The Colorado Rockies didn’t make a ton of offseason acquisitions in the leadup to the 2026 season. But they did fundamentally reshape their starting pitching rotation. And they appear on the verge of revolutionizing their strategy.
It would be tempting to suggest that the Rox are a bit late to this party. After all, the modern concepts of “bullpenning” and “openers” are a few years old by now. A keen observer of history might point back to the time Dan O’Dowd spearheaded the “piggyback” system and suggest that the Rockies also arrive a little bit early to this party.
In either event, they are here now.
I asked manager Warren Schaeffer if we should expect to see traditional relievers starting games this season and he responded without hesitation, “One hundred percent.”
“Our goal is to win games. We’re looking for different ways to do that. Roles aren’t necessarily going to be a thing,” he continued.
So, who might be the specific players we see in these… not roles?
“You have to have the right temperament for it,” Schaeffer admits, “ to open a game.”
“Agnos did it the other day. He seems like a good guy for it. I know Jimmy (Herget) can do it. Jimmy likes to do it. I’m sure Bernadino can do it, great temperament. Maybe a handful of other guys but those are the three guys that stick out.”
First, it would be fair to assume that long-tenured Rockie Kyle Freeland will get the nod as the Opening Day starter. Though, it isn’t a foregone conclusion. Each of the three new veterans brought in from the outside could make a case for the top spot as well.
It honestly doesn’t matter a ton what the order is. The career resumes and reasonable expectations for Freeland, Michael Lorenzen, Tomoyuki Sugano, and Jose Quintana are roughly equal. However you choose to set them, these four guys should be solid if not incredibly exciting.
But the fifth spot is not so predictable.
Coming into Spring Training, there were a lot of possibilities for that spot. The most exciting of them was that hyped prospect Chase Dollander would take a big step forward.
Dollander debuted to much fanfare in 2025 but was also clearly rushed to the big leagues. In struggled in some ways (efficiency, giving up homers) and showed remarkable growth in others, especially with his swing-and-miss stuff. An excellent spring surely would have won him the job. But he has not had an excellent spring.
In 14 innings pitched, he carries a 6.43 ERA and has walked seven to his 10 strikeouts. By no means is it time to panic or bail on the idea that Dollander still has star potential, but he could clearly use a bit more seasoning.
A similar but less exciting proposition than Dollander was a hope that Ryan Feltner could return to form after years riddled by injuries. He, too, has been beat up this spring, though. Feltner has tossed 11.2 innings with a 10.03 ERA.
Given the struggles of these two pitchers, it makes even more sense for the Rockies to explore opening the season without a standard fifth rotation starter. It gives Feltner and Dollander a chance to get themselves right at Triple-A and come up when they are pitching well. And it may prove to be an effective strategy toward lessening the burdens of Coors Field.
The problem back in 2014 was that the Rox did not have the personnel to make the system work. The same question will remain for this modern version.
Jimmy Herget certainly proved a year ago that he can handle a multi-inning role. If his skills maintain through this season and can translate to starting games, he is the perfect fit.
Brennan Bernardino also has quite a bit of experience. He gives the team a southpaw option they can deploy against those lefty-heavy lineups.
Zach Agnos is intriguing as well. Making his debut a season ago, he essentially rose up the ranks and claimed the closer position by default. After a disastrous outing against the San Francisco Giants and an ill-timed injury, his season sputtered out a bit. But Agnos also brings a four-pitch mix (more than most relievers) and a propensity to throw strikes, both of which look good for a potential opener.
The best use of these players is likely to mix and match them based on the opponent unless someone clearly emerges as having a knack for opening. For the first few weeks, don’t be surprised if we all have to do a bit of guessing on who will start every fifth day for this team.
But in a year of experimentation for a team that lost 119 games a season ago, figuring out how best to work modern concepts of bullpening into their strategy may prove to be the most valuable experiment among them.