Michael Toglia
National League Non-Tenders: 11/21/25
BySteve Adams | at
Every National League team has officially announced their non-tender decisions. It was a quiet evening in terms of subtractions, with only the Rangers parting with any marquee players. All players who were non-tendered are free agents without going on waivers. A few teams dropped pre-arbitration players from the back of the 40-man roster. It’s possible they preferred not to expose them to waivers and are hopeful of re-signing them to non-roster deals.
Here’s a full list of today’s activity in the NL, while the American League movesare available here. All projected salaries are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
- The Braves announced that right-handersAlek Manoah andCarson Ragsdale were not tendered contracts. Both had been acquired earlier in the offseason via waivers, and both are now free agents. Manoah was projected to earn $2.2MM. Ragsdale was not arb-eligible.
- The Brewers tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class,per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
- The Cardinals chose not to tender contracts to leftyJohn King, catcherYohel Pozo and rightySem Robberse, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatchreports.Jorge Alcala, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, was also non-tendered, John Denton of MLB.comadds. King and Alcala were both projected for a $2.1MM salary. The others were not arb-eligible.
- The Cubs non-tendered catcherReese McGuire,per ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. He hit .226/.245/.444 through 140 plate appearances in a backup catcher role and was arb-eligible for the final time. He’d been projected to earn $1.9MM. Right-handerEli Morgan, who was projected to earn $1.1MM, was also non-tendered,according to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian.
- The D-backs non-tendered left-handerTommy Henry, who’d already been designated for assignment, and right-handerTaylor Rashi. Neither was eligible for arbitration. They tendered contracts to their entire arb class.
- The Dodgers did not tender a contract to closerEvan Phillips,reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. He was only under club control for one more season and projected for a $6.1MM salary but underwentTommy John surgery in June. Dodgers rightyNick Frasso, who was not arb-eligible and finished the season on the 60-day IL, was also non-tendered,per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
- The Giants non-tendered left-handerJoey Lucchesi,reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Lucchesi pitched to a solid 3.76 ERA with a below-average 18.8% strikeout rate and strong 7.3% walk rate in 38 1/3 innings and had been projected for a $2MM salary. San Francisco also non-tendered catcher Andrew Knizner, who was designated for assignment this afternoon when the Giants acquired Joey Wiemer from Miami.
- The Marlins tendered contracts to all of their eligible players,per Isaac Azout of Fish On First.
- TheMets are non-tendering right-handerMax Kranick, according toWill Sammon of The Athletic. Kranick, 28, posted a 3.65 ERA in 37 innings with the Mets this year. It was his first big league opportunity since a five-inning cameo with the Pirates back in 2022. Kranick’s season came to an abrupt end back in July due to flexor tendon repair surgery. SouthpawsJose Castillo andDanny Young were also non-tendered,Sammon adds. Young had Tommy John surgery back in May. Castillo was a waiver claim who pitched for four different teams in 2025.
- The Nationals tendered contracts to their entire roster, per a team announcement.
- ThePadresannounced that leftyOmar Cruz and rightySean Reynolds were non-tendered. Neither was arbitration-eligible. They tendered contracts to every member of their arbitration class.
- The Phillies non-tendered rightiesMichael Mercado andDaniel Robert, neither of whom was arbitration-eligible. They’re both free agents. The Phils tendered contracts to all of their arb-eligible players otherwise.
- The Pirates non-tendered outfieldersAlexander Canario andRonny Simon, as well as rightiesColin Holderman andDauri Moreta. All four were designated for assignment earlier in the week. Holderman was projected for a $1.7MM salary and Moreta for $800K. The others weren’t arb-eligible.
- The Reds announced that catcherWill Banfield and right-handersCarson Spiers andRoddery Munoz were not tendered contracts. They’re all free agents. None of the three were arbitration-eligible, but by non-tendering them rather than designating them for assignment, Cincinnati bypasses the need to place them on waivers and can try to quickly re-sign any of the bunch to minor league deals, if the Reds are so inclined.
- The Rockies non-tendered first basemanMichael Toglia, the team announced. He’d been designated for assignment earlier in the week, making today’s non-tender all but a formality.
