19. Carson Palmquist (201 points, 16 ballots)
Palmquist has a low, funky arm slot and has utility as both a starter and reliever — he worked in both roles in 2025 for the Rockies long enough that he’s only about a week short of exceeding rookie eligibility, so this could also be his last PuRPs list appearance with even a short appearance with the big league club in 2026.
Mid-season 2025 Rank: 17
High Ballot: 13
Mode Ballot: 14
Future Value: 40, back-end starter or middle relief
Contract Status: 2022 Third Round, University of Miami, 40 Man Roster,
two options remaining
MLB ETA: Now
The 6’3”, 25-year-old lefty largely flew under the radar as an amateur — he wasn’t highly scouted out of high school, going undrafted (despite not allowing a single earned run during his junior and senior seasons). In his first two years at Miami, Palmquist was dominant in the bullpen, then he transitioned to the rotation in 2022 and was quite good at that too. Palmquist added a change-up to his fastball/slider portfolio once he joined the starting rotation, all coming from that low lefty arm slot. It’s a profile reminiscent of Kyle Freeland, as many noted at the time he was picked 88th overall in 2022 by the Rockies, receiving a $775k bonus that was about $62k over slot.
Palmquist’s first full season assignment in 2023 was to High-A Spokane, where his 106 strikeouts in 70 innings was tied for eighth in the league and his K/9 rate led the circuit for anyone with 40 or more innings pitched, and pitched decently after a late August promotion to Double-A Hartford. In 2024, Palmquist headed back to Hartford. The lefty again put up strong numbers, carving through the Eastern League with a 3.17 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 12.4 K/9 rate, and 3.6 BB/9 rate in 82 1⁄3 innings across 18 starts.
That earned Palmquist a promotion in August to Triple-A Albuquerque, where he faced hitters that were 4.5 years older on average and some of the toughest environments for a pitcher in minor league baseball. Palmquist struggled with the challenge, as most do at the level. He struck out fewer hitters (7.9 K/9 rate), walked more (6.9 BB/9, 1.84 WHIP), and was less stingy in run prevention (5.86 ERA and 6.72 xFIP) in his 35 1⁄3 innings across nine starts (giving him 117 2⁄3 total innings pitched in 2024).
Palmquist was back in Albuquerque to begin 2025. He made seven decent (for the PCL) starts, including two Quality Starts, with Albuquerque before the Rockies selected his contract to add him to the 40 man roster in mid-May. Palmquist took seven straight turns in the big league rotation, every one of them lasting between four and five innings with multiple runs allowed. He struggled with pitch efficiency, throwing over 19 pitches per inning with a 5.3 BB/9 rate.
Palmquist was sent back down to Albuquerque in late June. He made three more starts with them (all pretty decent starts too) before getting moved to the bullpen after the All-Star break. Three relief appearances followed in late July before Palmquist got called up at the beginning of August as a potential long man out of the pen for the Rockies. Unfortunately, Palmquist got shelled for eight runs on ten hits and seven walks in just 3 2/3 innings in two games with Colorado, so he went back down to Albuquerque. After that demotion, Palmquist made 13 relief appearances for Albuquerque. In his first two outings, he was rocked for multiple runs, but that only happened one other time in his final 11 games, including eight outings without an earned run allowed.
Palmquist was a fringe starter for the Rockies and Isotopes in 2025, lacking length and command but picking up strikeouts. As a reliever, he had some of his worst outings of the season (silver lining — more strikeouts). With Albuquerque, he threw 77 2/3 innings with a 4.98 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 10.9 K/9 rate, and 4.9 BB/9 rate across multiple stints and roles with the team. In a Rockies uniform, Palmquist pitched 34 1/3 frames with an unsightly 8.91 ERA (7.63 as a starter), 2.04 WHIP, 7.1 K/9 rate, and 6.6 BB/9 rate. Big league hitters slugged .719 against his fastball in 2025, so that’s an issue that will need to be addressed by the new regime.
