DENVER – Rockies third baseman Kyle Karros wore a T-shirt with the sleeves ripped away one morning a couple of weeks ago. He looked as if he was headed to brunch by the beach after a night of dub-stepping to EDM – both welcome diversions from the pressures of a first full Major League season.
Karros was chill.
Yet he was at work, taking ground balls and experimenting with different ways to contort his body while doing so. By game time, he would be prim and proper, but his pregame attire and attitude were a window into how he has learned to function.
“I’ve learned a ton about myself, more mentally than anything,” Karros said after sweating to his satisfaction that morning. “A big change that I’ve made is – it may sound cliché, but I’ve been living by it – is passion over perfection.
“Early on, when you get up here, you want to show that you belong. You try to be perfect, almost. That’s no way to play baseball. There’s so much doubt and fear of messing up. So I’ve switched my perspective … rather than playing to be perfect, I’m playing with some fire, playing with some edge. I’m playing to have a lot of fun.”
On Sunday afternoon, while knocking a three-run eighth-inning homer to propel the Rockies to a 7-6 victory over the Giants at Coors Field, there was no doubt for Karros. He smacked the ball a Statcast-projected 457 feet to give the Rockies their ninth series win this year (one more than in all of last year’s 43-119 struggle) and the 13th win in their last 25 games.
After a slow start, when his at-bats were solid but results were at times maddeningly absent, Karros is having a level of fun that’s reflected in his offensive numbers. In his last 35 games, he has slashed .347/.431/.653 with nine doubles, two triples, six home runs and 18 RBIs.
Sunday’s homer off Dylan Smith is a prime example of how Karros is trusting himself and fighting the urge to prepare to the point of uptightness.
During Saturday night’s 6-4 loss to the Giants, Karros popped out on Smith’s first-pitch sweeper. So on Sunday, his approach to Smith was simple: Work the count and blast the fastball.
“Once I got ahead in the count, I had a good feeling he was going to try to run one in on me,” said Karros, who smashed Smith’s 94.2 mph four-seamer and watched its flight until it landed on the concourse above the left-field bleachers.
Karros is one example on a team that’s suddenly become dangerous late in games. The Rockies’ 122 runs in the eighth inning or later lead the Majors. And it’s more than simply fighting from behind. Since June 1, the Rockies lead the Majors in OPS – .864 after Sunday’s game. The Marlins are second at .833.
“It was awesome – it seems like it’s somebody different every day,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “Today was Kyle – huge concourse homer. It’s great to see him in that moment, great to see him with the purple [home run celebration] coat on.”
A fifth-round pick out of UCLA in the 2023 MLB Draft, Karros spent most of last season at Double-A Hartford and was called up in August after a brief preparation at Triple-A Albuquerque. The newness of the Majors and fatigue from the longest season of his life were among the reasons he hit .226 in his 43-game big-league introduction.
Before Spring Training, the Rockies were quietly concerned that Karros needed more Minor League time – partly because starting a season in the Majors is different from being called up on the go. But Karros’ strong hitting in camp and his plus defense earned him the third base job, and showed the Rockies that he was strong enough to overcome any early jitters.
To conquer his finicky tendencies, Karros channeled his education.
“It may be a stupid reference,” said Karros, who completed his sociology degree in ‘24 after earning High-A Northwest League MVP honors for Spokane. “But in school, whenever I took notes, I would not remember anything I learned. But when I just sat there and paid attention and was interacting with the teacher, I would learn a ton.”
Karros’ learning style shows up especially on defense. The basics of game preparation haven’t changed – there are scouting reports on opponents, and the pitcher that defenders are playing behind must be taken into account. But now, there are advanced stats that lead to positioning charts. Often, players have this information on cards in their back pockets.
Karros does pregame study and talks to third-base and infield coach Andy González. But then the card stays tucked away when the game starts.
“A lot of times, that takes you out of the moment, looking at the card every play,” said Karros, who noted that the PitchCom signal in his ear that tells him what pitch is coming is real-time info that he needs. “I’m starting to get to know guys around the league where I don’t have to play by the book every single time. It’s huge for me, trusting my baseball knowledge and playing with a free mind – rather than, ‘Am I one step to the left here?’”
There was no nagging thought in his head on Sunday.
“This game can bring that passion,” Karros said. “It’s not always about tricking yourself into locking in for moments. That’s a situation where anyone in the world would step into the box and feel the gravity of the situation.
“That naturally locks them in. I definitely thrive in those situations.”