A projected Opening Day Roster for the Colorado Rockies

Good news, baseball fans!

The Colorado Rockies currently have an 8-6-1 spring training record.

I know: Spring training stats mean nothing, but if nothing else, it’s great to see the Rockies above .500 for a few days. I’m not yet ready to predict their 2026 record, but I am prepared to project an Opening Day roster, which may be subject to updating later. But we’ve seen enough to make some informed projections.

And if you’d like to see the Rockies spring training numbers, FanGraphs has you covered. The hitting stats are here, and find the pitching stats here.

I’ll add one more note before going further. I expect the Rockies to employ a much more Dodgers-like approach this season, which means lots of players moving between Albuquerque and Denver.

And I do not think the Rockies will promote players before they’re ready like they have in previous seasons. They will make a trade or sign a free agent before promoting a prospect who needs more developmental time — and I expect some of the players promoted in 2025 to head back to ABQ for additional development.

Okay, let’s get to it.

The starting rotation

Four of these predictions are easy. The fifth is not.

But here goes:

• Kyle Freeland (LHP)
• Michael Lorenzen (RHP)
• Tomoyuki Sugano (RHP)
• Jose Quintana (LHP)
• Antonio Senzatela (RHP)

I know: Senzatela has been the subject of baseball jokes for a while given that he has one of the most-hittable fastballs in the game. He began 2025 in the rotation and finished in the bullpen. In 108 innings as a starter, Senzatela earned a 7.48 ERA and 1.91 WHIP; in 22 IP as a reliever, he posted a 2.86 ERA and 1.50 WHIP.

However, Senzatela worked with the Rockies new pitching staff. As Thomas Harding reported early in spring training, “The plan is to move Senzatela away from relying so heavily on his fastball, and have him develop new grips and pitches. Results were good enough in informal sessions facing hitters that the Rockies will grant Senzatela the opportunity to win back his rotation spot.”

The early results have been promising. In five innings (too few, I know), he has a 1.80 ERA. But he also just pitched three scoreless innings for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic.

Meanwhile, Ryan Feltner continues to struggle (5.1 IP, 11.81 ERA), and it’s clear that Chase Dollander would benefit from more development time (7.0 IP, 2.57 ERA).

Verdict: Senzatela earns the fifth starting spot — for a bit — while Feltner and Dollander head to Triple-A Albuquerque.

The bullpen

There are more questions here, but the Rockies announced today that Welinton Herrera, Carson Palmquist, and Luis Peralta have been optioned to Triple-A.

So here’s my best attempt at forecasting the bullpen:

• Seth Halvorsen (RHP)
• Victor Vodnik (RHP)
• Juan Mejia (RHP)
• Jimmy Herget (RHP)
• Zach Agnos (RHP)
• Brennan Bernadino (LHP)
• Jaden Hill (RHP)
• John Brebbia (RHP)

There are no surprises save that I think the Rockies will add Brebbia to their roster. And I expect the bullpen to be fluid this season — again, think of how the Dodgers move players between their MLB team and Triple-A.

The position players

Some of the positions are clearly still fluid while for others, starters are becoming clearer.

• Hunter Goodman/Brett Sullivan (C)
• T.J. Rumfield/Edouard Julien (1B)
• Willi Castro (2B)
• Kyle Karros (3B)
• Ezequiel Tovar (SS)
• Jake McCarthy (LF)
• Brenton Doyle (CF)
• Jordan Beck (RF)
• Mickey Moniak (DH/OF(

Bench: Ryan Ritter, and Tyler Freeman

A few notes are in order.

First, given the Rockies new emphasis on versatility, the clear roles that have traditionally defined Rockies players have become much more blurred. For example, Ritter, Freeman, and Castro could all easily move to the outfield. Julien, Ritter, and Freeman also have across-the-diamond infield experience.

So this team already looks very different than it did.

Karros, I think, has shown he’s got nothing more to provide in Triple-A, and I expect him to be the opening day starter.

Then two questions remain.

The first is who will be the backup catcher. That job may well go to Braxton Fulford, but Sullivan has had a strong camp and brings experience. Plus, Fulford still has options.

The second is what will happen at first base. A Rumfield/Julien platoon seems obvious, but on Saturday, Harding reported this: “Ideally, there would be a left-right mix, but righty-hitting Blaine Crim is nursing an oblique injury and is not a certainty to be ready for the start of the regular season. Expect the Rockies, who were in the market for a veteran first baseman during the winter, to explore experienced options toward the end of the spring.”

So, the Rockies may not be done just yet with building their roster. (I do think, however, that Crim’s time with the Rockies is over. They have better options now, and playing time in Albuquerque needs to go to prospects.)

And that’s what I think — today.

Check back for a revision as we get closer to Opening Day.

Closing thoughts

And that’s it for this week.

Apologies for being late. It’s mid-term, and I’ve been finishing up some other projects as well.

If nothing else, we’ve got baseball to watch every day, and the World Baseball Classic continues to be amazing.

Thanks for reading —

Renee

Rockies Pitch is a newsletter that focuses on Colorado Rockies baseball.

Find me on Bluesky at @ReneeDechert.com or send an email to Renee@RockiesPitch.com