Cameron Maclennan | June 18, 2026
(Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire)
As we get closer to the All-Star break of yet another disappointing season for the Rockies, it’s time we revisit how the moves they made in the offseason have panned out so far. With a revamped front office headed by Paul DePodesta, the Rockies were busy this offseason. There has been a shift in mindset at the top of the organization toward greater analytical rigor. That has resulted in the Rockies bringing in different player profiles and making moves that the previous brass would have never made. With that being said, not every move has worked out, but as we’ll see, more have been successful than not.
TJ Rumfield Trade: A
In January, the Rockies traded RP Angel Chivilli to the New York Yankees for 1B T.J. Rumfield. After spending the entirety of the 2025 season with the Yankees Triple-A Affiliate, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Rumfield had seemingly hit a wall within the Yankees organization. Being blocked by the likes of Ben Rice, it was not likely Rumfield would get a true shot in New York. Having not played a single game in the majors when he was traded to Colorado, Rumfield has been a promising sign for the boys in purple. Through just over 60 games, he’s hitting .273 with an OPS of .821 with an OPS+ (OPS that accounts for the player’s ballpark) of 118 (100 is MLB Avg) and 10 homers. For a rookie just getting his feet wet at the big league level, that is very, very encouraging for a Rockies team that has desperately been looking for a First Baseman for over half a decade. Rumfield earned the NL Rookie of the Month award for May after he slashed .310 with four homers and 12 RBI. Finally, it looks like the Rockies may have found their First Baseman of the future.
Going to New York in the deal was Angel Chivilli. After a promising rookie campaign in 2024 for the Rockies, Chivilli really struggled in 2025. He posted a 7.06 ERA before being dealt to New York. So far in 2026, Chivilli has seen very limited action because of injury. After starting the year strong in AAA, he was called up, though shortly after, he landed on the IL in late April after just 2.1 innings with the Yankees and has yet to pitch since.
Michael Lorenzen Signing: D
The only reason this move wasn’t given an F is because of the unbelievable performance Lorenzen put on for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic against a juggernaut Team USA lineup. And yes, I know that performance had nothing to do with the Rockies, but credit where credit is due.
Other than that, 2026 has been a complete and utter disaster for Lorenzen. He has arguably been the worst starting pitcher in baseball. After a really good 2024 season and a decent 2025 season with the Royals, where he posted a 4.64 ERA, Lorenzen has completely lost it this year in Colorado.
He leads the majors in two major statistics… just not the stats you want to be a leader in. At the point of writing this, Lorenzen leads the big leagues in hits and earned runs allowed. Through 15 starts with the Rockies, he has allowed 106 hits and 56 earned runs in 70.2 innings. Yes, you read that right. That is almost a run per inning, which is honestly impressively bad. He’s been better the last 2 starts, giving up just a single run in both of them. But that doesn’t overshadow his season as a whole. I would be less critical if he were a young guy who is still trying to figure it out at the major league level. That isn’t the case for Lorenzen.
Credit to him, he has taken it on the chin and obviously isn’t happy with how he’s performing. That being said, he simply isn’t pitching at a big league level right now. The only benefit he’s giving the Rockies is eating innings that allow others to develop while Colorado is still in rebuild mode.
Willi Castro Signing: B+
Willi Castro signed a two-year, $12.8 million deal in the offseason to come to Colorado after spending 2025 with Minnesota, then finishing it with the Cubs. Castro was a low-risk signing that gave the Rockies a super-utility option around the diamond, and he’s played his role very well. While the majority of his action has come at 2B, Castro has played 6 different positions thus far in 2026.
After a slow start at the plate in 2026, Castro has been much better for a month or so. In his last 30 games, Willi is hitting .308 with an OPS over .830. For the year, he’s now hitting .271 and has gotten his OPS+ up to 105. When Castro is putting the ball in play, he’s making solid contact more than he ever has. He has the highest HardHit% of his career at 43.9%, touching 40% for only the second time in his career.
