Tyler Paddor | @TyPaddor | August 1st, 2024
On Wednesday, farm director Chris Forbes joined the Rockies broadcast and broke the news that a flurry of promotions for Rockies prospects were in the works. Right-handed relievers Jaden Hill and Seth Halvorsen and left-handed starter Carson Palmquist–all currently in Double-A Hartford–are headed west to join the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes as soon as today. High-A Spokane Indians lefty-starter and 2023 46th overall pick Sean Sullivan will take Palmquist’s rotation spot in Hartford.
Hill and Halvorsen represent dynamic power relief arms and there was an indication that both will get MLB action, assuming each handles the adverse pitching environment of Albuquerque.
Table of Contents:
Jaden Hill
On the year, Hill has a 3.52 ERA backed by a stellar 32.9 K% and equally impressive 6.5 BB% across 38.1 innings. Of players with 35 innings or more at the Double-A level, Hill’s 26.5 K-BB% ranks 8th–a stark improvement from his disastrous 2023 season as a starter in Spokane.
The 2021 second rounder’s upper-90s fastball, capable of touching 100 with some run, leads the way while his slider and split-changeup can both be dominant secondary offerings. The shape of Hill’s fastball leaves it hittable at times, but with proper location and the usual 95-98 mph velocity, there is a clearcut late-inning arsenal here.
Seth Halvorsen
Drafted just a year ago out of Tennessee, Halvorsen offers a similar profile to Hill. Halvorsen touched 102 at Tennessee last year but more frequently sits 96-98. He gets great extension towards the plate which allows his heater to play even faster–a scary prospect that allows it to be an untouchable pitch at its upper velocity echelon.
Halvorsen also throws a slider and changeup that could both be effective big league offerings. The flamethrower still has to iron out his command, but less than 50 innings into his pro career, the ability to already find success in Double-A tells you all you need to know about Halvorsen’s future.
In Hartford this year, Halvorsen’s 4.84 ERA isn’t an attractive figure, but his 25.9 K% indicates he can miss bats. A .348 BABIP suggests there has been slightly unlucky batted ball luck. Halvorsen’s 12 BB% rate is the area for improvement but with bat missing stuff and a proclivity to generate ground balls, the walk rate doesn’t need to improve dramatically to lead to big league success.
Carson Palmquist
It seems likely Palmquist will join the hard-throwing righties for his MLB debut after a few starts in Albuquerque. The former Miami Hurricane has been one of MiLB’s best pitchers this year, boasting a 3.20 ERA with a wicked 33.9 K%, though his 10.1 BB% is a tick higher than his career norm.
With just 93.1 innings under his belt coming into the season, the 2022 3rd rounder is just a couple of starts away from setting a new career high in innings but Palmquist is just hitting his stride following a short stint on the IL at the end of June.
In his last 4 starts, Palmquist’s 1.96 ERA, 37.6 K%, and 5.9 BB% paint the picture of a major league ready arm, poised to audition for a 2025 Opening Day rotation spot.
Palmquist a crafty left-hander sitting 90-93 with his well located fastball, throwing a low-80s cutter, high-70s sweepy breaking ball that misses bats, and low-80s changeup to back it up. The four pitch mix gives Palmquist the ability to hit all four quadrants against both righties and lefties.
Starters have a very difficult task in the Pacific Coast League so Palmquist’s stat lines must be taken with a grain of salt, though if he can continue posting excellent numbers, we really might have something special.
Sean Sullivan
I’ll leave out an extensive scouting report on Sullivan, since I wrote in-depth about the magical qualities of Sullivan’s stuff here.
The funky lefty has an absurd 2.18 ERA in Spokane. Among pitchers with 80 or more innings, Sullivan’s 29 K-BB% is the 2nd best in all of minor league baseball, while his nonsensical walk rate of 2.5% is also 2nd in all of MiLB.
Like Palmquist, Sullivan doesn’t throw hard, sitting just 90-92 with his fastball, but he’s got everything else you want in a pitcher. Again, read up on him here.
Sullivan is all but certain to be an MLB pitcher, despite being less than 100 innings into his pro career; he’s that good. The Wake Forest product isn’t on the same timeline as the three prospects above but with this promotion, a mid-2025 debut is clearly on the table.
Ripple Effect & Expectations
These promotions and the indication that the three new Isotopes will all make their MLB debut this year (requiring them to be added to the 40-man), come fresh off the trade deadline in which fans felt the team needed to move more veterans to open up spots for young players.
That’s exactly what we’re going to get. The Rockies currently have 39 players on their 40-man roster, though Lucas Gilbreath will likely be the recipient of that 40th spot.
Therefore, to fulfill their plan, the Rockies will have to open up roster spots, while also considering Antonio Senzatela will come off the 60-day IL either later in the season or when the offseason begins.
Veteran John Curtiss is not even on the bubble, expect his spot to be claimed in due time. Other arms not entirely safe from being removed include lefties Evan Justice & Antoine Kelly, along with righties Tyler Kinley, Juan Mejia, and Riley Pint.
In terms of position players, we may see one of the Rockies catchers become available via waivers, while Aaron Schunk, Sean Bouchard, Jake Cave, and Sam Hilliard also do not have practically guaranteed spots the rest of the way.
Expect the Rockies to lean in favor of moving on from veteran players as opposed to the younger players being paid the MLB minimum.
Once Hill, Halvorsen, and Palmquist arrive, expect some ups and downs as the big leagues are a different beast. However, all three represent significant future pieces of the pitching staff and will display the talent that makes them so prized.
Leave a Reply to blakestreetbanterCancel reply