Rockies Designate Michael Toglia, Ryan Rolison For Assignment
ByDarragh McDonald | at
The Rockies announced that they have acquired left-handerBrennan Bernardino from the Red Sox, a move that waspreviously reported. They also selected the contracts of left-handerWelinton Herrera, right-handerGabriel Hughes and outfielderSterlin Thompson. They began the day with a 40-man count of 38, meaning they needed two spots for those four additions. They made space by designating first basemanMichael Toglia and left-handerRyan Rolison for assignment.
The three selections were necessary in order to project those players from the Rule 5 draft. In order to open space for them, the Rockies have knocked off two former first-round picks. Toglia, now 27, was taken 23rd overall in 2019. He has shown some power potential in the big leagues but always with massive strikeout problems. He has 42 home runs in 1,057 plate appearances but has been punched out at a 35% clip. He has a .201/.278/.389 batting line and 70 wRC+.
He exhausted his final option season in 2025, meaning he will be out of options going forward. That would make it hard for him to hang onto a roster spot, so the club has bumped him off today. The Rockies can explore some trade interest but might non-tender Toglia on Friday.
Rolison, now 28, was taken 22nd overall in 2018. He had his development thrown off by multiple factors. The pandemic wiped out the minor leagues in 2020. After that, shoulder problems held Rolison back. He missed the entire 2022 season and then hardly pitched in 2023. He finally made it to the big leagues in 2025 but posted a 7.02 earned run average in his 42 1/3 innings. He only struck out 13% of opponents and also gave out walks at a 10.4% clip.
He still has an optioning remaining and was decent in Triple-A this year. He pitched 29 2/3 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League with a 3.34 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 48.8% ground ball rate. Perhaps that leads to some interest but it’s also possible he ends up non-tendered in a few days.
Herrera, 22 in April, was an international signing out of the Dominican Republic. He has been climbing the minor league ladder, working as a reliever. He split 2025 between High-A and Double-A, posting a 2.64 ERA. He struck out 36.4% of batters faced with a 9.2% walk rate. He hasn’t yet reached the Triple-A level yet but the Rockies understandably didn’t want him to get away with those kinds of numbers.
Hughes, 24, was the club’s first round pick in 2022. He was selected 10th overall and received a $4MM signing bonus. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2024 but he got back on the mound this year. He made 24 starts across three different levels, logging 105 1/3 innings with a 4.19 ERA. His 19.9% strikeout rate wasn’t strong but his 8.6% walk rate was decent and he kept the ball on the ground at a 48.5% clip.
The Rockies are rebuilding and the rotation was historically bad in 2025. 14 of Hughes’ 24 starts came at the Triple-A level, so he could force his way to the majors at any point. However, he now has three option years, so the Rockies could also keep him in the minors until they feel he is ready.
Thompson, 24, was taken 31st overall in that same 2022 draft as Hughes. That was the compensation pick the Rockies received afterTrevor Story rejected a qualifying offer and signed with the Red Sox.
The young outfielder has hit his way up the minor league ladder. He spent 2025 in Triple-A, stepping to the plate 513 times. His 10.3% walk rate and 20.9% strikeout rate were both decent figures. He hit 18 home runs and slashed .296/.392/.519 for a 117 wRC+, though that was buoyed by a .353 batting average on balls in play.FanGraphs ranked him as the #9 prospect in the system coming into the year.
The Rockies currently have an outfield mix consisting ofBrenton Doyle,Mickey Moniak,Jordan Beck,Zac Veen and others. Thompson can jump into that mix and push for playing time immediately, though his full slate of options also means the Rockies don’t need to rush him.
Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images
Rockies Outright Keston Hiura
ByDarragh McDonald | at
June 19: Hiura cleared waivers and was outrighted back to Triple-A, according to the MLB.comtransaction log. It’s not clear if he’ll elect free agency.
June 16:The Rockies announced that first basemanMichael Toglia has been recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque. InfielderKeston Hiura has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.
This is the reversal of a transaction from a few weeks back. On May 31st, Toglia was optioned to Albuquerque, with Hiura selected to the roster to take his place. Toglia had a nice season in 2024 but got out to an awful start in 2025.
Last year, he hit 25 home runs in just 116 games and took over as the clubs’ regular first baseman. His 32.1% strikeout rate was high and his batting average was low, but he drew walks at an 11.8% clip. His .218/.311/.456 line actually translated to a subpar 98 wRC+, thanks to the hitter-friendly nature of Coors Field, but that still made him one of the better hitters on a bad team.
