A major lesson from the 2025 World Series is one that the Rockies need to seriously learn: starting pitching is everything.
When or — as it more and more feels like — if the Rockies finally hire a general
manager/president of baseball operations, it will be a great chance to do something big.
After all this losing and the slow-rolling changes, the new GM/PBO needs to do something that’s very non-Rockies, aka, untraditional for Dick Monfort and Co., but completely normal for the rest of the baseball world.
In other words, spend money wisely and bring in a free agent.
Not spending on a washed-up veteran that didn’t get signed. Not inking someone to a Minor League deal. But a purposeful player who can make an immediate impact, while also helping the organization build a path toward a winning future. While Colorado should sign a few of them, one of them should be a starting pitcher.
With Germán Márquez electing free agency and Antonio Senzatela headed to the bullpen, Kyle Freeland is the only known arm returning to the rotation in 2026. The other four starters, if the season started today, would be Chase Dollander, Ryan Feltner, Tanner Gordon and McCade Brown with Carson Palmquist waiting in the wings and Bradley Blalock as backup.
Freeland was the only reliable arm in 2025 with 31 starts, resulting in a 4.98 ERA and a 5-17 record. Dollander made 21 starts in his rookie campaign, struggling with a Triple-A demotion and injuries on his way to a 6.52 ERA and a 2-12 record. Gordon only made 15 starts, but fared well with a 6-8 record and 6.33 ERA, while Brown went 0-5 with a 7.36 ERA in seven starts.
Blalock went 2-6 in 12 starts with a staggering 9.36 ERA, while Palmquist went 0-4 in seven starts with an 8.91 ERA. Feltner missed most of the season with back spasms. He went on the IL on May 2 and spent the rest of the season recovering or struggling in Triple-A. He only made six starts with the Rockies (0-2, 4.75 ERA).
That roster — with those stats — doesn’t exactly scream confidence. On the bright side, it’s a small sample size for the younger pitchers and there is a lot of room for growth. On the downside, no Rockies starter did well in 2025. Feltner may be running out of time to prove he belongs on an MLB roster and the organization has traditionally struggled to develop young pitchers and set them up for success.
While there is value in letting the kids play and trying to figure out who can be a long-term staple in this rotation, it’s also really important to have an ace — or at least a reliable arm that can go the distance in games and provide stability to a young and growing pitching staff.
The Rockies need a solid arm and one possibility is RHP Zac Gallen. The 30-year-old, who has spent seven of his eight MLB seasons with Arizona, elected free agency on Nov. 2. Gallen, a 2023 National League All-Star, is coming off the worst season in his career in several stat categories: a 4.83 ERA in 33 starts, a 13-15 record, a 1.260 WHIP, 31 homers, 66 walks and a 1.1 rWAR.
I know that seems bad, but compared to the Rockies starters, these stats are great. Only two Rockies starters had positive rWAR (Freeland at 1.3 and Feltner at 0.6). The bar is low.
As the anchor of Arizona’s rotation the last few seasons, Gallen had an off year in 2025. Unlike the Rockies pitchers, it’s an outlier in his career. It’s more likely Gallen bounces back because he has been successful more often than not. The benefit of coming off a down year is that Gallen might not demand the contract he once did.
Gallen did play better in the second half of the season, posting a 2.82 ERA in his first 10 starts after the trade deadline. Arizona might try to bring him back, but reports say he will be looking for a multi-year contract and Spotrac estimates his calculated market value as warranting a 4-year, $74.8 million deal (for $18.7 million per year).
The Rockies highest-paid pitcher is Freeland at $12.9 million per year, followed by Senzatela’s $10.1 million. When you look at the production, it’s quite possible the Rockies are getting what they’ve paid for. Perhaps it’s time to spend more on starting pitching.
His four-seamer is his dominant pitch (45%), complemented by a knuckle curve and changeup with occasional sliders, cutters and spliters, that keep hitters off balance. Here is what Gallen did against the Rockies in an eight-strikeout performance in August.
The other aspect that makes Gallen desirable is his success at Coors Field. He’s made eight starts at Coors Field in his career, recording a 3.83 ERA and a 3-0 record with a 1.128 WHIP and only four homers surrendered in 47 innings. In his career, he’s above average with a 62% groundball rate and an offspeed run value of 5, which puts him in the 86th percentile in MLB. Here’s a glimpse of what he’s capable of from his last start, in April 2024, against the Rockies in Denver.
Whether or not it’s Gallen, I just hope the Rockies will bring some outside help to this ailing pitching staff. The Dodgers proved that it all comes down to starting pitching and that the arms are worth the investment.
Arizona Fall League
Salt River Rafters 4, Peoria Javelinas 3
The Rafters improved to 9-15 on Wednesday, thanks in part to two Colorado prospects. Cade Denton earned his first Arizona Fall League win after throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up only one hit, striking out one and walking none. Things didn’t go quite as well for Austin Smith, who walked four Javelinas and gave up a run, but still got a hold with 1/3 of an inning in the books. At the plate, the Rockies prospects didn’t make as much noise as usual with Jared Thomas going 1-for-4 with a single and Charlie Condon going hitless in four at-bats.
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Even the level-headed and rarely opinionated Patrick Saunders calls the Rockies moves this offseason “head-scratching.” Over five weeks after letting go of GM Bill Schmidt and going into general manager meetings this weekend, the Rockies are GM-less.
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Colorado picked up contact-hitting Troy Johnson after the Marlins cut the 28-year-old lefty, who made his MLB debut in 2025 with Miami. He had two of his best games of the season against the Rockies at Coors Field on Sept. 17-18 when Johnston went 3-for-7 with an RBI. A first baseman, Johnson could compete with Warming Bernabel and others for the starting position in 2026.
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