Rockies Outright Four Players

The Rockies announced they’ve dropped four players from their 40-man roster: infielder Chad Stevens and right-handers Blake Adams, Eiberson Castellano and TJ Shook. All four have already cleared outright waivers. Stevens, Castellano and Shook have elected free agency. Adams has been assigned to Triple-A Albuquerque. The club’s 40-man count is now at 37.

Adams, 26, will remain in the organization and could get a non-roster invite to Spring Training. He’s a 2022 draftee (13th round) who doesn’t have the previous career outright or seven years in the minors to elect free agency. The Kansas State product was called up on August 24 and tossed one inning against the Nationals in his MLB debut. It didn’t go as he hoped, as Washington tagged him for five runs, including a Daylen Lile homer. The 26-year-old had a 6.29 ERA and 16.5% strikeout rate as a multi-inning reliever in the minors this year.

Shook was acquired in the minor league portion of last year’s Rule 5 draft. He earned his first MLB call in June and made five total appearances, allowing seven runs over 7 2/3 innings. Shook managed a solid 3.45 ERA across 57 1/3 frames with Albuquerque but is a fly-ball pitcher whose fastball sits in the 92-93 mph range.

Castellano also came up for his MLB debut in June. He earned a save of the three-inning mop up variety in a blowout win over the A’s. That’s his only major league appearance to date. The Venezuela native worked in a swing role with the Isotopes, pitching to a 4.47 ERA across 112 2/3 frames. Stevens is a 27-year-old depth infielder who signed an offseason minor league deal. He appeared in 16 games but only managed one hit in 28 at-bats. The former 11th rounder had a strong .316/.409/.464 showing over 99 games against Triple-A pitching.