The end of the 2025 season will be here faster than you think, with just six series and 19 total games left before the Colorado Rockies call it a year.
Starting pitchers Kyle Freeland, Germán Márquez, Chase Dollander, and Tanner Gordon will all take a few more turns through the rotation to finish out the season in a year that has seen the Rockies’ depth and results at the position challenged.
One final question the Rockies will need to answer, though, is who will fill out the fifth slot in their rotation
to close out the season.
Two former mainstays of the rotation over the last few seasons are no longer starting in Colorado. Austin Gomber is gone, having been released in August and since signed a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs. Antonio Senzatela—after 23 challenging starts—was moved to the bullpen.
The Rockies have tried to fill the gap with rookie right-handed pitcher McCade Brown (no. 26 PuRP). The 25-year-old from Indiana University Bloomington—now fully recovered from his 2023 Tommy John surgery—had been putting together a strong season in the Rockies farm system.
Brown made nine starts with the High-A Spokane Indians, posting a 1.60 ERA over 33 2/3 innings with 48 strikeouts. He continued to find success on the mound after being elevated to the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats where he held a 3.14 ERA over 11 starts and struck out 57 batters over 43 innings.
The Rockies—in need of a starter and geographically close to Hartford while on a road trip to Pittsburgh—decided to challenge Brown by calling him up directly from Double-A.
Brown looked solid through his first three big league innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates, keeping them off the board and tallying his first career strikeout. However, he unraveled in the fourth inning by giving up a three-run home run and an RBI double as he was run from the game.
Against the Chicago Cubs, he yielded three earned runs on five hits and three walks over four innings. He also hit two batters. Against the San Diego Padres this weekend, he lasted just 1 2/3 innings, giving up six earned runs on five hits—including a home run—and hit another two batters.
Brown has honestly looked a bit over-matched after skipping Triple-A entirely, whatever your thoughts are on avoiding the launching pad that is the Pacific Coast League and Albuquerque, New Mexico may be. Brown has also pitched the most innings of his professional career since 2022 with Low-A Fresno, so fatigue may be an issue in addition to the challenge.
Either way, Brown’s struggles present the Rockies with a dilemma. The team needs starters to eat some innings, especially with an overtaxed bullpen. However, they also need to be evaluating players like Brown for the future.
The Rockies might be best served by continuing to put Brown on the mound for the remaining necessary start this season. Even if they wanted to cut the experiment short, their options are limited.
On the big league roster, Antonio Senzatela is available, but the early results of his move to the bullpen have been promising. In four relief appearances, he has a 1.76 ERA with eight strikeouts over 15 1/3 innings. Freshly claimed righty Roansy Contreras has also worked as a starter throughout his career. Anthony Molina largely started while he was with the Triple-A squad, but has mostly come out of the bullpen with the Rockies.
Bradley Blalock is also available from Triple-A Albuquerque. The 24-year-old righty—obtained from Milwaukee last season—has had an extremely up-and-down season with an 8.62 ERA on the Rockies and an 8.53 ERA over 14 starts with the Albuquerque Isotopes.
Any other reinforcements for the rotation would have to be added to the 40-man roster… and there are really only two options.
24-year-old left-handed prospect Sean Sullivan (no. 9 PuRP) missed the first month and change of the 2025 season after having off-season hip surgery, but since he returned he’s been nothing short of excellent.
In 17 starts with Double-A Hartford, the tricky and deceptive lefty has just a 3.09 ERA and 94 strikeouts over 93 1/3 innings. He’s excelled at getting batters out with his electric changeup and a strong sweeping slider. He even uses a low arm slot to get upwards action on his low velocity four seam fastball that thrives in the upper parts of the strike zone.
Sullivan is a prime candidate to compete for a spot in the rotation next spring, so why not give him a head start in the fall?
At 100 combined innings across Double-A plus rehab stints in the Arizona Complex League and with Low-A Fresno, Sullivan is already just 15 1/3 innings shy of a career high in innings pitched. Fatigue might be setting in. His already low velocity fastball—barely above 90 MPH most days—was hitting as low as 86 MPH during his most recent start. He managed just two strikeouts while walking four and gave up seven earned runs on ten hits against the Reading Fightin’ Phils. He lasted just 3 2/3 innings and threw 83 pitches.
Also nearing a career high in innings pitched is 24-year-old 2022 first-round pick Gabriel Hughes (No. 11 PuRP). The Alaskan righty is fully recovered from his 2023 Tommy John surgery and has pitched 96 1/3 innings across the Arizona Complex League, Double-A Hartford, and Triple-A Albuquerque.
