Rockies making interesting moves around first base

DENVER — Last season, the Colorado Rockies seemed to have solved the revolving door at first base present since Hall of Famer Todd Helton's retirement. This season, that thought has gone completely out the window.

Michael Toglia, who started 90 consecutive games at first base as a highlight of the 2024 season and hit 25 home runs in the process, was sent down to Triple-A Albuquerque on Sunday morning. In the midst of a strikeout-fueled season where he has whiffed in 38.3% of his 329 plate appearances, the 26-year-old Toglia has just nine at-bats since July 23.

"Michael doesn't need to be here and sit the bench," said Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer. "There's no good that comes from that."

Rather than sit the bench, Toglia is expected to get regular at-bats in Albuquerque to "flatten his bat path out," according to Schaeffer.

Along with Toglia's struggles, part of the reason for his lack of playing time has also been the production of Warming Bernabel, who made his MLB debut on July 26. Heading into Sunday's play, he has hit safely in his first seven career games, with four of those being multi-hit contests.

He's also the second player in MLB's modern era to have 14 or more hits and eight or more extra-base hits through seven career games, joining Oakland's Mitchell Page in 1977.

"It's a good thing when you have a guy like Bernabel that came up here and he's doing what he's doing," Schaeffer said. "He basically earned a spot, and that's what you want. In our situation, you want guys to force their hand and earn a spot. Then guys that lose their spot need to go work and get better so they can come back and get their spot back."

Bernabel has not only playing well on offense, but also flashed his defensive skills at the position as well.