On Saturday, in the Rockies’ first win of the second half, a sizzling second-inning stretch encapsulated what the club’s first-year front office hopes the Colorado offense can be.
In a 10-3 blowout over the Reds, Colorado scored four runs on five consecutive knocks with two outs. The new faces brought to the lineup by president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta and general manager Josh Byrnes were central in the hit brigade.
Jake McCarthy got it going with a bunt single. Then Mickey Moniak, a solid signing by the Rockies’ previous administration, singled. Dynamic rookie Cole Carrigg singled. Then DePodesta acquisitions TJ Rumfield and Willi Castro both singled, before fellow Colorado newcomer Troy Johnston lined out into the shift up the middle to end the frame.
That sequence underscored how four of those players — the left-handed hitting McCarthy, Rumfield and Johnston, plus the switch-hitting Castro — have been key in Colorado’s offensive turnaround. The unit has gone from one of MLB’s worst in 2025 to one of the league’s best in ’26. And that quartet, who are all turning in strong seasons, signals the philosophy behind DePodesta’s long-term lineup-building strategy.
“Probably what it shows is our flexibility of thought in terms of what a good player can look like for us,” DePodesta said. “Those guys aren’t all out of the same cloth. Jake is an outfielder with terrific range, well above-average speed. He can impact the game in a lot of different ways, can play the small-ball game, can steal bases. He’ll also hit some homers.
“TJ and Troy are both, to some degree, magicians with the barrel. They can find ways to get hits. They hit good pitching. And TJ in particular has shown himself to be an excellent defensive first baseman. They can both hit for power. And for Willie, a lot of his value doesn’t necessarily show up in the stat sheet, because his dependability provides an incredible amount of roster flexibility for us.”
All four players were either cast off or overlooked last offseason, enabling the Rockies to bring them into their fold.
The Rockies claimed Johnston off waivers in early November, a couple days before DePodesta was hired. Colorado director of baseball operations pulled off the move, but DePodesta was consulted on it.
The other three players all came to Colorado in January.
The Rockies in exchange for one of the minor-league pitching prospects, Josh Grosz, the club got in last summer’s deadline deal that sent Ryan McMahon to the Yankees. And the Rockies in exchange for an unproven bullpen arm, Angel Chivilli, who has only appeared in eight big-league games this year. As for Castro, Colorado to a two-year, $12.8 million deal after the 2024 All-Star had a down year split between the Twins and Cubs.
Johnston says finding value in players that other teams are willing to discard will be a key factor in Colorado’s attempted turnaround.
“If you’re not going to go out and sign a $60 million guy, then you’ve got to make a way to find the undervalued guys that really put together a lineup and put together consistently good at-bats,” Johnston said. “DePodesta and this front office are valuing so many key things when bringing in guys like me (and McCarthy, Rumfield and Castro).
“They’re valuing (expected weighted on-base average). They’re valuing chase rate. They’re valuing all the advanced stats that goes into the seasons that you’re seeing (these key newcomers) are having.”
Dramatic turnaround at first
Rumfield has been Colorado’s best player by bWAR this season (2.6 entering Tuesday, just ahead of catcher Hunter Goodman’s 2.4) while emerging as a National League Rookie of the Year candidate.
After easily winning the vacant first base job in spring training, Rumfield carried that momentum into the season and is coming off honors in May and June. He’s hitting .296 with a .476 slugging (both first among qualified NL rookies), plus 13 homers, 51 RBIs and a club-high 28 multi-hit games. He’s also been strong defensively, ranking in the 88th percentile in outs above average at first.
Compare that to the nightmare season the Rockies got from the position last year via Michael Toglia, who hit .190 while striking out at a 39.2% clip. By non-tendering Toglia and trading for Rumfield, DePodesta sent a clear message that the Rockies need to move away from the egregious strikeout rates that plagued them the last three 100-loss seasons and towards contact hitters. This year, Rumfield’s K rate is 14.5%.
“One of the biggest things is that (DePodesta and Byrnes) don’t hire people to change,” Johnston said. “They want players they bring in to have a lot of success doing whatever they do well. That’s what they tell a lot of the guys: ‘We need guys that can drive in runs, that can move the bases, walk.’ They really focused on walking, cutting down on strikeouts, and just hard contact.
“With TJ, one of the most interesting parts about him is that he always stays within himself. He knows exactly who he is as a hitter.”
Rumfield says he’s not paying attention to the Rookie of the Year race, in which he is a dark horse behind the top candidates, Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt and Reds corner infielder Sal Stewart.
But he looks around the Rockies clubhouse and sees a lot of young talent, many of whom are new to the team this season, that he thinks can help accelerate Colorado’s turnaround from last year’s historic 119-loss season.
“We’re building a good culture of young players, and that’s what the foundation of a good franchise is going to be,” Rumfield said. “It’s about having guys who are hungry. Like DePodesta said in spring training, you’ve got to have guys who can excel at the big-league level and not just be here. We have those guys in the clubhouse, and if you get enough of them, you start to put together the wins and play better baseball.”
‘A scrappy offense’
In the outfield, McCarthy has picked up the slack of Brenton Doyle (hitting .207 and hampered by injuries) and Jordan Beck (suffered a hamstring injury in May, and has been in Triple-A since late June after hitting .183).
McCarthy leads the Rockies , ranking fourth in the NL, and is one of three players in the majors with an average over .300 and slugging over .500. He is also first in the NL with a .392 average with runners in scoring position, is one of MLB’s fastest players and has been a solid defender in all three outfield spots.
He says his goal since coming to Colorado via trade is to “make Paul and Josh look super smart,” which he’s done so far. He also understands the assignment: Put the ball in play, use his speed (he leads the club with 17 steals, and his six bunt hits are tied for fourth in the majors) and limit the K’s (17.0% strikeout rate).
“I’m not trying to have weak contact, but I would rather hit a weak ground ball than strikeout just because there’s always an opportunity for an infield hit,” McCarthy said. “I understand we want to be a scrappy offense. I’m part of that. I feel like the Brewers are a good example of that. That (approach) wears on you as a defense.
“You combine that with the Coors Field element, and it’s how we can make an offensive identity.”
Meanwhile, Johnston is hitting .295. While McCarthy has bucked the norm by raking against lefties (.360) and Rumfield is hitting .311 against righties, Johnston is hitting .326 against righties. And Castro, who is hitting .264 this year, has played all four infield positions plus right field and center field as the team’s premier utility player.
DePodesta explains that Castro’s versatility has enabled other players to “carve out their niche.”
“Having him on this team is very instrumental for Kyle Karros, for TJ Rumfield, for Troy Johnston, for all those guys to get the opportunities they got to show what they can do at this level,” DePodesta said. “Willi gave us the ability to construct our team in a lot of different ways and to provide opportunities to young players (because he can play all the positions they play).”
As the Rockies aim to avoid becoming the fifth MLB team to lose 100 or more games four seasons in a row, manager Warren Schaeffer believes DePodesta’s additions to complement key returners such as Moniak (.276 average) and Hunter Goodman (30 homers) have already changed the lineup’s mentality.
“This offensive group is a group you want to go to battle with every night, and that’s what Paul wants, that’s what (Byrnes) wants,” Schaeffer said. “Guys that are a tough at-bat every at-bat, 27 outs, all night long, not giving anything away. We have a lineup full of those guys who typify that.
“The second inning (last Saturday showed)… we don’t have to hit (a bunch of) homers — just put the ball in play, and good things will happen in this ballpark.”
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