This year, prior to being sent down, his walk rate fell to 8.7% and his strikeout rate climbed even higher to 39.1%. He currently has a .194/.266/.349 slash and a 55 wRC+. Since getting optioned, he has played 11 Triple-A games, with numbers in line with his 2024 season. He hit three home runs with an 11.8% walk rate and 29.4% strikeout rate for a .273/.353/.568 line and 112 wRC+.
Hiura, 28, got a small amount of big league playing time and didn’t do much with it. He got 21 plate appearances over eight games. He did not draw a walk but struck out seven times. He knocked four hits, including one double. It all added up to a .222/.333/.278 line and 71 wRC+.
Presumably, Toglia will now be retaking the regular first base job after this brief reset. In his absence, Hiura got a decent chunk of the time there, with utility players likeOrlando Arcia andKyle Farmer also chipping in.
Hiura now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Rockies can technically take five days to explore trades. There’s not likely to be a ton of interest. Hiura was performing well enough in the minors prior to coming up but it’s been the case for years now that he shows pop in the minors and then strikes out too much in the majors. He now has 1,105 big league plate appearances with 50 home runs but a massive 35.9% strikeout rate.
He exhausted his final option year with the Brewers in 2022, which pushed him into journeyman status. Over the past few years, he has repeatedly cleared waivers and signed minor league deals with clubs like the Tigers, Angels and Rockies, occasionally getting brief looks in the majors. If he clears waivers again, he’ll have the choice of electing free agency or reporting back to Albuquerque.
Photo courtesy of Rhona Wise, Imagn Images
Rockies Option Michael Toglia, Designate Aaron Schunk, Select Keston Hiura
ByMark Polishuk | at
The Rockies announced three roster moves Saturday, including the selection ofKeston Hiura’s minor league contract to the active roster. In corresponding moves, Colorado designated infielderAaron Schunk for assignment and optionedMichael Toglia to Triple-A Albuquerque.
Toglia’s demotion is the most noteworthy of the transactions, as the former first-rounder has been the Rockies’ everyday first baseman. After struggling in limited playing time in 2022-23, Toglia had a borderline breakout over 458 plate appearances in 2024, hitting .218/.311/.456 with 25 home runs. While this still translated to just a 98 wRC+, Toglia showed some strong power and contact numbers, as well as an outstanding 11.8% walk rate.
Those promising signs have evaporated this season, however, amidst the disaster that is the 2025 Rockies season. Toglia has hit just .194/.266/.349 with six home runs over 207 PA, with his walk rate dropping to only slightly above the league average. The swing-and-miss problems that have persisted throughout his brief MLB career have continued, as Toglia has struck out a league-leading 81 times in those 207 PA.
Against these extreme struggles, Toglia will head back to Albuquerque to see if he can get himself on track. The hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League isn’t exactly the most accurate representation of batting prowess, but posting some good numbers would do well to help Toglia’s confidence in preparation for another call-up later in the year. As Toglia approaches his 27th birthday in August, it is also fair to wonder if the Rox still view him as a potential long-term answer in the lineup, or if first base could be one of the many positions that may be reviewed when the team takes stock after what might be a record-setting nightmare year.
Hiura was an even more highly-touted prospect during his days in the Brewers’ farm system, as Hiura was viewed as one of the sport’s top minor leaguers. An outstanding 2019 rookie season seemed to answer that promise, yet Hiura has since hit only .203/.287/.384 over 736 Major League plate appearances since Opening Day 2020. Like Toglia, Hiura has been very prone to strikeouts, with a 36K% to show for his big league career. Hiura elected free agency after being cut loose from the Angels last season, and he joined Colorado on a minors deal this past winter.
Toglia was the Rockies’ first-round pick in the 2019 draft, and Schunk went in the second round, selected 62nd overall. Schunk made his Major League debut last season, and has a .230/.254/.311 slash line to show for 127 PA during the 2024-25 seasons, while playing at second, third, and shortstop.
Kyle Farmer,Orlando Arcia, andTyler Freeman are utility types on the Rockies’ roster, so even though Schunk is a homegrown product, the Rox felt he was an expendable piece. Schunk was already designated for assignment and outrighted off the 40-man roster back in February, so if he clears waivers again, he can choose free agency rather than accept another outright to Albuquerque.
