CHICAGO -- Over his first nine Major League games, Rockies No. 6 prospect Cole Carrigg has shown off all the athletic traits that made him the 65th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.
In Wednesday night's 8-6 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field, he broke out the throwing arm that lit up the MLB Draft Combine in his draft year.
In the bottom of the fifth, Carrigg caught a Matt Shaw fly ball in medium center field and completed a double play with a 99.8 mph throw to third base to beat Ian Happ. Third baseman Kyle Karros made the tag by using all the reach that his 6-foot-5 frame could provide. It was the fifth-hardest throw from an MLB outfielder that resulted in an out this season.
“Happ is a pretty decent runner -- not a super blazer -- so I felt like I had a good chance to throw him out if I could just get it there in the air, and somehow Kyle made the tag,” Carrigg said.
Carrigg, 24, has always had the arm. Before being drafted out of San Diego State, Carrigg showed up at the combine in Phoenix and lit up the radar gun with a 100 mph throw in the infield – he was mostly a shortstop in college – and added throws from the outfield of 101 and 102.
As he entered pro ball, Carrigg expressed a preference in playing catcher. But as was the case with his collegiate coaches, the Rockies felt his tools were simply too much to have him confined behind the plate.
Carrigg’s chance came because of injuries in center field. Brenton Doyle, the 2023 and 2024 National League Gold Glove Award winner in center, is making a careful return from a left oblique injury, and Mickey Moniak will begin a Minor League rehab assignment Thursday after missing time with right ankle tendinitis.
Already, the switch-hitting Carrigg has three home runs – two from the left, the other from the right – a stolen base, a standout catch in center, and a throw that will keep him in the highlight reels.
“Right on the money,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “I mean, he plays against the ivy out there last night and tonight. … It’s just what I’m talking about. When he’s such a dynamic player, he can affect the game on both sides of the ball.”
Carrigg’s throw Wednesday was reminiscent of one he made last August while playing for Double-A Hartford at Portland.
Karros’ memory went back further.
“He said in the moment that it felt like he was throwing that ball in Vancouver, back when we were in High-A,” Karros said. “There’s no one else I’d rather lay a tag down for. That’s why I got in there, put my nose in it and applied the tag.”