Which Rockies Prospects Will Contribute Most in 2026?

The 2025 season for the Colorado Rockies was historic for many reasons. Almost anything of significance was the bad kind of historic. 

The team lost 119 games, becoming only the seventh team in the Modern Era (since 1901) to reach such a total and only the second club to lose 100 games for three consecutive seasons since the Houston Astros in 2011-13.

Their starting pitchers had an earned run average (6.65) that was the worst in the Modern Era. Long-time manager Bud Black — and the franchise leader in manager wins — was the first to get fired by the Rockies in-season in 16 years.

Colorado had 23 different rookies who contributed to the forgettable season. That included 13 players who made their MLB debut, the most in team history. (The previous record of 12 was tied the season prior.)

Owner Dick Monfort cleaned house this offseason, both with the coaching staff and the front office. Though new president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta and general manager Josh Byrnes brought 11 new players onto the 40-man roster, this team also has many young players on the verge of their first real chance in the majors. 

The purpose of the nearly dozen acquisitions was not just to improve team speed and pitching depth, but to add proven veterans or experienced professionals over the age of 30. Some, like a trio of starting pitchers (Michael Lorenzen, Tomoyuki Sugano and Jose Quintana), are both.

Many of the early takeaways from Rockies camp have focused on young players earning their place on the big league roster. Over the course of 323 losses during the past three seasons, the lack of big league talent made opportunities for prospects quite plentiful. Now, the revamped roster will make that potential a little more challenging. 

To receive a ticket to Denver as a rookie in 2026 means earning your place amongst the club’s best 26. 

With apologies to 3B Kyle Karros, INF Ryan Ritter, C Braxton Fulford, 2B Adael Amador, RHP Tanner Gordon, RHP Zach Agnos, and RHP Jaden Hill, who surpassed the rookie-eligibility limit last season, here are the four best bets for prospects that could contribute to the 2026 Colorado Rockies.

Stats updated prior to games on March 7.

Honorable Mentions

• RHP Gabriel Hughes, LHP Welinton Herrera, RHP RJ Petit, OF Sterlin Thompson, 1B Blaine Crim, INF Chad Stevens 

Hughes returned in 2025 for his first full season since having Tommy John surgery in 2023. He managed to make 24 starts and put up a respectable 5.11 ERA with Triple-A Albuquerque in a league where a 5.43 ERA was considered average. The addition of three free agent starters means the 24-year-old from Alaska will have to wait his turn a bit longer than originally expected.

Herrera burst onto the scene as a future factor for the organization with a microscopic 0.49 ERA at High-A Spokane, saving 10 games in his 15 appearances. The southpaw from the Dominican Republic even closed out the Futures Game for the National League. As one of only three left-handed relievers on the 40-man roster, the 21-year-old is primed to make his debut at some point in 2026.

Colorado doesn’t historically carry Rule 5 picks, but if Petit makes the roster, he’ll become the third in the past six years.

At 6’8” and 300 lbs, Petit has a stature reminiscent of Paul Skenes and Aaron Judge. The 26-year-old Tigers farmhand has a fastball in the upper 90s and a leg up on others battling for an Opening Day spot in the bullpen: Petit would have to pass through waivers and be offered back to Detroit were he not kept on the 26-man roster for the entire season.

Thompson is a talented left-handed hitter who posted a .911 OPS in 120 games with the Albuquerque Isotopes last season. The tough part is that he lacks a true position on the field. Drafted with a compensation pick Colorado received when Trevor Story signed with the Boston Red Sox, the University of Florida product was viewed as a second base option in 2022.

Now, the 24-year-old has found most of his playing time in the upper levels of the minors in the corner outfield spots, a position at which the Rockies already have several big leaguer options.

Crim was originally expected to challenge as the right-handed hitting option for the starting first base spot after an intriguing 15-game run with Colorado in September. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of the architects of Moneyball considered a platoon at the position in year one. What is surprising is that the 28-year-old (29 in June) Crim still has rookie eligibility. And what is disappointing is that an oblique strain has limited him to just two games this spring.

Stevens was a shrewd signing for an organization looking to replace many of the minor league mainstays at Triple-A. The former high school teammate of ex-Rockie Michael Toglia nearly put together a 20-20 season as a shortstop with the Los Angeles Angels’ top affiliate. His ability to play every infield position and some outfield could offer him many of the opportunities someone like Aaron Schunk had in 2024-25 with Colorado. 

