DENVER -- Rockies rookie Warming Bernabel has filled the box score -- and driven up one fan’s pulse. “My dad, after every game, he calls me and says he’s gonna get a heart attack, just watching me out there doing what I’m doing,” Bernabel said in Spanish, with Edwin Perez interpreting. Bernabel’s hitting has allowed the Rockies to have a change of heart at first base. He is the second player in the modern era to record 14+ hits and eight-plus extra-base hits through seven career games, joining Mitchell Page in 1977. The position had belonged to switch-hitting Michael Toglia for most of the season, save for a trip to Triple-A Albuquerque in late May to regain his swing and confidence. With utility players taking turns at first base, the Rockies’ best option was to wait for Toglia. |
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Struggles returned, however. The difference this time is Bernabel came up from Albuquerque and in one week supplanted Toglia, who was optioned back to Albuquerque to get regular playing time and address his strikeout rate -- 38.3 percent at the Major League level. Toglia’s first option was fretted, since he was a first-round pick in 2019 and the club didn’t have a viable option. But like Toglia in the Draft, Bernabel represents an investment by the organization -- $900,000 to sign out of Bani, Dominican Republic, in 2018. Bernabel ranked as high as No. 6 on the MLB Pipeline Rockies Top 30 in May 2023. |
A back injury slowed his progress. The Rockies removed him from the 40-man Major League roster at the start of last season, but kept developing him. A switch from third base to first base put him in position for his chance. “It’s a very good thing, competition -- it’s a good thing when you have a guy like Bernabel that came up here and basically earned a spot,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “That’s what you want, especially in a team in our situation. You want guys to force their hand and earn a spot. Then guys that lose their spot, they need to go to work and get better so they can come back and get their spot back.” It’s how Bernabel, 23, revived his prospect status. |
“It comes to my offseason work on every aspect of the game -- the mental, my swing, everything I worked on,” Bernabel said. “I also credit a lot of my Triple-A work. I learned from a lot of the veterans there who gave me lessons and taught me a lot. “And I credit my whole Minor League career. I had a lot of at-bats, so you get confidence. You get the confidence and the talent that you have to have when you have so many at-bats in the Minors.” Schaeffer detailed how Toglia can imitate Bernabel, and go from outcast to back in good graces. “Michael doesn’t need to be here and sit on the bench -- no good comes from that,” Schaeffer said. “He needs to work on flattening his bat path out. He needs to handle the top third of the zone, where he’s swinging and missing a lot. He knows all these things. He just needs to go and force our hand.” |
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MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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With righty Antonio Senzatela on the injured list with a right middle finger blister, the Rockies will need a starter for Wednesday afternoon against the Blue Jays. The club has not made an announcement, but a prime candidate is right-hander Anthony Molina, who spent last season in the Rockies’ bullpen as a Rule 5 Draft pick and is being developed as a starter. Molina is 4-5 with a 6.59 ERA in 15 starts in Triple-A, but is trending upward -- 2-0, 3.06 in four July starts. |
Lefty Kyle Freeland, last seen battling illness in Cleveland during his last start, said the extreme congestion, eardrum pressure, inflamed sinuses and shortness of breath led to him losing 10 pounds. He will be available to start Tuesday night against the Jays. “It’s not individual,” Freeland said. “It’s a team thing. I was not doing it to look tough or anything like that. I did it to try to get the team a win, do anything I can on my part. Unfortunately, those circumstances of me being very sick didn’t really line up for me to pitch to the best of my ability.” |
Released in May by the Braves, with whom he earned a World Series ring in 2021 and appeared in the 2023 All-Star Game, Orlando Arcia enthusiastically accepted a utility role with the Rockies. Arcia, 30, is making starts at third base (as is veteran Kyle Farmer, 34) as the Rockies bridge between Ryan McMahon (now with the Yankees) and most likely Kyle Karros (.288, 2 HR through his first 13 games at Albuquerque.) Earlier this season, he played first base – which he had played in just one Spring Training game. After turning down Minor League offers from contending teams, and not being dealt at the Trade Deadline although some teams considered him as an option, Arcia said he has found joy with the Rockies’ young squad. “Since the moment I stepped into this stadium, I’ve had fun,” Arcia said through Perez before Sunday’s loss to the Pirates. “I want to have fun playing baseball, but I want the younger guys to have fun playing. I want them to learn what it is to be up here – to be a professional – but ultimately to have fun.” “It’s a testament to who he is,” Schaeffer said. “If you watch him during a game – and I don’t know if you can see it on TV or not – but when he’s on the bench, he’s the life of the bench. He’s been a huge addition to team morale. Skills wise, defensively, he can play everywhere and the fact he’s willing to play multiple positions is a testament to his character.” Arcia, released by the Braves with more than a year left on his contract, has still not found offensive footing – .178 with the Rockies after .194 with the Braves – but is working on “having good contact.” He homered in Saturday’s win over the Pirates. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end. The Rockies, who also have a mutual option with Farmer, will have to decide how many veteran bench players they can carry. “This team has great chemistry and a great future,” he said. “I would love to stay here and I’ve enjoyed my time. But it’s out of my control. Baseball is ultimately a decision. Sometimes it goes the way you want, sometimes it won’t.” |
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