout the second half. The 28-year-old righty allowed a 6.33 ERA with a modest 18.4% strikeout rate. Gordon pitched well this spring, striking out 12 against two walks across 11 innings. He only surrendered eight hits and two runs. It wasn’t enough to overcome last year’s regular season production to hold a spot in a revamped Colorado rotation.
The Rockies signed Michael Lorenzen, Jose Quintana and Tomoyuki Sugano to one-year deals. They’ll all hold rotation spots behind Kyle Freeland, whom the Rox have tabbed as their Opening Day starter for a third straight season (and franchise-record fifth overall). That leaves one spot in the season-opening staff up for grabs.
Thomas Harding of MLB.com writes that the Rockies still haven’t decided whether they’ll go with Ryan Feltner or Chase Dollander. Feltner is the more experienced pitcher and made 30 starts with a 4.49 ERA and league average peripherals back in 2024. He was limited to six MLB appearances last year by injury, most notably back spasms.
Dollander is coming off a frustrating rookie season, allowing a 6.52 ERA across his first 21 starts. He pitched fairly well on the road (3.46 ERA with a 22.2% strikeout rate in 52 innings) but was destroyed for 55 runs over 46 frames at Coors Field. The 24-year-old Dollander is a former top 10 overall pick who is one of the most important players with the organization in a complete rebuild.
Neither pitcher has done much to impress this spring. Dollander has walked seven and hit three batters in 14 innings. He has given up 11 runs (10 earned) on 18 hits with 10 strikeouts. Feltner has been rocked for 13 runs with 10 walks in 11 2/3 frames. Gordon handily outperformed both of them in camp, but he’s a lower-ceiling pitcher whom the front office evidently wasn’t seriously considering for a spot on the Opening Day roster.
The Rockies are expected to keep Antonio Senzatela in a long relief role. Dollander and Feltner both have minor league options. Whomever doesn’t win the fifth starter job will probably begin the season alongside Gordon in the Albuquerque rotation. Gabriel Hughes and McCade Brown are the other depth starters on the 40-man roster. They were both optioned out in early March.
As for Amador, it’s moderately disappointing that he didn’t win a roster spot. The switch-hitting infielder has been one of the team’s more well-known prospects for a few seasons. Amador hasn’t hit at all in 51 MLB games over the past two years, batting .176/.242/.250 through 164 plate appearances.
His Spring Training production (.229/.270/.429 with two homers in 12 games) wasn’t good. Amador is coming off a strong .303/.405/.478 season with more walks than strikeouts in Triple-A, though that comes with the caveat of Albuquerque’s very hitter-friendly environment. Colorado acquired Edouard Julien from the Twins and signed utilityman Willi Castro to a two-year free agent deal to factor in at second base. They can each move to a corner infield spot (first and third base, respectively) if the Rockies decide to take another look at Amador midseason.
Rockies Place Chase Dollander On Injured List
September 13: The Rockies today officially announced Dollander’s placement on the injured list with a left patella tendon strain. Blalock was recalled to the majors in a corresponding move.
September 12: The Rockies will place Chase Dollander on the injured list with a knee injury, reports Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post. The 2023 ninth overall pick would have been lined up to start Saturday’s game in San Diego.
Instead, it appears his rookie season will come to a slightly premature end. Dollander will technically be eligible to return in the final five days of the season, so it’s possible he makes one more start, but there’s no incentive for him to pitch through any kind of discomfort. He’ll likely finish his debut campaign with a 6.52 earned run average across 21 starts.
Dollander had a very difficult time pitching at Coors Field. He allowed nearly 10 earned runs per nine innings during his 11 home starts. His road numbers are much better. The 6’2″ righty pitched to a 3.46 ERA in 10 starts outside Denver. Dollander held opposing hitters to a .200/.297/.324 slash in his road starts. His strikeout (22.2%) and walk (11.3%) rates on the road aren’t as strong as the ERA or slash line, but there are at least some encouraging signs. That included a solid final appearance in Los Angeles on Monday, as Dollander held the Dodgers to one run on a lone hit with five strikeouts in as many innings.
The 23-year-old Dollander is the Rox’s most talented young pitcher. He’ll obviously need to be far more competitive at Coors Field to have long-term success. There’ll be plenty of opportunity to do so in a Colorado rotation that doesn’t project to be much better in 2026 than it was this season. Germán Márquez is likely to walk in free agency. Neither Tanner Gordon nor McCade Brown has pitched well enough to merit an Opening Day rotation spot. Antonio Senzatela performed so poorly this year that the Rox have demoted him to long relief. Dollander and Kyle Freeland should be joined by three offseason acquisitions.
