Chase Dollander aims to make the Opening Day roster
Can the Colorado Rockies top pitching prospect really earn a place in the rotation after finishing 2024 in Double-A?
The Colorado Rockies are just past the halfway point with their 32 exhibition games this spring. Unlike other clubs, Bud Black’s squad has been relatively healthy (knock on wood, if you’d like). And unlike other seasons, there’s a fair amount of competition for various roster spots and roles on the club for young players.
C Hunter Goodman is virtually a lock as Jacob Stallings’ catching partner after C Drew Romo was optioned to Triple-A. OF Jordan Beck has more starts in right field than anyone; he’s also started three games in center field. OF Sean Bouchard and non-roster invite OF/1B Nick Martini performed well enough at the plate that either could earn the final bench spot over a toolsy player with upside like OF Zac Veen.
In the battle for closer, RHP Seth Halvorsen has allowed only one run in his five outings. RHP Tyler Kinley has been even better with five scoreless appearances and a 7-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The 34-year-old is the veteran of the bullpen alongside LHP Scott Alexander, who signed a one-year deal with Colorado shortly before the start of Cactus League games. All indications are that the staff would prefer to see Halvorsen in the closer’s role with Kinley, along with RHP Victor Vodnik, serving as the bridge to the ninth.
Then there’s the starting rotation. It appears deeper than its been in years thanks to the return of RHP Germán Márquez and RHP Antonio Senzatela. The emergence of RHP Ryan Feltner has also aided the quality of depth. All three have looked solid in their respective starts, with LHP Kyle Freeland worthy of a mention in this group of spring successes. LHP Austin Gomber has made one appearance due shoulder soreness and may not be ready for Opening Day.
Does that open the door for top pitching prospect RHP Chase Dollander?
Dollander has had his share of troubles in his three starts with Colorado. His debut began with a three-pitch strikeout of 1B LaMonte Wade Jr. at Scottsdale Stadium and ended with a lot of heads shaking and eyes-bulging at the movement on his offspeed offerings. He looked like a grizzled veteran over two innings against Giants’ hitters. There was a solo home run by Jung Hoo-Lee in there, but the 23-year-old bounced back without looking deflated.
Start no. 2 against the Arizona Diamondbacks wasn’t quite as sharp. Had 2B Thairo Estrada turned an inning-ending double play to end the first, 3B Eugenio Suárez would not have ripped a three-run home run. There was an opposite field homer by OF A.J. Vukovich, but ultimately the ninth overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft held his own over three innings of work.
Then there was Saturday’s outing against the upstart Athletics who were missing many of their best players. Dollander threw 50 pitches before being lifted in the second inning. Only 26 of those were strikes as many were yanked glove-side, in his words. He walked four — something he had done only once in 23 starts at High-A and Double-A last season — and allowed two hits while surrendering five runs.
Despite a 12.15 ERA (6.2 IP, 9 ER) over these three starts, Black and his coaches has spoken highly of Dollander in his first big league camp. He’s facing more experienced hitters, more selective swingers than what he faced during his first and only professional season in 2024. Experience, basically, is the only thing he needs. The only question is whether or not the Rockies want that experience to come at Triple-A in the hitter-friendly (and pitcher-abusing) Pacific Coast League or in the Major Leagues with a big league squad as his support staff.
Rockies Trivia
Q: Who started the first ever Spring Training game for the Colorado Rockies in 1993? And which future member of the Rockies started for the opposing team?
Answer at the bottom
Automated Balls and Strikes
Instant replay has arrived again, albeit for pitches. (And it will disappear once we reach the regular season.)
Major League Baseball has been experimenting with ABS (automated ball-strike) since 2019 when it collaborated with the independent Atlantic League to tinker with robo-umps. Minor League Baseball began experimenting with ABS in 2021. Triple-A embraced it in 2023 and continues to do so.
During much of the first three months of 2024, the first three games of every Triple-A series were played with full robo-umps, meaning the human umpire behind the plate merely repeated what the monotone voice in his ear piece told them; in the final three games of the series, the challenge system was in place. On June 25, MLB decided every game in the International League and Pacific Coast League would utilize the challenge system full-time.
Spring Training 2025 has seen some new specifications to ABS, most notably the size of the strike zone. The top of the zone is determined by 53.5% of a player’s height; the bottom portion is defined at 27% of that height. All position players — but not pitchers — invited to Major League camp had their heights measured by an independent group.
The very first team to get measured: the Colorado Rockies.
Colorado has an advantage of playing in a ballpark equipped with Hawk-Eye which means they will play 27 of their 32 games with ABS in effect. Teams like the Chicago Cubs (7 games) and Atlanta (8) have the misfortune of experiencing it the least during spring.
We could see ABS in the regular season in 2026. While player input will surely be part of the decision-making process, the most recent collective bargaining agreement ultimately gave the final say to Major League Baseball. Comprising six owners, four players and one umpire, the Competition Committee allows MLB the ability to unilaterally change the rules if they see fit.
Two More Rule Changes
Minor rule changes for the 2025 regular season involve a more appropriate penalty for an illegal shift and a definition adjustment for second base abandonment.
Rockies Rewind
3/15/1991: Ownership of the Colorado Rockies announces the proposed ballpark in Denver will be named Coors Field.
In only two days' time, the Denver Metropolitan Major League Baseball Stadium District went from choosing the site (20th & Blake) of the new downtown ballpark to announcing the naming rights. The Coors Brewing Company of Golden, CO was given the naming rights in perpetuity for their $30 million investment in the club. By comparison, the largest naming rights deal currently goes to Crypto.com Arena which brings in $30 million annually as part of a $700 million deal that expires in 2041. Empower Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos, brings in $5 million per year as part of a $105 million deal that expires in 2040.
3/16/2022: Colorado signs 3B Kris Bryant to a seven-year, $182 million contract.
It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Bryant who has played 159 games in his three seasons in purple pinstripes. Coincidentally, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Freddie Freeman on this same day with a six-year deal totaling $162 million.
YouTube
You’ve already had a three-week dose of Spring Training games, not to mention a taste of ABS and the challenge system. Need more about how the strike zone will be different this month and which teams will experience robo-umps the most/least?
New (but actually just the old) uniforms, Spring Breakout 2025 and plenty details about the differences between Arizona’s Cactus League and Florida’s Grapefruit League.
Rockies Insider Podcast
Were those rumors of Ryan McMahon getting traded to the Milwaukee Brewers legitimate? Could the development of Northwest League MVP Kyle Karros allow the Rockies to change course and trade RyMac ahead of this year’s trade deadline? Breaking all that down and more…
Rockies Trivia
A: Colorado’s David Nied faced off against San Francisco’s Bud Black during a 7-2 win at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, AZ on March 6, 1993.