Colorado Rockies news and links for Tuesday, January 28, 2025
On Saturday, a snow-covered Coors Field welcomed fans to Rockies Fest 2025. A staff member told me 5,000 fans were expected to attend, and although I cannot confirm that number, it was a busy — if cold — day at the ballpark.
Clearly, Rockies Fest is a feel-good event with players in the best shape or their lives and fans feeling the optimism that precedes every season. But between the autograph sessions and Dinger selfies, some nuggets emerged worth considering. (A few of these topics, I plan to explore at length later.)
The kids are all right
Last year, Rockies Fest only had one prospects panel. (Review that here.) This year, there were two, one for pitchers and the other for position players.
Attending the pitchers panel were Zach Agnos, Gabriel Hughes, Chase Dollander, Carson Palmquist, and Sean Sullivan.
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Reader, I was psyched. This wasn’t a conversation of pitching mechanics, but what emerged was a talented group of pitchers on the brink. All had played on Spokane last season (save Hughes), and they were excited about the Indians winning the Northwest League Championship.
In a separate conversation, Ryan McMahon said there were “a couple of guys hiding in the bushes” that were going to surprise some people.
“I don’t think their leaning curve is going to take a long time when they get here,” he said. “You’ve probably heard a lot about Chase Dollander — the kid’s makeup is insane. I think Carson Palmquist is somebody that could really sneak up on some guys, and plenty of other players.”
The position player panel was solid as well.
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This panel also highlighted players on the brink of making it to the majors. Benny Montgomery’s description of his time spent playing Winter Ball in Puerto Rico was especially interesting.
This year is about growth and letting the kids play
Bill Schmidt and Bud Black stressed in their media availabilities that fans will see a lot of prospects in 2025.
For Schmidt, he’ll measure success by growth rather than wins and losses.
“If they get an opportunity, you’re looking for growth with the guys,” Schmidt said. “I just feel like we’re going to see some young players, and that’s kind of who we are as we’re bringing these young kids up. Some are going to have success. Some are going to fail. Some need to go back, which [will] create an opportunity for another young player.”
Black is focused on the pitchers.
“The thing about the mound is that we have a little bit more depth now. When we when we lose a starter, I think we have a better starter coming up from Triple-A than what we’ve had the last couple seasons.”
The kids, they will be playing.
Look to Doyle, McMahon, and Tovar to raise their profiles and assume more leadership roles
One question veteran Rockies are focused on is how to replace Charlie Blackmon’s leadership in the clubhouse.
“It’s big shoes to fill,” McMahon said.
While McMahon’s emergence on this front is no surprise, Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar look to step up as well.
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“I think for me, it’s a little bit more off-the-field kind of stuff,” Doyle said, “Growing up, I was kind of like a lead-by-example kind of guy, and I think with losing Charlie, a lot of the guys like myself need to be a little bit more vocal, especially kind of starting leadership in the clubhouse kind of thing.”
For Tovar, it’s a bit more nuanced.
“Leadership’s not something you can force,” Tovar said through interpreter Edwin Perez. “It’s something that you kind of have to gain within the clubhouse. It’s something that there’ll be a time where I can be a leader, but I’m not going to force that. I’m going to just let it happen.”
The Rockies may not be done yet
Perhaps you thought the Rockies were finished adding to their roster, given their signings of Kyle Farmer and Thairo Estrada along with minor-league signings that include Keston Hiura and Nick Martini.
But they may have a few deals left.
As Black put it, “I don’t think we’re done signing guys.”
Schmidt was more specific.
“It’d be in the bullpen.”
The roles Thairo Estrada and Kyle Farmer will fill are clear, but there will be competition for some other spots
Look to Estrada to be the Rockies starting second baseman.
“I’m excited about Estrada,” Schmidt said. “I’ll match up our infield defense with anybody in the game.”
McMahon’s perspective, though equally enthusiastic, was a bit different.
“I love that guy. I used to mess with him all the time. He’d get to third base. I’d say, ‘You’re here again?’”
Then he added, “A couple of times, I told him, ‘If you ever want to come and play in Colorado, just text me!” (FWIW, Estrada did not actually text McMahon.)
As for Farmer, he will be a true utility player.
“I see Kyle playing all over the field,” Schmidt said, “because in this place, I believe we have to rest some guys.” The idea is to give regular players a day off and let them rotate in as DH with Farmer taking their defensive position, primarily in the infield.
The competition in spring training will primarily be for bullpen positions as well as outfield spots.
Charlie Blackmon heads to the front office
The announcement kicked off Rockies Fest: After a very short retirement, Charlie Blackmon will become a special assistant to the general manager.
The conversation began last year. According to Black, Blackmon raised the topic with during the Detroit Tigers series. “I suspected from that conversation that Charlie wanted to stay in the game and do something connected with us.”
Black added, “A guy like Charlie, baseball just doesn’t leave. It’s in his blood. Some guys are ‘when it’s over, it’s over.’ Charlie’s not one of those guys.”
The specifics of Blackmon’s job are evolving.
Schmidt stressed the Rockies like to give recently retired players a year to reset before assigning them a defined role. He also stressed the importance of Blackmon developing relationships with younger players working through the Rockies’ farm system. Blackmon is expected to attend spring training for a week, try scouting, visit instructional leagues, and perform other still-to-be-determined tasks.
For Blackmon, he just wasn’t ready to leave baseball.
“I don’t think you can be a player at this level, the amount of competitiveness you need to have to be successful in the big leagues, and then just turn baseball off,” Blackmon said. “I was going to be around it, whether I was buying a ticket or watching on TV or whatever it may be. But I’m now, I’m glad that it’s in an official capacity around the organization.
Oh, and he got a haircut.
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“I just felt like it was time to clean it up a little bit,” he said.
Odds and ends
Here are a few things that weren’t worth an extended discussion but caught my attention.
- It’s beard szn in the bullpen — Tyler Kinley and Jake Bird have been growing facial hair that would surely make Charlie Blackmon proud.
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- Player who caught my attention: Jimmy Herget — I haven’t paid much attention to Herget after after the Rockies claimed him off waivers from the Chicago Cubs. But after listening to him talk, I’m eager to learn more.
- Kyle Karros’ favorite player? Justin Turner. Karros acknowledged it was a strange check for a Rockie, but then explained his thinking. “He’s a stand-up dude, goes about everything the right way. And I was fortunate to kind of be around that clubhouse growing up, and he was always the one to be super good to me and kind of show me ropes.”
(Apologies for the quality of the photos. I did my best.)
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When you don’t get to attend Rockies Fest
Dinger was everywhere on Saturday (though I failed to get a selfie with him, so the quest continues). Some of the Triple-A mascots were there as well.
Ribby, however, was not so fortunate.
A+ to the Spokane Indians social media director. No notes.
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Will Dick and Charlie Monfort ever do the right thing and sell the team? | Denver Gazette ($)
I suspect you have a pretty good idea of how this one goes. Kiz brings his distinctive wit to the topic.
The Rockies need Brenton Doyle to build upon his strong 2024 season | Just Baseball
Kevin Henry looks into Doyle’s new role as the Rockies leadoff man in 2025.
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