DENVER – The personality the Rockies welcome from No. 6 prospect Cole Carrigg showed through his stylish bat flip to punctuate his first Major League home run – a solo shot in the fourth inning of Thursday afternoon’s 9-3 loss to the Cubs at Coors Field.
“I wouldn't say I'm necessarily too conscious about it,” said Carrigg, 24, who started all three games of the series (two Rockies wins) in center field. “It's just how I've always played the game, just competing at the highest level and trying to help the team any way I can.”
Carrigg’s homer – a 418-foot solo shot into the Rockies’ bullpen in right field – came off Edward Cabrera. The difference cut the Rockies’ deficit to 4-2 after the Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki launched a grand slam off Ryan Feltner in the top of the fourth.
Should Carrigg become an everyday player, the Rockies believe his power, speed and panache can ignite the team. The sparks dimmed, however, as the Cubs kept scoring.
But Carrigg’s entrée to the Majors suggests excitement.
Carrigg was called up from Triple-A Albuquerque on Tuesday, and he celebrated that with a triple to become the second player in club history to go three bases for his first MLB hit. Ryan Ritter accomplished the feat on June 6, 2025.
Carrigg added an infield single in the sixth. He and Brad Hawpe (2004) are the only players in club history with a triple and a homer among their first three hits when debuting with the Rockies.
“I’ve seen him be comfortable – just step right in and play hard, the way he always plays,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “That’s what we want from him. We want to see the fire.
“I think you guys see and the people on TV probably see the fire.”
Before the callup, which occurred when the Rockies put infielder-outfielder Tyler Freeman on the seven-day concussion injured list, Carrigg slashed .338/.414/.529 with six home runs and 42 RBIs in 57 games with Albuquerque.
Carrigg was one of three possible mainstay players in Albuquerque's lineup, the others being No. 2 prospect and 2024 top Draft pick Charlie Condon, a first baseman-outfielder, and No. 13 prospect and 2020 first-round pick Zac Veen, a corner outfielder. The strategy has been to advance those guys only: a) when ready; and b) when daily playing time was available. The club added experience in the offseason to make sure the trio could develop.
The strategy is a correction. Years of force-feeding players, usually because the team had few experienced options, helped lead to last year’s 43-119 finish. Often during the second half, the oldest or second-oldest player in the batting order was 27. If players were lost, there were few experienced mentors.
Other than Freeman, outfielder Mickey Moniak -- the team’s best offensive player for the first month-plus -- center fielder Brenton Doyle and corner outfielder Jordan Beck are all on the 10-day injured list.
Freeman is expected back early next week. Of the other three, Moniak is closest to resuming baseball activities and eventually returning. Will Carrigg continue playing regularly in the Majors when others return? Or will he return to Triple-A for guaranteed time?
Before Carrigg was promoted, Albuquerque manager Pedro Lopez communicated with him -- as well as other prime prospects -- about not pining away for a callup, but staying patient and taking care of points the Rockies felt needed to be improved. For Carrigg, it was resisting swinging at pitches out of the strike zone and becoming comfortable playing outfield defense at altitude. He made rapid and significant improvement at both.
Albuquerque was good practice for what Carrigg is experiencing here. Who knows if or how much he’ll play when others return?
“You’ve got to understand that when they feel the timing is right, the timing is right for them,” Carrigg said. “That was out of my control.
“You just have to stay where your feet are. If I do that, I’ll put myself in a good position to play here for a long time.”