Paul DePodesta has made quick work of reviving the Rockies’ offense. But Colorado’s president of baseball operations will need a magic wand to make up for the Rockies’ deficiencies on the mound.
In the batter’s box, evidence of the turnaround — keyed by an array of DePodesta additions to the lineup — is tangible. Entering the homestand’s second series against the Nationals on Monday, the Rockies ranked fourth in the majors in average (.255), fifth in on-base plus slugging (.747), fifth in slugging (.422), fifth in weighted on-base average (.327), and eighth in on-base percentage (.325).
Compare that to the dismal stats from last year, and Colorado’s offensive output is all the more impressive. In the historically inept 2025 season, the Rockies ranked 23rd in average (.237), 27th in OPS (.679), 24th in slugging (.386), 28th in wOBA (.296), and last in on-base percentage (.293).
But the pitching — long an unsolvable X-factor for Coors Field’s tenant — remains among the league’s worst. Specifically, the rotation continues to be an Achilles’ heel. After the 2025 rotation’s 6.65 earned run average was the highest in baseball’s modern era (since 1901), this year hasn’t been much better. Colorado starters are 28th in the majors in wins above replacement (2.9), 29th in K/9 (6.63), last in fielding independent pitching (5.20), and last in ERA (5.98).
With that issue in mind — and considering Colorado’s historical inability to attract top-tier free agent starters — here are five starting pitching prospects to monitor in the second half of 2026.
Southpaw starters are always at a premium, hence why Eaton’s emergence has been such a pleasant surprise for Colorado. A sixth-round pick out of George Mason in 2024, Eaton originally projected as a bullpen arm, but he’s been so good that he could now be a future rotational pillar. Eaton was the Rockies’ after dominating High-A Spokane with a 3.56 ERA in 23 starts. He’s continued that momentum this year with a fastball that sits around 93 mph and a plus-slider that gets a lot of swing-and-miss. In 14 starts for Double-A Hartford, he has a 3.78 ERA, and his current trajectory suggests he could get a big-league shot as soon as 2027.
Vargas missed all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery, but hope remains that the fluid, 6-foot-3 righty can still be a projectable starter that the Rockies saw when they signed him out of the Dominican Republic in 2021. He impressed in 2022 in the Arizona Complex League and California League, but has encountered speed bumps in He has a 5.68 ERA in 17 starts for High-A Spokane this season. He was left unprotected in last year’s Rule 5 draft and went unselected; with a mid-90s fastball and a strong curveball, you don’t have to squint too hard to see he could eventually mature into something at the big-league level in a few seasons.
Like Vargas, Cox also underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023 and subsequently missed the 2024 season. When he returned to the mound, he also brought a more varied pitch mix than what he was employing at the start of his pro career, when he was way too fastball-heavy. This year, he had a 4.23 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) for High-A Spokane before getting bumped up to Double-A Hartford, where he’s impressed in the hitter-friendly Eastern League with a 3.89 ERA in seven starts. He has a mid-90s fastball that can reach 98, plus a curveball, changeup and cutter. He has swing-and-miss stuff (10.6 career K/9 in the minors) that could play well at Coors Field.
Colorado’s second-round draft selection this year, the Rockies signed the UCLA star to the full slot value of the No. 38 pick. Reddemann boasts a mid-90s fastball that he can run up to 99, plus a cutter and changeup that are his primary offspeed pitches. He also throws a curveball and sweeper to round out a well-developed arsenal that is well ahead of his age. Reddemann spent his first two collegiate seasons at San Diego before transferring to UCLA, where he turned in one of the most dominant starting seasons in Bruins history by going 8-0 with a 2.87 ERA. He has all the tools to fast-track through the minors.
The Brewers signed Herrera out of Venezuela in 2019, and the Rockies acquired him at the 2024 deadline as part of the trade that sent reliever Nick Mears to Milwaukee. Herrera has a 4.47 ERA in 16 games (15 starts) for High-A Spokane this season. He missed all of 2025 due to Tommy John, but came back from the surgery with increased heat on his fastball, getting it up to 98 mph. Before, he was in the 92-94 range. His best offspeed is a slider that can be an effective out pitch and . He has a long way to go, but Herrera’s ceiling is high, especially if he can continue to make leaps like he did in the Brewers’ system prior to the trade.