Rockies Recall Greg Jones For MLB Debut
BySteve Adams | at
2:00pm: The Rockies have now made the official announcement, recalling Jones and Toglia while placing both Bryant and Bouchard on the 10-day IL. Bryant’s ailment is listed as a left rib contusion while Bouchard’s is a right ankle sprain.
1:08pm: The Rockies are set to recall infielder/outfielderGreg Jones from Triple-A Albuquerque for what’ll be his major league debut,reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Jones is already with the club in St. Louis, and the Rockies appear set to place not onlyKris Bryant (as reported yesterday) but also fellow outfielderSean Bouchard on the injured list. Harding notes that Bouchard, who exited last night’s game with an apparent foot or ankle injury after running out a sacrifice bunt (video link), was on crutches in the clubhouse prior to the game.
Acquired from the Raysin a spring training trade sending pitching prospectJoe Rock to Tampa Bay, the 26-year-old Jones was the No. 22 overall pick in the 2019 draft. After impressing with a 2019 run in Low-A and a 2021 run in High-A, his bat stalled out in Double-A and Triple-A, however, and his prospect stock tumbled accordingly. Jones had a rebound last year when he slashed .278/.344/.467 in a hitter-friendly Triple-A setting (101 wRC+), which was enough to pique Colorado’s interest and bring about that offseason swap.
While Jones spent about a month on the injured list this season, he’s gotten into 20 Triple-A games and taken 89 plate appearances, batting .240/.360/.387 with a hefty 12.4% walk rate against an also sizable 28.1% strikeout rate. Jones has popped two home runs and, despite his limited time on the field, already swiped 15 bases in 16 attempts. He’s played both shortstop and center field in Albuquerque this year, spending more time at the latter of the two.
Strikeouts have been an issue for Jones throughout his minor league tenure, but scouting reports have credited him as a 70- or even 80-grade runner with a plus arm and huge athleticism. Injuries have regularly kept him off the field though, and paired with the lost minor league season in 2020, Jones has just 293 professional games despite being drafted nearly five years ago.
Those roadblocks in his development have left him rougher around the edges than most 26-year-old minor leaguers, but there’s a clear collection of impressive tools in his skill set if he can eventually hone his bat-to-ball skills with more reps. Doing so at the game’s top level will be a challenge in and of itself, but with Bouchard and Bryant likely headed to the IL alongside outfieldersNolan Jones andJordan Beck, the Rockies aren’t exactly teeming with outfield options.Michael Toglia is already expected to take Bryant’s spot on the big league club, and Jones is the only other outfielder on Colorado’s 40-man roster.
Rockies To Select Alan Trejo
BySteve Adams | at
Utility infielderAlan Trejo has made the Rockies’ Opening Day roster, manager Bud Black announced this morning (X link via Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). He’s a non-roster invitee in camp and will thus need to be selected to the 40-man roster. Colorado has a full 40-man at the moment. Left-handerLucas Gilbreath is recovering from Tommy John surgery performed in March of 2023 and could be a 60-day IL candidate. Otherwise, the Rox will likely need to free up a spot by way of a DFA.
Black also announced that first baseman/outfielderMichael Toglia has made Colorado’s roster. OutfielderSean Bouchard has been optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque to begin the season. Toglia figures to step in as the team’s primary right fielder, as first base will be occupied byKris Bryant in 2024.
Trejo, 27, has appeared in the majors with the Rockies in each of the past three seasons. He’s logged 402 plate appearances and put together a .243/.292/.367 slash (65 wRC+) with nine homers, 19 doubles, six steals (in nine tries), a 6% walk rate and a 24.1% strikeout rate. He’s been far better in Triple-A, evidenced by a .292/.338/.261 slash in 710 plate appearances there, and he’s had a decent performance this spring: .244/.327/.488, three homers in 49 trips to the plate.
Defensively, Trejo has played each of second base, shortstop and third base. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average grade him as a sharp defender at second base and third base but a sub-par option at shortstop. Trejo should serve as a backup for second basemanBrendan Rodgers, shortstopEzequiel Tovar and third basemanRyan McMahon. He’s a right-handed hitter who’s been far better against fellow righties than against lefties to this point in his still fairly young career.