Colorado will need to call up a fifth starter or run a bullpen game in Dollander’s place tomorrow. Bradley Blalock is on the 40-man roster and would probably be the choice if they recall a starting pitcher from Triple-A Albuquerque. Former first-round pick Gabriel Hughes could also be a consideration. He’s not on the 40-man but would need to be added this offseason if the Rockies don’t want to expose him to the Rule 5 draft. That could lead them to give Hughes a couple starts down the stretch, as they’re doing with Brown.
Austin Nola Elects Free Agency
Aug. 15: Nola has indeed elected free agency, per the transaction log at MiLB.com.
Aug. 13: Nola has cleared waivers, and the Rockies have sent him outright to Triple-A Albuquerque, according to the transaction log on his MLB.com player page. He has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, but he can also choose to accept the assignment and rejoin the Isotopes. He is currently listed on their roster on MiLB.com.
Aug. 11: The Rockies announced Monday that they’ve designated catcher Austin Nola for assignment. His roster spot will go to righty Chase Dollander, who’s been recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque and will start tonight’s game versus the Cardinals in St. Louis.
Nola, 35, has spent the bulk of the season with Triple-A Albuquerque after signing a minor league contract over the winter but had his contract selected to the big league roster in early July. He’s gotten into 15 games for the Rox but turned in a lackluster .184/.225/.211 batting line in a small sample of 41 plate appearances. He was far better in 26 Triple-A games, slashing .347/.411/.474 in 106 trips to the plate.
The older brother of longtime Phillies starter Aaron Nola, Austin has appeared in parts of six big league seasons. He was excellent early on after breaking through with the Mariners as a 29-year-old rookie. The older Nola brother hit .280/.351/.476 in 377 plate appearances with the M’s in 2019-20, pairing that plus offensive output with the ability to play not only catcher but multiple infield and outfield spots.
The Padres coveted Nola’s production and versatility enough to surrender a package of prospects that included Andres Munoz, Ty France and Taylor Trammell to pry Nola and relievers Dan Altavilla and Austin Adams away from Seattle in 2020. Nola’s bat fell off to about league-average levels from 2020-22 following the trade before cratering in 2023. The Friars cut him loose after the ’23 season and he’s since bounced to the Brewers, Royals and now Rockies.
With the trade deadline behind us, the Rockies’ only course of action will be to place Nola on waivers. He’ll be made available to all 29 other teams, beginning with the worst record in the league and climbing through the best. Nola is out of minor league options, so any team that claims him would need to add him right to the big league roster. If he goes unclaimed, he’d have the right to reject an outright assignment to the minors in favor of free agency.
Latest On Rockies’ Expected Deadline Approach
The Rockies dropped to 21-71 with today’s loss in Boston, putting them on a 37-win pace for the season. That’d have them four wins shy of last year’s White Sox, the worst team in modern history. The Rockies are obviously going to be deadline sellers, but the extent of that sale is complicated by the organization’s track record of holding onto players that any other team would have traded.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that the Rox intend to be more willing to listen on veteran players than they have been at prior deadlines. He suggests they’ll seriously entertain interest in the likes of third baseman Ryan McMahon, reliever Jake Bird, and starter Germán Márquez. That broadly aligns with a report from Jon Heyman of The New York Post last week. Heyman reported that the Rockies are open to offers on McMahon, specifically, after they pulled him off the trade market early in 2024.
However, that increased willingness to deal veterans doesn’t mean the Rockies are completely open for business. Rosenthal writes that the team remains unlikely to trade young players whom they view as core pieces. He lists shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, center fielder Brenton Doyle, and rookie righty Chase Dollander in that group. Rosenthal more surprisingly adds relievers Seth Halvorsen and Zach Agnos, plus starter Ryan Feltner, as players who may fall in the latter category.
McMahon, Márquez and Bird are Colorado’s three most obvious trade chips. They all featured prominently on MLBTR’s initial list of the top 40 trade candidates last week. McMahon is a plus defensive third baseman with power and strikeout concerns. He had an abysmal April, raked in May, and has cooled back off since the beginning of June. He’s hitting just .210/.310/.373 on the season and has been a well below-average hitter (.207/.305/.350) over the past calendar year.
There’ll nevertheless be interest in McMahon, particularly given the scarcity of infield talent that may be available. The Yankees need to acquire a third baseman and have reportedly already checked in. The Cubs and Tigers are speculative possibilities. McMahon is playing on a $12MM salary in his age-30 season and will make $16MM annually between 2026-27.
Márquez is an impending free agent who is making $10MM. He was an above-average starter earlier in his career but hasn’t been as sharp since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2023. He’s sitting on a 5.84 ERA with a subpar 15.3% strikeout rate over 18 starts. The 30-year-old righty is coming off his best month of the season, though, working to a 2.97 mark while striking out 21% of opponents in June. His fastball still sits around 95 MPH, so teams could view him as an upside play outside of Coors Field. He’s unlikely to be a qualifying offer candidate, so there’s little reason not to trade him.
