Rockies demote home-run leader Michael Toglia … but there’s more to it than that

Michael Toglia has not hit for average to this point in the season. But the 2019 first-round pick of the Colorado Rockies has displayed a decent power bat so far this season, leading the team with four home runs.

And on Wednesday, the team optioned him to AAA Albuquerque.

But there’s more to it than just demoting the team’s leader in dingers.

First of all, Michael Toglia will be back. Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reported that Toglia will be the 27th man on the roster this weekend when the Rockies face fellow cellar-dweller Houston for a pair of games in Mexico City.

Second, Toglia is in a deep slump. He has perhaps the most bizarre stat line in MLB so far this season, with five hits — four of them being home runs. He carries a batting average of .106 and even with the four homers, his OPS is just .505.

Michael Toglia hasn’t played at all in the Rockies’ current series agains the San Diego Padres, which continues Wednesday night at Coors Field.

Since the end of the Rockies’ first homestand, Toglia is just 1-for-22, with his lone hit being a solo home run in an April 15 loss at Philadelphia. That results in a microscopic slash line of .045/.087/.182 and an OPS of .269.

This doesn’t augur well for Toglia, who has struggled in 91 major-league games since his initial call-up two years ago. Toglia has a career .174/.231/.331 line and a .562 OPS over 321 plate appearances, which also includes 114 strikeouts against just 20 walks.

The 2024 season for the Rockies is going to be about learning what what they possess in some of the young players in whom they’ve invested. For some, like center fielder Brenton Doyle and shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, the early returns are promising. But for others like Toglia and slumping left fielder Nolan Jones, the returns are thoroughly depressing — not unlike the Rockies’ 6-18 record itself heading into Wednesday.