Noah Spirek | January 31, 2025
Surprise! The first game of the regular season is less than 50 days away as the Dodgers and Cubs will open the season in Japan for the Tokyo Series on March 18-19.
For the Colorado Rockies, they begin play later in the month on March 28 in Tampa. However, Rockies players are already training in Arizona in preparation for Spring Training; the Rockies’ first Spring Training game is just 3 weeks away on February 21st.
With the 2025 Major League Baseball season on the horizon, let’s take a look at the state of the Rockies rotation.
A “Rockie” Road To Recover
For the first time since 2022, Colorado appears set to enter the season with its core of starters healthy, a welcome change after missing righties Antonio Senzatela and Germán Márquez for the greater part of both 2023 and 2024.
During that 2022 campaign, Senzatela tore his left ACL to end his season on August 18. He returned to the mound in May 2023, making two starts and exiting that second game early with right elbow soreness. As it turned out, he suffered a torn UCL, leading to Tommy John surgery on July 26.
It was a long road back for Senzatela, but he was able to make three appearances in 2024. From September 16-28, he totaled 12.1 innings in which he gave up nine earned runs. In a largely unimpressive year for the club, seeing Senza on the mound again was a silver lining during another 100-loss season.
Senzatela’s close friend Germán Márquez also dealt with a brutal string of injuries over the past couple years. Since being named an All-Star in 2021, “Márquee” struggled a bit in 2022, posting a 4.95 ERA in 31 starts over 181.2 innings. Early in 2023, Márquez suffered an elbow injury and underwent Tommy John surgery, ending his season after four starts.
It would take 14 months on the injured list for him to make his 2024 debut, pitching four innings against the New York Mets. He became the Rockies franchise leader in strikeouts in the process, surpassing Jorge De La Rosa. Unfortunately, he returned to the injured list with right elbow inflammation. It was later revealed that Márquez was dealing with a stress reaction in his elbow, and he was subsequently shut down for the remainder of 2024.
Now, with all signs pointing to Senzatela and Márquez ready for Spring Training, it feels that manager Bud Black has a solid core of arms ready to go for 2025, if both can return even close to their pre-injury form.
The Favorites
Expect the Rockies to roll out three other familiar faces for the rotation to begin the 2025 season. Black hopes the veteran staff can lead the Rockies in the right direction to returning to the postseason for the first time since 2018.
A not-so-fun fact: Of the 25 Rockies on the 2018 National League Division Series roster — the last time Colorado made the postseason — just three members remain with the team: Kyle Freeland, Germán Márquez, and Antonio Senzatela.
In addition to those three, expect to see LHP Austin Gomber and the youngest of the group, Ryan Feltner, to round out the starting five.
Compared to past seasons, this is the most continuity the Rockies have had in the starting corps. Freeland (31), Márquez (30), and Senzatela (30) each have over 120 career starts with the Rockies, including Freeland at an even 200. Gomber (31) is not far behind with 97 starts in a Rockies uniform, while Feltner (28) has racked up 61 starts across four seasons.
This is a critical year for Gomber, who was involved in trade talks throughout much of last season and through the start of this offseason. After avoiding arbitration, he is currently set to become a free agent at the end of 2025. Similarly, Márquez is slated to become a free agent as he enters the final year of a two-year contract extension he inked in late 2023.
The Rockies need this rotation to be both effective and durable. However, over a long season, challenges are inevitable. When those bumps in the road arise, some players who made their Major League debuts from a season ago provide a couple of young guns with valuable experience.
They’ve Been There Before
Last season, Colorado called upon two recent trade pieces to make their debuts: Tanner Gordon and Bradley Blalock.
In 2023, the Rockies made a midseason swap, acquiring Gordon and Victor Vodnik for reliever Pierce Johnson from the Atlanta Braves. That deal has already worked out nicely for Colorado, as Vodnik has turned into a dependable flamethrower out of the bullpen. Gordon, 27, also made a mark in 2024.
Last season, the former Indiana Hoosier had a strong debut on July 7, pitching into the seventh inning. After bouncing between Triple-A Albuquerque and Denver the remainder of the year, Gordon wound up pitching in eight games, totaling 34.1 innings and surrendering 33 earned runs.
Despite the middling results, Gordon was consistently in the strike zone, allowing him to eat innings and pitch deep into games. Gordon also performed admirably in most moments, ultimately succumbing to just a few rough innings to balloon his ERA.
Another pitching prospect that made his debut last season was RHP Bradley Blalock. Acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers ahead of the 2024 trade deadline for reliever Nick Mears, Blalock came to Colorado as the Brewers’ 17th ranked prospect on MLB.com.
Following his acquisition on July 27, the Rockies elevated him to the big leagues just two weeks later. Though he had made his debut with Milwaukee earlier in the season, Blalock made his first career start with Colorado on August 12 against Arizona. In Phoenix, Blalock shined, working 5.2 innings allowing just three earned runs. He was later optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque, but not before starting six games, accumulating 29.2 innings of work with a 5.87 ERA.
Ultimately, after losing veterans such as Dakota Hudson, Cal Quantrill, and Ty Blach this offseason, there is a bit of an opening for one of these guys as the no. 6 starter, should one of the incumbents suffer a setback.
Waiting In The Wings
Entering 2025, it feels like the next generation of core Rockies starting pitchers is chomping at the bit to burst onto the big league stage. According to MLB.com, 14 of the Rockies’ Top 30 prospects at the end of last year were pitchers, including the no. 2 prospect, RHP Chase Dollander.
Dollander, 23, has a real chance to toe the rubber at Coors Field in 2025 after finishing last campaign with Double-A Hartford. GM Bill Schmidt has maintained that Dollander can pitch his way into the rotation with a great spring performance. His Yard Goats teammate, 22-year-old Sean Sullivan, is another breakthrough candidate. The crafty southpaw is listed as Colorado’s no. 10 prospect.
Additionally, after beginning the season with High-A Spokane, left-handed starter Carson Palmquist ascended to Triple-A Albuquerque to finish his season. The 24-year-old out of the University of Miami ranks as the Rockies’ no. 14 prospect. All three of these minor leaguers received non-roster invites to Spring Training, so the star-studded trio will have a chance to impress Black and his staff at camp.
Of course, those are not the only promising arms in the farm system. Brody Brecht, 2024 second-round pick out of the University of Iowa, has electric stuff. Colorado’s 2022 first-round selection, RHP Gabriel Hughes, is back and healthy after undergoing Tommy John surgery a year ago. Though early returns in the minors this year will be monitored closely, Hughes received a non-roster invite to Spring Training. The list of young pitchers oozing with potential goes on.
For the first time in a while, the Rockies enter the season with not only a healthy pitching staff, but a deep one that can withstand the inevitable injury or two. Additionally, the organization has embraced the potential of their young arms, creating valuable opportunities for growth throughout the 2025 campaign.
Story by Noah Spirek.
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