Rockies designate Keston Hiura for assignment

The Rockies announced that first baseman Michael Toglia has been recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque. Infielder Keston Hiura has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.

This is the reversal of a transaction from a few weeks back. On May 31st, Toglia was optioned to Albuquerque, with Hiura selected to the roster to take his place. Toglia had a nice season in 2024 but got out to an awful start in 2025.

Last year, he hit 25 home runs in just 116 games and took over as the clubs’ regular first baseman. His 32.1% strikeout rate was high and his batting average was low, but he drew walks at an 11.8% clip. His .218/.311/.456 line actually translated to a subpar 98 wRC+, thanks to the hitter-friendly nature of Coors Field, but that still made him one of the better hitters on a bad team.

This year, prior to being sent down, his walk rate fell to 8.7% and his strikeout rate climbed even higher to 39.1%. He currently has a .194/.266/.349 slash and a 55 wRC+. Since getting optioned, he has played 11 Triple-A games, with numbers in line with his 2024 season. He hit three home runs with an 11.8% walk rate and 29.4% strikeout rate for a .273/.353/.568 line and 112 wRC+.

Hiura, 28, got a small amount of big league playing time and didn’t do much with it. He got 21 plate appearances over eight games. He did not draw a walk but struck out seven times. He knocked four hits, including one double. It all added up to a .222/.333/.278 line and 71 wRC+.

Presumably, Toglia will now be retaking the regular first base job after this brief reset. In his absence, Hiura got a decent chunk of the time there, with utility players like Orlando Arcia and Kyle Farmer also chipping in.

Hiura now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Rockies can technically take five days to explore trades. There’s not likely to be a ton of interest. Hiura was performing well enough in the minors prior to coming up but it’s been the case for years now that he shows pop in the minors and then strikes out too much in the majors. He now has 1,105 big league plate appearances with 50 home runs but a massive 35.9% strikeout rate.

He exhausted his final option year with the Brewers in 2022, which pushed him into journeyman status. Over the past few years, he has repeatedly cleared waivers and signed minor league deals with clubs like the Tigers, Angels and Rockies, occasionally getting brief looks in the majors. If he clears waivers again, he’ll have the choice of electing free agency or reporting back to Albuquerque.