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Rockies Promote Intriguing Pitching Prospect To Triple-A

Originally posted on Colorado Rockies on SI
By Brad Wakai | Last updated Sep 16, 2025 6:02 PM ET

The Colorado Rockies have two weeks left in a regular season that has been nothing short of brutal.

While there have been bright spots like Hunter Goodman emerging into a star and some of their top prospects coming up and having an impact, the overall nature of this 2025 campaign has not been fun, with the Rockies on pace to set the major league record for run differential.

With a massive overhaul on the baseball operations side expected to take place this winter, a clean slate could be given to many of the minor leaguers in this organization as the new regime looks for players who can be part of turning things around going forward.

Someone to keep an eye on in that regard is Victor Juarez, a 22-year-old right-handed pitcher who was signed as an international free agent out of Mexico in 2019. Because he started his professional career at a young age, he has risen up the pipeline slowly. But now he is going to get an opportunity to showcase what he can do at the Triple-A level.

The Colorado Rockies are promoting RHP Victor Juarez to Albuquerque (Triple-A).

Juarez had a 3.49 ERA along with 68 strikeouts in 77.1 innings for the Hartford Yard Goats.#Rockies
— Chase Ford (@_chaseford) September 16, 2025

Juarez, who was on Team Mexico in the 2016 Little League Baseball World Series where he was largely known for his hitting ability, has quietly worked his way up the ranks to earn this promotion that now has him one step away from the bigs.

It had been a slow burn for Juarez with his only true impressive showing before this year coming in 2021 with the Dominican League affiliate and the stateside rookie ball affiliate. After that, he never had an ERA below the 4.00 mark, making him someone who wasn't on the radar of a lot of people.

However, the righty kept pushing and eventually broke through this season, posting a 3.49 ERA across 35 appearances (one start) with Double-A Hartford where he struck out 68 batters and walked just 18 in 77 innings pitched.

Could Victor Juarez Play Role for Rockies in 2026?

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What's notable about the emergence of Juarez is the fact he was converted into a reliever this year. After coming up the ranks as a starter with not much success, the Rockies put him in the bullpen and have gotten his best results even against the highest level of competition he's faced.

Juarez will have to prove he can do it against Triple-A batters, too, but the fact he was able to perform well following his conversion into a reliever is a good step for his career going forward since Colorado is in desperate need of quality arms.

The 22-year-old likely won't break spring training next year on the Opening Day roster even with a couple of good showings before the Triple-A campaign ends, but that doesn't mean he won't be an early call-up in 2026 if he has continued success.