Hughes started the season in Double-A and posted a 3.07 ERA over nine starts, striking out 35 batters in 41 innings before his promotion to Triple-A.
Hughes’ debut with the Albuquerque Isotopes was a difficult one. In his first four games, he pitched past five innings just once—in his first game—and put up a 9.19 ERA in 15 2/3 innings of work with five home runs allowed and ten strikeouts to eight walks. He was then placed on the injured list for the next month with a right shoulder impingement.
Since he returned from his injury, he’s looked much more like the top prospect pitcher you’d expect him to. In his last eight starts he has a 3.89 ERA—excellent for the PCL—with 30 strikeouts and four home runs allowed to 18 walks.
“I’m just getting a better idea for how to read swings, how to see how a hitter reacts to a certain pitch and then base the next pitch I throw off that, instead of just relying on a fastball by guys and trying to go slider or curveball in the dirt for a chase,” Hughes said. “I’ve become a much more complete pitcher instead of just a thrower.”
Despite his success, Hughes is also showing signs of fatigue with a high inning count capping off over 21 months of throwing since before he appeared in last year’s Arizona Fall League. Like Sullivan, his fastball has decreased in velocity and he’s struggling more with command.
It might be better for the Rockies to let both Hughes’ and Sullivan’s seasons come to a close in the waning days of the minor league season. That way the two top prospects have time to rest, recover, and start building themselves up for an inevitable camp battle for a spot on the Opening Day roster.
“My goal is taking a longer time to build up before Spring Training and seeing where that gets me,” Hughes said. “Instead of chasing, ‘I want to sit 96 to 98,’ I’m going to chase, ‘I want to have a good, strong, slow, consistent buildup and wherever that takes me, that’s where it takes me.’”
For the Rockies and their fans, one or two more high profile rookie debuts would undoubtedly be a lot of fun. However, it would ultimately result in just one or two starts. While there isn’t exactly a “wrong” choice, the season is in it’s final moments and the Rockies might be better served by making sure their two young arms are fully healthy when questions need to be answered in the spring.
On the Farm
Triple-A: Round Rock Express 8, Albuquerque Isotopes 3
The ‘Topes gave up eight runs on 14 hits to close out their series against Round Rock, with the bulk of the damage coming against reliever Carson Skipper. Bradley Blalock gave up three earned runs in 2 2/3 innings as the Isotopes starter. Albuquerque scored just three runs despite having 12 hits, going only 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and leaving 15 men stranded. Braiden Ward, Adael Amador, Sterlin Thompson, and Owen Miller all had two hits. Ward had a double and a triple.
Double-A: Reading Fightin’ Phils 4, Hartford Yard Goats 3
Reliever Welinton Herrera was credited with the loss after giving up the go-ahead run during his two innings of work. Connor Staine went for four innings in his start and gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits—including a home run—on four walks. Roc Riggio’s two RBI double accounted for most of the Yard Goats’ offense, though Dyan Jorge also drove in a run and Bryant Betancourt had the only multi-hit game of the afternoon.
High-A: Eugene Emeralds 9, Spokane Indians 1
In a brutal end to their 2025 season, the Eugene Emeralds completed the six-game sweep of the Spokane Indians with a 9-1 drubbing. The Indians scored just one run on one hit and had only four total baserunners. Everett Catlett had a difficult final start of the season, giving up five earned runs in four innings, while the bullpen duo of Alan Perdomo and Bryson Hammer gave up two more each.
Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies 7, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 3
A two home run afternoon by 2025 draft pick Tanner Thach was one of the highlights of the game, though Robert Calaz also took the Quakes pitching staff deep. Thach went 3-for-4 with four RBIs without striking out. Meanwhile, Manuel Olivares pitched five scoreless innings and struck out a season high seven batters while giving up four hits.
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With their loss on Sunday to the San Diego Padres, the Rockies have tied their franchise record for losses with 19 games left in the season. More losses are inevitable to follow. The Rockies need just two more wins to avoid the all-time loss record for a 162-game season, but skipper Warren Schaeffer doesn’t view that as a success.
“I refuse to think 41 wins is a success, because it’s not,” Schaeffer said. “A World Series is a success next year, the following year, the following year, as opposed to 41 wins this year versus 40 wins. It’s completely asinine to me.”
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In a series full of lows, the general performance of second-year outfielder Jordan Beck has been a positive. Although his power has been sporadic, general improvements at the plate and on defense have done much to improve his stock and future with the Rockies.
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