Bird, 29, had quietly been one of the league’s best relievers until he was blown up by the Red Sox on Tuesday. That outing jumped his season ERA by nearly a full run, up from 2.79 to 3.70. Bird has fanned more than 27% of opposing hitters and has generally done well to keep runs off the board. He looked to be a fairly nondescript middle reliever entering the season. He’s under club control for three seasons beyond this one, but this is a breakout year for a reliever approaching his 30th birthday. The Rockies would be wise to cash him in this summer while his trade value is at its peak.
The Rockies have a few other veteran players, though they’d have little to no trade value. They’ll presumably hope to find a lottery ticket prospect for the likes of Thairo Estrada, Austin Gomber and Tyler Kinley. It’s not surprising they’re reluctant to move Tovar or Doyle, both of whom are struggling through down years but looked like potential cornerstones a season ago. Dollander has been hit hard in his debut campaign and was recently optioned back to Triple-A, but he’s a recent top 10 pick and the organization’s best hope of developing a front-line starter.
Feltner is a back-of-the-rotation starter who has missed most of this season rehabbing a back issue. He just returned from the injured list last week and has been limited to six starts. The Rox could get a notable return for Halvorsen, a fireballer who has gotten a look in the ninth inning. He’s only 25 and controllable for five more seasons. A team in Colorado’s position should arguably be willing to trade any reliever, but there’s more of a case for holding Haloversen than there would be with Bird. It’s tougher to see the logic in including Agnos as a potential building block. He’s a rookie reliever with a 5.19 ERA and 15 strikeouts in his first 26 career innings. Agnos, a former 10th-round pick, has good but not elite velocity and has never been a highly-regarded prospect despite excellent minor league numbers.
Rockies Option Chase Dollander
The Rockies announced today that they have optioned right-hander Chase Dollander to Triple-A Albuquerque. Fellow righty Bradley Blalock has been recalled from Albuquerque as the corresponding move.
Dollander, 23, was called up to the majors in the first week of April. The ninth overall pick of the 2023 draft, he tore through the minors last year, posting a 2.59 earned run average, 33.9% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate in 118 innings. He was already a top prospect after being drafted but that performance shot him up even higher on the rankings. After just one Triple-A start this year, he was up in the show.
Thus far, he hasn’t been able to deliver on that prospect hype. Around a brief stint on the injured list due to forearm tightness, he now has 15 big league starts under his belt with a 6.68 ERA. His 16.8% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate are both subpar.
Not every prospect comes up to the majors and finds immediate success, so it’s not necessarily a concern that Dollander has struggled so far. On the other hand, Coors Field is a notoriously challenging venue to pitch in and that seems to be a factor here. Dollander has a 4.25 ERA on the road but a massive 9.37 mark in the mountains. His 20.3% strikeout rate on the road is much better than his 13.7% clip at Coors.
Getting major league hitters out is tough in any stadium but the Coors effect only heightens the challenge. Batted balls fly farther in the thin air but breaking pitches also move less, so there may be a steep learning curve as Dollander tries to make his stuff work at altitude.
Given his struggles, it’s not necessarily a shock to see the Rockies send him down. It’s also possible that the upcoming All-Star break will allow them to recall him fairly quickly without missing more than one or two turns through the rotation. With some upcoming off-days, the Rockies might just use a four-man rotation for a while, or perhaps give Blalock a spot start or two.
Though the decision is defensible, Dollander is likely to be personally impacted by the move. A baseball season is usually 186 days long but a player needs only 172 days of service to be credited with a full year of service time. Dollander was called up just ten days into the season, so he was on track to hit the one-year mark. That almost certainly won’t happen now as an optional assignment for a pitcher has a 15-day minimum.
The Rockies could technically recall Dollander in less than 15 days if someone else goes on the injured list, but barring that scenario, Dollander no longer has a path to one year of service. As a top prospect, he could also earn a full year by finishing in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting but it’s hard to fathom that possibility with his current stats.
Put it all together and Dollander’s path to free agency has almost certainly been pushed by a year. Had he stayed up, he would have been on track for free agency after 2030. It now appears that post-2031 will be the earliest he could hit the open market. His path to arbitration could also be impacted, depending on how long this optional assignment lasts.
Those are long-term questions which will be answered in time. In the shorter term, the focus will be on Dollander’s on-field abilities and figuring out how to reach his potential. The 2025 Rockies are one of the worst baseball teams of all time and there aren’t many reasons for long-term optimism either. If Dollander can start looking like a potential ace again, that would provide a glimmer of hope, but it’s not there right now.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images