Should the Colorado Rockies promote Cole Carrigg?

If anyone in the Colorado Rockies system is making a case for promotion, it’s utility player Cole Carrigg.

After appearing in 36 games (144 at-bats) for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes, he’s slashing .368/.424/.556. That total includes four home runs and 24 stolen bases. (You read that right.) Add to that a 7.5 BB% and a respectable 13.8 K%, down from 27.0 last season, which suggests that Carrigg has his chase issues under control.

And his wRC+? 141. Add to that a 36.8% hard-hit rate and an average exit velocity of 87.1 mph.

Oh, and he’s a switch hitter, which is surely appealing to a Rockies front office focused on platooning batters.

It makes sense, then, that he was the Pacific Coast League “Player of the Week” for the first week of May.

Yesterday when FanGraphs released their MiLB prospects “power rankings,” Carrigg is ranked third overall. (You read that right, too.)

In short, Carrigg is beginning to knock harder on the doors to Coors Field.

It’s worth, then, taking a minute to consider where Carrigg is and whose roster spot he might take should the Colorado Rockies decide he’s ready for promotion.

Caveats

First, a couple of notes are in order.

Carrigg has played 24 games in center field and 10 at shortstop for the Isotopes, so clearly, the Rockies want him to keep his skills tuned up on the dirt while he’s focused on the outfield. Granted, he’s competing for playing time with Chad Stevens and Vimael Machín, but for now, it appears the Rockies see Carrigg primarily as an outfielder.

There’s no question that Ezequiel Tovar is scuffling at the plate this season (33 wRC+), but he appears to be making some improvement. Plus, it seems unlikely the Rockies would send down their Gold Glove shortstop, who’s making an average salary of just over $9 million. And while Willi Castro (75 wRC+) can also patrol the outfield, by all appearances the Rockies value his ability to play pretty much any position.

So let’s consider the true outfield options instead.

The outfielders

Here are the players who’ve seen the most time in the outfield per FanGraphs:

Clearly, Mickey Moniak isn’t going anywhere — unless he’s traded, but it’s too early for that. Yes, he’s limited to being effective against RHP at Coors Field, but he’s been good for 11 home runs so far, and the Rockies aren’t taking him out of the lineup to make room for a prospect.

Troy Johnston and Tyler Freeman are able to move between the infield and the outfield, and both have been solid at getting on base, so they’re probably not headed to ABQ any time soon.

McCarthy has gotten some big hits over the course of last week, and he’s been steady about getting on base. Plus, he and Brenton Doyle are leading the Rockies in steals.

As for Doyle, I knew his offense had been bad, but I did not realize it was 39 wRC+ bad. Still, like Tovar, he’s got a Gold Glove, and his defense is elite. (In addition, I suspect the Rockies will try to move him at the trade deadline. Sending him to ABQ neither helps their case nor improves Doyle’s numbers against MLB pitching.)

That brings us to Jordan Beck.

He’s always been a streaky hitter, but this year, things are not falling into place for Beck. He’s been successful against left-handed pitchers, but a 21 wRC+ just isn’t going to cut it, especially for a team that is desperate to find some offense.

It seems logical, then, that if the Rockies decide to promote Carrigg, Beck would be the player headed to the Isotopes. Such a move would give Beck a chance to reset while offering Carrigg some MLB experience.

The decision

Would they do it?

Earlier this month when Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta was asked about promoting prospects, he said:

We don’t want to be reactionary. We also don’t want our players thinking that if they go 0-for-4 tonight, they’re not in the lineup tomorrow. Or worse, they’re going to Triple-A. . . . We believe in these guys. We also believe in a lot of the guys we have in Triple-A right now, but we want to give them ample opportunities to play.

In other words, they want to make decisions based on data and a long-term plan designed to benefit everyone in question.

Then DePodesta added this:

We talked all winter about creating enough competition in depth with our big-league roster that we never wanted to call a player up just because we didn’t have anybody else. . . . We want to call players up when they are banging down the door, where we have to make room for them because they’re playing so well and that they have the underlying foundation in place to be successful up here and not just survive.

Is Carrigg making a case for promotion? Absolutely.

Has he “banged down the door?” Probably not quite yet.

That said, if Carrigg can continue to produce at this level — say until the end of the month — then he’s probably made a case for promotion. Plus, if Beck continues to struggle, it makes sense that an ABQ tuneup is in order, and the Rockies will have given him plenty of MLB plate appearances to make adjustments.

However, if there’s a significant injury, then all this changes.

But for now, I don’t expect to see the Rockies make any big moves — save shuffling pitchers — between the Isotopes and the MLB squad.

Closing thoughts

I submitted my grades yesterday, which means that summer is officially here, and I can turn my attention to other things that interest me.

In any case, look for Rockies Pitch to publish on Fridays. (I published this one today because this question was on my mind.)

As always, 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