While Castro may not be a part of the long-term plan for the Rockies, he’s been a very serviceable utility option while the Rockies wait for more young talent to develop, and could be valuable trade bait come early August.
Tomoyuki Sugano Signing: C
After a spectacular 12-year career in Japan, Tomoyuki Sugano is now in his 2nd year in the MLB and his first with the Rockies. He signed a one-year, $5.1 million deal with Colorado in the offseason to bolster the back of the rotation. He’s done his job in that regard.
Last year in Baltimore, Sugano had a really strong start to the year but really tailed off as the season went on. He ended 2025 with a 4.64 ERA and gave up the most homers in the league with 33. Leading the league in homers allowed, then signing with the team that plays half their games at Coors Field didn’t sound like the best plan.
While Sugano got off to another good start this year, he is trending the same way he did last year. He has pitched to a 4.79 ERA with an ERA+ of 101 through 14 starts in purple.
As was the case for Lorenzen, I don’t see Sugano being a part of the long-term future of the Rockies’ rotation. That being said, pitchers like Sugano are a good model of what the back of a good rotation looks like, but he shouldn’t be one of your front liners.
Jake McCarthy Trade: B+
The Rockies acquired OF Jake McCarthy from the Arizona Diamondbacks for minor league RHP Josh Grosz. The D-backs had a surplus of left-handed hitting outfielders, with McCarthy somewhat being lost in the fold. Wanting to clear some room, the D-backs sent him to the Rockies before Spring Training. McCarthy got off to a really slow start with his new team. The at-bat quality wasn’t there for the first couple of weeks of the season. Thankfully for McCarthy and the Rockies, that trend wasn’t permanent. He’s rebounded to have a .282 average on the year with an OPS of .775. These numbers aren’t eye-popping on their own, but in the last month or so, McCarthy seems to leave his fingerprints on more games than not. In his last 30 games, he’s hitting .294 with 18 RBIs. McCarthy can be classified as one of those players that plays with their hair on fire, elite speed, and seem to be all over the diamond.
With the rise of Cole Carrigg and the bats of Tyler Johnston and Mickey Moniak in the outfield, things are only going to get more crowded for guys like McCarthy, with more fighting for playing time. It’s going to come down to whether or not he can find consistency at the plate while being elite in the field. He’s not set to be a free agent until 2029, so the opportunity is there to become a regular in the outfield.
Going back the other way in the deal was starter Josh Grosz. Grosz came to the Rockies in the Ryan McMahon deal with the Yankees in 2025. After spending the rest of 2025 in High-A with Spokane, pitching to a 5.87 ERA over 38.1 innings, Grosz has been with Arizona’s Double-A affiliate in 2026. In 8 starts this season, he’s got a 4.50 ERA with a WHIP of 1.37.
Brennan Bernardino Trade: B
This trade seems to have hurt the Red Sox more than it has really benefited either team currently. Shortly after the 2025 season ended, the Rockies made a deal with the Red Sox that sent Boston OF prospect Braiden Ward, while they received left-handed reliever Brennan Bernardino. Brennan had a strong year for the Red Sox in 2025. The reason I say they miss him more than anything else is that the southpaw was very effective as an opener for Boston, which they are critically lacking right now with the struggles of their rotation.
Given how most of the Rockies bullpen has been this year, Bernardino has been one of their most consistent guys out of the pen. He has pitched to a 4.18 ERA this season with a 117 ERA+ over 28 IP. In a bullpen that struggles with command a lot of the time, Bernardino has also provided better stability on that front, with a walk rate of just 6.6%. Like most of these moves, because Bernardino is in his age-34 season, it’s hard to see him being here for the long haul. He could be a good trade candidate come trade deadline season if he continues to put up strong numbers. Consistent and durable left-handed relievers are hard to come by, and lots of teams in playoff position could be willing to bite.