Here’s some highlights of Palmquist’s eight strikeout game against the Mets last June:
MLB Pipeline ranked Palmquist 15th in the system as a 45 FV player, highlighted by a 55 slider:
There’s confidence that Palmquist will make the necessary adjustments to find success both there and in the big leagues because he’s shown the ability to do so at every level since he’s entered pro ball. With a funky delivery that adds plenty of deception, and a lower arm slot, all of the left-hander’s pitches play up despite them grading out as largely average across the board. His fastball averages only around 91 mph, but it misses more bats than it should thanks to carry up in the zone from that lower slot. He’ll actually throw two different kinds of sliders — a big sweepy one in the upper 70s and a slightly harder, cutter-ish one, both of which can miss bats. His low-80s changeup is also effective and hard to square up.
Other than his time in Triple-A, Palmquist has largely been around the zone as he’s moved up the ladder and he loves going right after hitters and pitching inside without fear. He’s added a little strength and answered some durability questions with his 2024 campaign, so there’s hope he can start long-term, even if he is first called upon to help out of the bullpen should the need arise in Denver.
Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs lists Palmquist as a 45 FV player, 6th in the system with 55 future grades on the slider and change-up:
Palmquist’s arm slot has come up a lot since college and, though still low, it now looks much more like a lot of other starters’ arm strokes. Palmquist has also gotten much stronger since entering pro ball, and has now performed across a 27-start, 117.2-inning load, including success at hitter-friendly Hartford. Palmquist has retained enough of his Clay Rapada-like funk to remain deceptive, allowing his 91-mph fastball to punch above its weight. He mixes breaking ball shapes and speeds across a wide range of velos, most of them in the upper 70s. Palmquist’s slower breaking balls are the ones with his best swing-and-miss rates. These are sweepers in the 74-75 mph range, and likely will be less effective against big leaguers. Conversely, Palmquist’s changeup should have meaningful long-term growth as he gets more comfortable with this newer delivery; he also has the arm action and athleticism combo you want in order to forecast changeup growth. Palmquist lacks the pinpoint command one would need to be an impact starter with average stuff, but he’s poised to be a consistent no. 4/5 starter soon by virtue of his repertoire depth and deception.
John Trupin of Baseball Prospectus ranked Palmquist 13th before the 2025 season:
Palmquist is a deception and targeting pitcher with a low release angle that is functionally sidearm from a hitter’s perspective. Appropriately, Palmquist’s mitts allow him to palm his changeup well, generating great fade and velocity separation on his upper-80s/low-90s heater. On some days, Palmquist sat 91-94 and saw unsurprisingly sterling results, but at 88-92 he has to be impeccable. Fading late in the campaign, he was, well, peccable in the PCL. Still, he’s on the cusp of big league work thanks to his bat-missing sweeper and disappearing cambio. Another depth rotation option for Colorado, he’ll be in contention with a few others on this list if and when the first spot in Denver opens up.
Keith Law of the Athletic ranked Palmquist 17th in the system last February due to doubts about him remaining in the rotation:
The Rockies have continued to start Palmquist up through Triple A, although he’s a sidearming lefty who already gives up more power to right-handed batters, something that isn’t going to get better in Denver. He’s 90-93 with a sweepy slider, a slower breaking ball that Statcast calls a sweeper but that looks like a curveball, and an occasional changeup. Until he reached Triple-A Albuquerque, his walk rates were at or just under 10 percent, and I’m not dinging any pitcher who struggles in that environment. It’s just such a reliever look that I can’t see him facing right-handed batters two or three times in a game as a starter.
Palmquist was a below replacement level pitcher (-0.8 rWAR) for a very bad MLB team in 2025, but he has thus far remained on the 40 man roster this off-season and enters 2026 as an option for both the back end of the rotation or the bullpen. The previous regime wanted him in the bullpen, but it is yet to be seen if Paul DePodesta and Co feel the same.
Much like fellow PuRP Michael Prosecky, the Rockies gave Palmquist a chance to start after relieving in college. They were rewarded with strong performances all the way up to the big leagues in just over two years, though Palmquist hasn’t been a strong contributor yet. Palmquist has been a dominant reliever in major college baseball, so I’m betting he can work it out in that role if that’s where the team thinks he can best contribute. The scouting reports and the role flexibility meant to me that, despite the rough results in MLB last season, Palmquist is a 40 FV prospect and I ranked him 19th on my list.
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