To prepare my Top 400 Starting Pitchers for 2025 article, I thoroughly review every team’s rotation and write the blurbs you see in February. I usually don’t share these publicly until then, but I wanted to give another benefit to those who support us with PL Pro. Y’all are the ones who keep the lights on for us. Y’all rock.
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Huge thanks to Josh Mockensturm for creating these tables and finding video for all these players.
Expected Starters
Germán Márquez (COL, RHP)
When we last saw Germán for more than a handful of games, it was 2022 and times were dire. After his 2024 came to a screeching halt due to a stress fracture in his elbow after just one four-inning game, we still have very little idea of what we’ll get from Germán in 2025. The problem here lies in what we can expect. The last proper season we saw came with a touch of hope in his breakers against RHB and a sinker that managed to induce a sub 30% ICR, but his four-seamer is far from effective and LHB had a field day. For Márquez to be worth your attention, he needs to return and be better than his last full season, and arguably better than his 2021 campaign as well. Here’s to hoping the slider and curve can return 20% SwStr rates once again to at least give him a chance.
Ryan Feltner (COL, RHP)
Feltner’s best offering is the changeup he features to LHB and I wish I had more accolades for the rare fantasy relevant arm. The sinker has induced weak contact to RHB, though I question its ability to replicate for another full year, while the four-seamer and breakers bring little excitement to the table. No thanks.
Kyle Freeland (COL, LHP)
Freeland’s curveball is the only reason for his massive strikeout boost to…17%+ last season – a pitch that was saved for two-strike counts half the time and was a clear outlier of efficiency with a 32% putaway rate against LHB. Freeland’s slider declined massively against RHB, though the sinker/slider combo was still effective at reducing hard contact. But in his home park, with few whiffs, Freeland is a spin of the wheel for a QS…or a massive dud. I’d really hate to be in a spot where I have to rely on Freeland to come through, even on the road.
Antonio Senzatela (COL, RHP)
Senz-A. Oh buddy. It took a long time to find routine starts after 2022’s TJS, even if it was a trio of sadness at the end of September last year. His approach is the same: Mediocre 94/95 mph four-seamers and “a slider” with a poor SwStr rate both located down-and-away to RHB, while staying away from LHB with the same pair and mixing in a few changeups and “show me” curves. It’s not good. At all. It also finds a decent amount of strikes and can return outs on a given night for six frames of survival. Please avoid this. Please.
Austin Gomber (COL, LHP)
I’ve seen days where Gomber has his changeup cooking against RHB while his curve and slider stifle LHB with effective sprinkles against RHB, allowing batters to get frustrated in the box after being promised 40% meatball four-seamers. Those days are few and far between, sadly, and the value of chasing a Colorado Rockies SP is simply not there. Don’t get Gomber’d, y’all.
On The Fringe
Bradley Blalock (COL, RHP)
Blalock arrived at the deadline and gave us a standard Rockies RP for a handful of starts – A poor fastball with a slider that can be decent at times and not much else. He featured a splitter as his premier weapon against LHB, often for just 50% strikes and that can’t happen when utilized in all counts (sub 20% two-strike usage!). Maybe the splitter feel arrives, the slider gets used more than the four-seamer, and the curveball can be trusted against LHB. That’s a whole lot of maybe for a possible deep-league streaming option.
Names To Know
Karl Kauffmann (COL, RHP)
He’s a command pitcher with a deep arsenal that makes him more likely to succeed in Coors than “stuff” arms with limited weapons (They don’t have any of those, FWIW), but does it have to be 90 mph?! Yes, let’s make the joke that he should be traded to KC, sure sure sure, but for his own sake, he’s actually where he should be. I wouldn’t be surprised if Colorado embraces him and turns Kauffmann into a regular starter for years given his excellent ability to locate (ignore those high walk starts last year). Expect a few QS gems here and there with strikeouts flowing like that one time I had to participate in a rap battle. You won? You can’t be serious. A Grave Mistake will be made many times.
Jake Woodford (COL, RHP)
The Amish Mustang is a Non-Roster Invitee for the spring and sure, I can see the Rockies going for it. It’s an arm that can throw strikes. This is going to be brutal.
Jack O’Loughlin (COL, LHP)
The Rockies offered the Irish Pumpkin a Non-Roster Invite to spring training and we should carry zero expectations. He’s 91 mph from the left side without anything of note as he maneuvers around the zone with all his pitches. That’s about it y’all.
Relevant Prospects
Chase Dollander (COL, RHP)
He profiles out to be the best pitcher in Colorado the moment he starts for the major league squad with a mid-to-upper 90s four-seamer, high-80s slider, and changeup + curve to match. After moving to Double-A in his first professional season, Dollander could touch the majors later this year, hoping to retain his 30% strikeout marks with a sub 10% walk rate along the way. That said, it’s Coors. Dollander’s decline in the second half of last year toward decent-but-not-elite mixed with the Shag Rug and Coors outlines a big name I’ll likely pass on when dipping his foot into the major leagues for the first time. He’s not Skenes.
Carson Palmquist (COL, LHP)
Palmquist’s best attribute is his elite 7.2 feet of extension that gives him a chance to be a crafty Cody Bradford type with a better breaking ball. However, the arm angle is vastly different with a super flat delivery (1.5 HAVAA!) that could help nullify his most glaring weakness: 90/91 mph velocity. Sadly, Carson doesn’t elevate effectively, nor did his changeup look polished during his 30+ frames in Triple-A. It’s possible he rebounds in 2025 and finds the feels he lost last year, though he hasn’t displayed a command-focused approach over the years, likely due to the low arm angle. The strikeout upside doesn’t seem too compelling, while the high risk of inefficiency + Coors makes Palmquist an easy avoid.
Brody Brecht (COL, RHP)
Brecht was drafted in 2024 and should not be expected to appear in 2025. He throws hard (up to triple digits!) but his fastball command will be the focus on his tenure in the minors. The slider is a legit weapon, though, and he could go the Skenes route with a splitter/splinker in the mix as well. He’s one to know and could break the trend of SP failure in Colorado in due time.
Sean Sullivan (COL, LHP)
Sullivan is an interesting one. His ultra cross-body mechanics from the left side creates massive deception that allowed for his 87 mph heater to make up the majority of his arsenal and return impressive marks with a 2.11 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 113 frames with a sparkling walk rate under 4%. That can work for A+ ball and decently well at Double-A (20% K rate, 5% BB rate), but in the majors? That’s a much harder sell. His ability to throw strikes could make him an option for the Rockies this year when they need a warm body and possibly perk some ears in his debut by surprising batters who are unaware of his approach. This isn’t a fantasy play for more than one start at most.