Rockies option a starting pitcher back down to Triple-A

Carson Palmquist had struggled so far in the big leagues for the Colorado Rockies. The starting pitcher was called up back in mid-May in hopes of adding a talented, young arm to the pitching rotation, but he was not able to find his stride in the five starts he made for the club.

On Thursday, not even a month after the club brought him up to the majors, Palmquist was optioned back down to the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Triple-A affiliate for the Rockies.

The Rockies announced today that they have recalled RHP Anthony Molina from Triple-A Albuquerque. LHP Carson Palmquist was optioned to Triple-A following yesterday’s game.

— Rockies Club Information (@RockiesClubInfo) June 12, 2025

To balance out the move, the Rockies are bringing Anthony Molina back up to the bigs. He’s had one appearance for the club this season, one inning of work in which he recorded a strikeout and didn’t allow a hit against the Rangers back in May. Last year, he appeared in 35 games and posted a 6.79 ERA.

This is not how the team envisioned Palmquist’s MLB career to kick off, but it has been a very rough stretch for the 24-year-old out of Miami. He has an 0-4 record, a 7.77 ERA and has allowed 27 hits and 19 earned runs in 22 innings. That ERA mark is the worst among all of Colorado’s starting pitchers who have made an appearance this season, and the third-worst total on the team.

Palmquist has put up solid numbers in almost every other year of his young career on his journey to the big leagues. In three years at the University of Miami, he never posted an ERA higher than 2.89 and went 9-4 in his final season. In the minor leagues, he only had an ERA north of 5.00 once, last season with the Isotopes.

He showed some flashes throughout his five starts with Colorado, but was never able to put all his tools together and pitch consistently throughout a start. His best outing came against the Chicago Cubs back on May 26 when he went five innings (season-high) and allowed just three hits while striking out four batters. He also turned some heads in his start against the New York Mets recently when he struck out the heart of the lineup.

Carson Palmquist, K'ing the Side in the 2nd. pic.twitter.com/0HXC7VpdfK

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 1, 2025

The Rockies’ next game is on Thursday afternoon against the San Francisco Giants, the final matchup of a six-game homestand for the purple and black. First pitch from Coors Field is at 1:10 p.m. MDT.

Related

Freeland leaves due to neck tightness as Rockies fall in extra inningsRockies fall to Dodgers as Ohtani launches another homer at their expenseRockies place All-Star Hunter Goodman on ILDr. Ramos & Zach Bye discuss Brenton Doyle’s ObliqueRockies pull plug on Lorenzen, designate him for assignmentRockies throttled as Dodgers, Ohtani light up Sugano