Trejo is out of minor league options, so if the Rockies wish to make a change at any point, they’ll need to designate him for assignment. He can’t be sent down to the minors without first clearing waivers. That’s true of Colorado’s entire bench, in fact. Backup catcherJacob Stallings has enough service time that he can’t be optioned without his consent, and none of Trejo, corner infielder/DHElehuris Montero, or newly acquired outfielder/first basemanJake Cave have minor league options remaining.
As for Toglia, he turned in a hefty .259/.333/.593 slash and clubbed five homers in 60 spring plate appearances. That performance came with at least one notable red flag, as he also went down on strikes in 31.7% of his plate appearances, but it was enough to beat out the 27-year-old Bouchard, who hit just .205/.308/.341 in a similar amount of playing time this spring. Toglia will join center fielderBrenton Doyle and left fielderNolan Jones in the Rockies outfield most days.
The 25-year-old Toglia was the No. 23 overall pick by the Rockies back in 2019. He’s never drawn the sort of top-100 fanfare many other first-round picks garner but has long ranked as one of the better prospects in a thin Rockies system — climbing as high as No. 2 on Baseball America’s rankings two offseasons ago. Toglia hasn’t hit well in the majors in either 2022 or 2023, with just a .187/.246/.325 slash and 34.6% strikeout rate through 272 plate appearances. He’s been a fine hitter in the upper minors, but scouts have questioned his hit tool throughout his pro career, even as his plus raw power has been on display (e.g. a 32-homer season in 2022).
Rockies Select Cole Tucker, Designate Coco Montes For Assignment
ByDarragh McDonald | at
The Rockies announced that they have selected the contract of infielder/outfielderCole Tucker, with first baseman/outfielderMichael Toglia optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque in a corresponding move. To open a spot for Tucker on the 40-man, infielderCoco Montes was designated for assignment.
Tucker, 27, signed a minor league deal with the Rockies in the offseason. He was added to the big league roster last month but was designated for assignment just one week later, having taken just eight plate appearances over three games. He was outrighted to Albuquerque after clearing waivers and could have rejected that assignment based on having a previous career outright, but accepted and is now back with the big league club.
Around that brief stint in the majors, he’s taken 321 trips to the plate in 70 Triple-A games. He walked in 15.3% of those, leading to a batting line of .280/.391/.407 and 101 wRC+. Once a highly-touted prospect with the Pirates, he’s hit just .214/.263/.316 in 477 major league plate appearances thus far. At the very least, he should provide the Rox with defensive versatility, having played each infield and outfield position in his career. He can be controlled for four more seasons beyond this one but is out of options.
Montes, 26, hit .321/.401/.560 through his first 59 Triple-A games this year and got selected to the big league roster in June. But he then hit just .184/.244/.316 in his first 41 plate appearances at the major league level and has now been bounced from the roster.
Since the trade deadline has passed, the Rockies will place Montes on waivers in the coming days. His first taste of the majors didn’t go well but he’s generally produced solid numbers in the minors and spent significant time at the three infield positions to the left of first base. He will still have two option years beyond this one and has less than a year of service time.
Rockies Select Fernando Abad, Place C.J. Cron On IL
ByAnthony Franco andDarragh McDonald | at
The Rockies announced they’ve selected the contract of left-handerFernando Abad and recalled infielder/outfielderMichael Toglia from Triple-A Albuquerque. In corresponding moves, first basemanC.J. Cron was placed on the 10-day injured list while right-handerNick Mears was placed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to May 12, due to a left oblique strain. There was already a vacancy on the club’s 40-man roster for Abad, meaning no corresponding move will be necessary in that regard.
Abad gets back to the big leagues for the first time in two years. The veteran southpaw signed a minor league deal over the winter after spending 2022 in Triple-A with the Mariners. He went to Albuquerque and has performed exceptionally well in one of affiliated ball’s toughest parks for pitchers. Abad has thrown 16 innings of three-run ball, fanning 20 hitters while walking just a pair.
Now 37, Abad has pitched in parts of 10 big league campaigns. He carries a 3.77 ERA over 348 1/3 innings, striking out a below-average 19.6% of opposing hitters but keeping his walks to a reasonable 8.3% clip. He joins Brent Suter and Brad Hand as veteran left-handed options for manager Bud Black in relief.
Black told reporters yesterday the struggling Cron waslikely to hit the IL with back spasms. Toglia comes up for the first time this season to at least factor into the first base mix. The former first round pick is hitting .257/.364/.493 over 37 games with the Isotopes. He had a tough go in his first major league action last season, putting up a .216/.275/.378 line over 120 trips to the plate.
