Rockies to call up pitching prospect Mason Adams just weeks after deadline deal

The Colorado Rockies are wasting no time putting their trade deadline haul to work.

Right-handed pitcher Mason Adams, acquired from the Chicago White Sox in the Brenton Doyle deal earlier this month, is expected to make his major league debut Tuesday against the Washington Nationals, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reported Monday. Adams will step into the rotation spot vacated by left-hander Kyle Freeland, who is headed to the 15-day injured list with a pinched nerve in his neck.

The Rockies are also calling up an unrelated right-hander named Blake Adams ahead of Monday night’s game against the Nationals to fill Freeland’s active roster spot. The Adamses are not family but they share a lot in common — drafted in the 13th round in 2022 and each born in 2000 awaiting their big league debut.

Mason Adams, 26, has posted a 3.48 ERA across 62 innings at Triple-A this season between the White Sox’s and Rockies’ affiliates. Baseball America ranks him 15th in Colorado’s farm system. The 6-foot-1 control-based righty trys to induce grounders. He underwent Tommy John surgery after a strong 2024 campaign and has looked sharp in his comeback, posting a 2.08 ERA in 13 innings across three strong starts in New Mexico.

MLB.com’s scouting report pegs Adams as a strike-throwing, back-of-the-rotation starter with plus command.

The Rockies have had no shortage of roster churn since the trade deadline. Colorado dealt Doyle, its two-time Gold Glove center fielder, to the White Sox for Adams and teenage shortstop Carlos Vielma. The club also moved relievers Antonio Senzatela and Victor Vodnik and previously called up right-hander Nick Frasso, a former top-100 prospect acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Seth Halvorsen deal, to help restock the bullpen. Outfielder Jordan Beck was promoted to take Doyle’s roster spot.

As for Freeland, the IL stint all but officially ends any hope of reaching the 170-inning threshold that would have triggered a $17 million player option for 2027 under his five-year, $64.5 million extension. Through 23 starts this season, the veteran lefty has logged 124.1 innings with a 6.37 ERA. He is now expected to hit free agency this winter.

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