The Rockies are bringing 10 pitchers to big league camp on non-roster invites, including top prospects and familiar faces.
Last week the Colorado Rockies announced the 23 non-roster invitees that will join the team in Scottsdale this month. Ten of those invitees are pitchers, five of which are home-grown Rockies prospects pushing for a potential spot on the Opening Day Roster. In this week’s Pebble Report, we dive head first into the non-roster invitee pitchers for 2025.
Left-Handed Pitchers
Sean Sullivan (mid-season no. 7 PuRP) and Carson Palmquist (mid-season no. 10 PuRP) headline the delegation of non-roster southpaws this spring.
Sullivan, 22, was the Rockies’ second-round pick in 2023 out of Wake Forest and took home a bevy of accolades following a stellar first professional season. He was named the Northwest League Pitcher of the Year, a Northwest League post-season All-Star, and one of Baseball America’s High Class-A All-Stars after posting a 2.16 ERA with 101 strikeouts over 14 starts with the High-A Spokane Indians. He was promoted to Double-A Hartford in August and held a 1.97 ERA over seven starts with the Yard Goats.
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Palmquist, 24, came tantalizingly close to his MLB debut in 2024 but finished the season with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes. The 2022-third round pick out of Miami started 27 games across Double-A and Triple-A last season with 144 strikeouts and a 3.98 ERA over 117 2⁄3 innings of work. In the hitter-friendly PCL, Palmquist yielded three or more earned runs in just two of his nine outings. He’s a strong candidate to make the Rockies’ Opening Day roster—especially if they decide to run a six-man rotation.
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The two prospects are joined by two new faces to the organization. Jack Te Haki O’Loughlin is a 24-year-old Australian who made his big-league debut with the Athletics (formerly of Oakland) last season. He struck out six batters in 9 2⁄3 innings and holds a career ERA of 4.05 through 120 minor league starts, working in both starter and relief duty.
28-year-old Jefry Yan is a former member of the Miami Marlins organization and most recently played for the Saitama Seibu Lions of Japan’s NPB in 2024. He had a combined ERA of 4.89 in 49 appearances across the primary squad and the ni-gun “minor league” squad, and is known for his celebratory strikeout dances.
Right-Handed Pitchers
The non-roster righties to watch are starting prospects Chase Dollander (mid-season no. 1 PuRP), Gabriel Hughes (mid-season no. 13 PuRP), and reliever Zach Agnos (mid-season HM PuRP).
Dollander, 23, is the Rockies’ top pitching prospect and Baseball America ranked him as the league’s no. 8-overall prospect. The 2023 first-round pick exploded onto the seen from Rocky Top all the way to Double-A Hartford by the end of last season, making 23 starts with a 2.59 ERA and a whopping 169 strikeouts over 118 innings of work. Dollander was named an All-Star for both the Northwest League and by Baseball America, took home Pitcher of the Week and Month titles in the Eastern League, and even played in the 2024 Futures Game.
Dollander is a favorite to make the Opening Day roster, and the Rockies’ front office has indicated that they will give him every opportunity to do so this spring.
“My mindset is the offseason is for tinkering and preparation,” Dollander said. “But Spring Training and going into the season, it’s all about having fun. Whether I make the team is not completely in my control, but I want to give them every opportunity to put me on that team.”
Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images
Agnos—a 24-year-old former two way star out of East Carolina University—has been an extremely impressive yet relatively unsung reliever since joining the organization in the 2022 draft. Agnos has a career 1.79 ERA over 93 minor league appearances and has struck out 132 batters over just 105 2⁄3 innings. The last time Agnos left a minor league level with an ERA over 2.00, he was getting promoted from Low-A Fresno after the 2023 season.
As he pushes for his time in the spotlight, Agnos most recently pitched with Double-A Hartford. With the Yard Goats he made 24 appearances, posted a 1.95 ERA with 33 strikeouts over 27 2⁄3 innings, and went 7-for-8 in save opportunities.
Photo by Jill Weisleder/MLB Photos via Getty Images
Hughes is fairly unlikely to make the Opening Day roster in any capacity. His time with the big leaguers in camp will be used to gauge his progress after missing the entire 2024 minor league season following Tommy John surgery.
The former first-round pick out of Gonzaga made it all the way to Double-A Hartford in 2023 before the injury. In 14 starts across High-A and Double-A he posted a 6.21 ERA with 83 strikeouts over 66 2⁄3 innings. He returned to action just recently in the Arizona Fall League, making six starts with the eventual Fall League Champion Salt River Rafters. Hughes struggled somewhat as he shook off the rust, posting a 8.31 ERA over 17 1⁄3 innings while striking out 14 batters and walking ten.
Hughes is just 23-years-old, and while he has a lot of ground to make up, a successful spring training will give the Rockies a good idea of where to assign him and how close he is to a big league debut.
Photo by Norm Hall/MLB Photos via Getty Images
The three prospects are joined by two new faces and one familiar one. Right-handed reliever Tommy Doyle has returned to the Rockies on a minor league deal after spending 2024 with the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers (Atlanta Braves). With the Stripers Doyle posted a 3.57 ERA in 32 appearances and struck out 43 batters over 40 1⁄3 innings of work. The 28-year-old former Rockies prospect made his debut back in 2020. He struggled with injuries before re-emerging in 2023.
28-year-old righty Jake Woodford has also joined the Rockies on a minor league deal after spending 2024 with both the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates. The former first-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals pitched just 35 big-league innings with a combined ERA of 7.97 with Chicago and Pittsburgh. Woodford is capable of both starting and coming out of the bullpen as needed. He is primarily a ground ball pitcher with a 45.1% ground ball rate across his body of big-league work.
The pitching group is rounded out by 31-year-old right-handed reliever Diego Castillo. Hardly a Pebble, Castillo has a career ERA of 3.20 over parts of seven big-league seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle Mariners, and most recently the Minnesota Twins. Castillo spent most of 2024 with the Triple-A St. Paul Saints, but made seven big-league appearances with the Twins and struck out six batters over ten innings. The Rockies signed Castillo to a minor league deal as a potential veteran reinforcement to the bullpen.
Pitchers and catchers report for camp on February 13th and the Rockies will play their first spring training game on the 21st against the Arizona Diamondbacks. With a full 40-man roster, it will be interesting to see what moves the Rockies make if any of the ten non-roster invitees perform well enough to make the Opening Day roster.
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