Braiden Ward had a really good Spring Training with the Red Sox, which had local writers intrigued with the possibility of him pushing to make the big league club. Ultimately, he was assigned to their Triple-A affiliate in Worcester, where he has been so far in 2026. He’s got an OBP of .384 with an OPS of .740. He’s probably got a chance to crack the big league roster if injuries come up, but he isn’t exactly forcing the Red Sox’s hand.
Edouard Julien and Pierson Ohl Trade: C
In late January, the Rockies made a deal with the Twins that gave them RHP Pierson Ohl and INF Edouard Julien in return for cash considerations and pitching prospect Jace Kaminska. This trade is pretty tough to grade when two of the three players involved haven’t made an appearance since the trade took place due to Tommy John surgery.
Edouard Julien has been an almost everyday player for the Rockies so far in 2026, appearing in 62 of 74 games. He has been mediocre in just about every sense of the word. He’s hitting just .226 with an OPS of 630 and an OPS+ of 70. His biggest strength is how frequently he hits the ball hard. He’s got a HardHit% of 50.9%, which is well-above average. He has had his moments where he’s come up with big hits for the Rockies, but largely, he hasn’t shown much.
Ohl, a 14th Round Pick in 2021 out of Grand Canyon, had just made his debut in the majors in 2025 with Minnesota before being dealt. He wasn’t all that impressive in the 30 innings with the big league club. He had a 5.10 ERA and gave up 30 hits in those 30 innings. His Baseball Savant page doesn’t look all that great either. He was above average in only two categories, Walk% and Chase%. I’m not going to write him off because he’s still a young player who has just cracked the big leagues and has a lot of time in front of him.
Going the other way was RHP prospect Jace Kaminska. And though this is a grading article, it’s really hard to grade a guy who hasn’t pitched since 2024. He last appeared with Low-A Fresno, where he was very impressive. He pitched to a 2.78 ERA over almost 90 innings, where he struck out 104 and only walked 12. He’s clearly got the stuff; it’s just a matter of him being able to stay on the field.
Troy Johnston Claim: A+
If you look up steal in the dictionary, there’s a good chance this move would be on it. Just after the season ended, the Rockies claimed 28-year-old Troy Johnston from the Marlins. Johnston made his MLB debut in 2025 with Miami, where he ended up slashing .277/.331/.420 with four homers in 44 games.
When the Rockies claimed Johnston, it was widely believed that he would probably be a depth piece that would help out at first base, which was a position the Rockies greatly lacked impact players at entering the offseason. When the move was made to get TJ Rumfield, that made the opportunity for Johnston to play consistently 1B less likely.
Johnston has been in the lineup at RF, LF, or DH for the most part. He’s started just 16 games at 1B. But he isn’t known for his glove; it’s his bat that has been such a pleasant surprise. He was a really good minor league hitter, but that doesn’t always translate to the major league level. Fair to say it has for Johnston. The lefty has slashed .312/.373/.440, which gives us an OPS of .813. That .312 average is the 7th-best mark in the majors, and he is 2nd in doubles with 21. Those numbers are outstanding, but a lot of the impact Johnston has made can’t be seen on a stat sheet.
He has been an outstanding locker room guy for a young team that needs high-energy guys to rally around. And while Johnston is only in his first full major league season himself, he’s been around pro ball for a while and is a leader in that clubhouse.
Looking at the future, there is a very good chance the Rockies will get calls about Johnston as the trade deadline gets closer. High contact and high average lefties are always needed for playoff teams. Though Rockies fans might not want the front office to listen to offers for Johnston, they absolutely have to. With a team that is still developing as much as they are, they have to acquire all the young assets they can.
Largely, the moves the front office made in the offseason have been successful. Honestly, the Rumfield and Johnston deals with nothing else would have been a good offseason. The position player group of the future is starting to form for the Rockies; the holes still come mostly with the pitching. Once they start moving that side in the right direction, things will look a whole lot brighter.
Written by Cameron Maclennan.
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