RHP McCade Brown and LHP Carson Palmquist each made seven starts last season, but struggled to find success on most nights. LHP Sean Sullivan, selected after Dollander in 2023, has been successful at every level and will get a chance to test his mettle in Albuquerque this season. RHP Eiberson Castellano is an interesting bullpen option signed this offseason after being taken in the Rule 5 draft a year ago.

1B/OF Charlie Condon

Much of Condon’s inclusion in the first base competition felt like lip service by the front office to the fan base this offseason. With three big leaguers on the 40-man roster at the position — Crim, Johnston and Edouard Julien — not to mention another prospect in T.J. Rumfield, who was acquired in a trade from the New York Yankees, it was going to be an uphill battle for the third overall pick from the 2024 MLB Draft.

Then Condon showed up to his first big league camp and began to rake. He homered against a Single-A pitcher before going opposite field against a lefty with almost two years of service time. The 22-year-old really impressed with a 392-foot blast down the left field line against Seth Lugo of the Kansas City Royals (and Team Puerto Rico).

Winner of the 2024 Golden Spikes Award at third base, Condon had progressed more quickly in the minors at the plate than defensively. He played just five games at the hot corner during his first full-season as a professional, spending 74 games at first base and 11 in the outfield.

After missing the first month of the year with a wrist fracture, Condon still managed to amass 33 extra-base hits (16 doubles, 3 triples and 14 home runs) in 99 games.

If Condon starts the year in the hitter-friendly PCL with Albuquerque as his home base, it might not be long until he experiences the equally dry altitude of Denver. The only question is whether his equipment bag will come with more than just a first baseman’s mitt.

IF/OF Cole Carrigg

Carrigg could have been described as another outfielder in the vein of Thompson, who seems blocked in Colorado. However, the C/SS/CF at San Diego State is back to playing shortstop this spring. 

The reason for Carrigg reprising his place on the dirt is twofold: He’s the starting shortstop for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic, and Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer has high praise for the 23-year-old.

“I see his future as a super utility player. Anywhere on the field — a Enrique Hernández type of guy, which is pretty special,” Schaeffer said. “He plays like a wild horse with his hair on fire. I love it. I love the way he plays. We need more of that.”

Colorado aims to steal more bases in 2026 after stealing fewer than any team in the sport since the start of the 2014 season. Carrigg, who has 99 in his first two full seasons, could provide the Rockies a boost on the base paths as well as anywhere on the field as a defensive replacement.

OF Zac Veen

Lou Gehrig never hit a walk-off home run during his storied Hall of Fame career. Veen, however, hit two in a week to close out February.

Up 43 pounds since the end of 2025 and embracing a sober lifestyle, the 24-year-old appears ready physically, emotionally and mentally for the big leagues. Taken with the ninth pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, Veen suffered a series of injuries each time he seemed ready to take his top 100 prospect status to the next level.

Veen made his long-awaited debut with the Rockies in April before looking overmatched in 37 plate appearances. Despite playing over 100 games last year (mostly at Triple-A) for the first time since 2022, Veen took time away from the sport to address his use of alcohol and marijuana. When he returned, he posted a .309/.372/.494 slash line with 12 stolen bases in 58 games during the second half.

Colorado currently has nine outfielders on the 40-man roster, with Carrigg, Condon and 2024 second-rounder Jared Thomas all chomping at the bit. Veen will have to earn his place in the purple clubhouse, and when he does, he’s poised to make the most of his opportunity.

1B T.J. Rumfield

Rumfield also has the uphill challenge of three first basemen ahead of him on the 40-man roster but is closer to a finished product than Condon after having spent 2024-25 in Triple-A.

Acquired for RHP Angel Chivilli two weeks before the start of spring training, the son of career minor leaguer Toby Rumfield had been blocked in the Bronx by Anthony Rizzo, Paul Goldschmidt and Ben Rice.

At 6’5” and hitting from the left side, Rumfield is the physical epitome of a first baseman. He won a Minor League Gold Glove Award in 2023, batted .288 in the International League and has never struck out more than 22% of the time in any stop in the minors. That checks off a lot of boxes for a rebuilding club looking to lift the floor.

Power may be the one area lacking for a player his size, but Colorado is looking for more contact and defensive consistency than extra-base hits at this point. Rumfield has a two-homer game in the Cactus League already, and his four total homers, tied for the most in spring training as of March 7, suggest he’ll be fine.

In the end, we could see the Johnston-Crim platoon usurped by a Rumfield-Condon platoon by midseason at the latest.