The Rockies placed prized rookie right-hander Chase Dollander on the 15-day injured list Thursday with right forearm tightness. The move is retroactive to Monday.
It’s another blow for a team that lost, 2-0, to the Phillies on Thursday afternoon. The Rockies are on pace to lose more games than any team in the majors’ modern era (since 1901).
Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said that Dollander’s injury is not considered serious, adding that Dollander should return on time after his IL stint. The Rockies plan to call up right-hander Tanner Gordon from Triple-A Albuquerque to start Friday night’s game against the Yankees at Coors Field.
In addition to placing Dollander on the IL, the club recalled right-handed pitcher Juan Mejia from Triple-A Albuquerque. Colorado will have to make another roster move ahead of Friday’s game to clear space for Gordon.
Dollander, 23, has made eight big-league starts, going 2-5 with a 6.28 ERA. The raw numbers aren’t good, but the Rockies have been pleased with his development and project him to be the No. 1 starter in the rotation, sooner rather than later. Dollander, the ninth overall pick out of the University of Tennessee in 2023, has 38 strikeouts over 38 2/3 innings but has also issued 18 walks and given up 10 home runs.
Toglia benched. The Rockies always knew Michael Toglia was far from a finished product. Still, they were counting on much more from the first baseman than he’s delivered this season.
That’s why Toglia was out of the starting lineup for the second straight game. The Rockies are intent on fixing a swing and approach that’s led to a 38.6% strikeout rate and a major-league-high 71 K’s. Toglia is slashing .205/.272/.367 with six home runs and 19 RBIs in 47 games.
“We are just giving him a breather and just trying to get him back on track,” Schaeffer said before the Rockies hosted the Phillies. “Sometimes this is the best way to do it. Thinking about and talking with the coaches, we have a plan in place for Mike.
“He’s not performing like he wants to, at the moment, so we are giving him a couple of days off.”
Asked if Toglia’s high strikeout rate was the main reason to take him out of the lineup, Schaffer said, “I think the K’s are the result of an issue. There is some stuff they are working on in the cage, big-time. They are hammering it, in terms of bat path, analyzing the launch angle, hitting to all fields, in-zone miss. And analyzing between the ears. There are just a lot of things. He needs to decompress for a couple of days, and I think it will be very beneficial for him.”
Toglia said he was not frustrated and understood that his offense needed work.
“(Schaeffer) wants me to see the game from a different perspective and kind of hone in on things and get the train back on track,” Toglia said. “It’s nothing crazy. There is no swing change of anything like that that’s going on.
“It’s just, like, a mental reset. I want to get back to doing damage on the fastball. I haven’t done as good a job on that this year as I did in the second half of last year.”
Following his second stint at Triple-A last season, Toglia slashed .232/.331/.470 in 100 games for the Rockies and hit 21 home runs.
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