Rockies Select Michael Toglia
ByDarragh McDonald | at
The Rockies announced that they have selected first base prospectMichael Toglia to their roster and recalled infielder/outfielderSean Bouchard. OutfieldersWynton Bernard andSam Hilliard were optioned to Triple-A in corresponding moves. The club already had a vacancy on their 40-man roster for Toglia. Thomas Harding of MLB.comtweeted about Toglia’s promotion before the official announcement.
Toglia, 24, was a first-round draft pick, being selected 23rd overall by the Rockies in 2019. He landed on Baseball America’s list of top Colorado farmhands in 2020 and has been there ever since. He got into 41 games at Low-A the year of his draft, but missed out on formal game action in 2020 when the pandemic canceled the minor league seasons.
Getting back into action last year, the switch-hitter split his time between High-A and Double-A, hitting 22 home runs and stealing 10 bases in 115 games. Overall, he hit .228/.333/.445, walking in an impressive 13% of his plate appearances but also striking out in 28.5% of them. In 2022, he’s produced fairly similar results while splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A. In 114 games between those two levels, he’s hit 30 long balls and swiped seven bags. His .249/.341/.510 batting line comes with a 12.1% walk rate but a 30.1% strikeout rate. Despite that high-strikeout approach, he’s still been 24% above average at the plate for the year, as evidenced by his 124 wRC+.
Defensively, Toglia has primarily played first base in his young career thus far, though he also played right field in nine games this season. The Rox have usedC.J. Cron as their primary first baseman in recent seasons, though it may be possible for both he and Toglia to share the lineup. Cron is in the designated hitter slot tonight while Toglia will be making his MLB debut and playing first base. That could potentially limit the club’s flexibility if Toglia proves himself worthy of everyday at-bats, though Cron will be a free agent in just over a year. Also, if the club deems Toglia a passable defender in the outfield, he could see some time out there. The Rockies are 55-74 and in the NL West basement, 15 1/2 games out of a playoff spot. They can use the remaining weeks of the season to evaluate young players for future roles, with Toglia now stepping up for his audition.
Rockies’ Tim Collins Opts Out Of 2020 Season
BySteve Adams | at
The Rockies announced Monday that left-handerTim Collins has informed the club that he will opt out of the remainder of the 2020 season. He’d been in the team’s 60-man player pool but did not make the Opening Day, 30-man roster.
Colorado has also formally added nine players to its 60-man pool, per the announcement. Joining the group are right-handersTommy Doyle, Karl Kauffmann andWes Parsons; infieldersAaron Schunk,Michael Toglia,Ryan Vilade andColton Welker; leftyHelcris Olivarez; and catcherWillie MacIver.
The Rockies’ announcement comes after two game — the Marlins/Orioles tilt in Miami and the Phillies/Yankees contest in Philadelphia — were postponed due to Covid-19 concerns. However, USA Today’s Bob Nightengaletweets that Collins had already informed the team of his decision to opt out prior to today’s news. That said, with 11 players and a pair of coaches testing positive in the Marlins organization alone since Friday, it’s certainly possible that we’ll see another wave of players decide to step away from the season citing health and safety concerns.
Collins, 30, was a staple in the Royals’ bullpen from 2011-14, pitching to a 3.54 ERA with better than a strikeout per frames part of a relief corps that eventually served as the backbone for consecutive World Series appearances. Unfortunately for Collins, he was only a part of the 2014 World Series runner-up roster, as he underwent Tommy John surgery early in 2015. When Collins appeared on the cusp of returning in 2016, he suffered a second UCL tear that led to a second Tommy John surgery.
All told, Collins missed the 2015-17 seasons while recovering, but he returned to the mound in 2018 and made it back to the Majors with the Nationals. In two seasons since his return, he’s totaled 31 1/3 frames in the Majors and logged a 4.02 ERA with a 25-to-15 K/BB ratio. He’s handled righties better than lefties in his career to date, so Collins isn’t necessarily impacted by the three-batter minimum rule like some other southpaws might be.
The 2020 season could’ve been a proving grounds of sorts for Collins, who is still young enough to reestablish himself as a quality reliever. But he’ll instead opt to step aside amid the current health concerns and likely look for another minor league deal this winter.


