Colorado Rockies news and links for Thursday, July 25, 2024
The Colorado Rockies just had what may be their most exciting series of the season, taking two-of-three from the Boston Red Sox — with the final game of the series providing plenty of fireworks even though we are three weeks past the Fourth of July. Still, the team is in the back of the National League pack and will be playing out the string of the final two months.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still big storylines for the franchise as they look forward to the future. Charlie Condon and the rest of the 2024 draft class will soon make their way onto pro fields, bolstering the franchise’s hopes of future success. But they are not the only names worth following in the final summer months. So with that in mind, let’s look at three of the biggest storylines for Colorado’s farm system for the rest of the 2024 season.
Can Zac Veen pick up where he left off and graduate?
The start of the 2024 season got off to a very promising start for Colorado’s 2020 first round selection Zac Veen. The lefty posted a .327/.431/.582 slash line in 55 AB in April and seemed determined to make 2024 his breakout campaign and shed the Double-A level. That momentum carried into May with his .950 OPS…and then the injury bug bit.
Veen suffered a lower back strain, landing him on the 7-day IL and would stick on the injured list until the end of June. After 10 days of reps at the lower levels, he returned to the Yard Goats in the middle of July but has yet to recapture his early season form.
Since rejoining Hartford on July 10, Veen holds an OPS of just .296 and is striking out close to 30% of the time. It’s an extremely small sample of eight games, so there is certainly plenty of salt to be taken with these numbers. However, this has always been a major “prove it” year for Veen – something he was doing before losing a month to injury.
If (once) he is able to look more like his old self at the plate, Veen should quickly move up to the Triple-A starting lineup. A brief stop in Albuquerque before hitting Coors Field would not be a surprise to anyone, as that was how Rockies’ management handled Brenton Doyle in 2023.
Before that, however, Veen needs to get back on track. If he can do that in August, then Rockies fans should expect to see him hit the big leagues come September.
Will Chase Dollander maintain his trajectory?
By now, Colorado fans know the story of RHP Chase Dollander. Tagged to be the Paul Skenes of the 2023 draft before…well, Paul Skenes happened, Dollander slipped after his magnificent 2022 season and ended up falling to Colorado with the ninth overall selection. After logging nearly 90 IP in his collegiate season for the Tennessee Volunteers, the Rockies wisely shut Dollander down, meaning we’d have to wait until 2024 to see just how far along the talented righty was.
The results so far have been overwhelmingly positive. In 14 starts with High-A Spokane, Dollander has shined to a 2.83 with 111 strikeouts to just 28 walks and 60 hits allowed in 70 innings.
With a 14.27 K/9 and reassuring 3.02 FIP – along with a scoreless inning at this year’s Futures Game – Dollander showed there is nothing left for him to prove at the High-A level, making his promotion to Double-A for the second half imminent. Sure enough, Dollander went straight from the All-Star weekend in Arlington to Hartford and delivered four strong innings in his first action with the Yard Goats.
With about two months left in the Eastern League regular season and a playoff appearance already under their belt after Hartford’s first-half championship, there will be plenty of opportunity for Dollander to prove himself in the second half and put himself in the conversation as a serious option for the 2025 MLB rotation.
How will the rest of the pitching look when it returns?
Dollander is earmarked as the future ace of the Rockies for good reason, but there needs to be more than one arm on the horizon to start moving the franchise forward. Currently, the Rockies have two legitimate starting pitching options making noise in the system – lefties Carson Palmquist and Sean Sullivan – along with emerging depth at various levels in less heralded starters like Blake Adams, Jarrod Cande and Tanner Gordon.
But the head of Colorado pitching crop has been missing all year after the rash of Tommy John surgeries struck in July of 2023. Jackson Cox, Gabriel Hughes and Jordy Vargas all went under the knife at the same time. It neatly coincided with the big league team going through their own woes with Germán Márquez and Antonio Senzatela going down for the same surgery, leaving the Rockies in with a very large hole on the mound.
Márquez has returned (sort of) while Senzatela is on the mend and – barring any setbacks – not far off from beginning his minor league rehab assignment. But, as Márquez’s recent news has shown us, a prompt return and clean bill of health from major reconstructive surgery is no guarantee.
Rockies’ management shouldn’t and likely won’t push their prospects back into service the way they have the veterans, but it is still important to see their young arms get back on the field this season if at all possible. How they look post rehab — especially Hughes — will go a long way on the outlook of the big league team in the upcoming seasons.
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Rockies pitcher appears to reference Red Sox catcher’s indecent exposure arrest as two teams clear benches | CBS Sports
The Rockies blew the Red Sox out of the water 20-7 on Wednesday, but the real eye catching story was the incident between Colorado’s SP Cal Quantrill and Boston’s Reese McGuire.
Stallings helps fuel Rockies’ franchise-tying offensive outburst | mlb.com
Thomas Harding highlights Jacob Stallings’ performance in the lopsided victory — both offensively and from a leadership standpoint.
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On the farm
Triple-A: Round Rock Express 7, Albuquerque Isotopes 6
Dakota Hudson was torched for six runs on nine hits in 3 2⁄3 IP as the Isotopes never led in the game despite falling short by just one run. Julio Carreras hit his second home run of the season — a two run dinger in the ninth inning.
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 7, Harrisburg Senators 1
Chase Dollander looked the part in his Double-A debut, allowing one unearned run on one hit in four innings while striking out five. Zach Kokoska scored two runs and drove in two in Hartford’s five-run first innings. Every Hartford hitter had at least one hit in the game except Warming Bernabel.
High-A: Eugene Emeralds 3, Spokane Indians 1
Victor Juarez threw well, delivering a quality start of 5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB and 5 K but ended up taking the hard luck loss. Bryant Betancourt, Jose Cordova and Dyan Jorge each collected two hits in the game.
Low-A: Stockton Ports 13, Fresno Grizzlies 3
The Fresno defense disappointed as two costly errors led to six unearned runs in a blowout loss to the Ports. The offense didn’t fare much better as they collected just four hits compared to Stockton’s 16.
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