Rockies make flurry of moves, including promoting two and releasing Stallings

The Colorado Rockies keep shuffling the deck.

Last week, it involved bringing some veterans into the fold, promoting Sam Hilliard and Keston Hiura while adding former All-Star Orlando Arcia after he was released by the Atlanta Braves.

Friday, it was about giving youth an extended chance.

Out is 35-year-old catcher Jacob Stallings, who had been struggling, posting a meager .143/.217/.179 line. In is 26-year-old Braxton Fulford, who had a brief stint with the big club in April.

Also in is infielder Ryan Ritter, who will fill in for Ezequiel Tovar, as he heads to the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain.

Tovar’s designation is retroactive to June 3.

Reliever Zach Agnos also returns to the team after missing two games while on the bereavement list.

ROCKIES WANT TO SEE WHAT FULFORD AND RITTER CAN DO

A 2021 sixth-round pick whose only hit in four MLB games earlier this season was a home run against Washington on April 20, Fulford crushed AAA pitching this year.

But in 117 plate appearances with the Albuquerque Isotopes this season, he logged a .314/.393/.608 line with 10 home runs. Clearly, it was time to give him a look at the major-league level as the No. 2 catcher behind Hunter Goodman, who filleted the Miami Marlins this week.
Ritter earned Pacific Coast League Player of the Month honors for May, logging a .381/.445/.918 line for a colossal 1.363 OPS for the month.

That included a three-homer game on May 25 against the Reno Aces.

At one point Ritter posted an 11-game extra-base hit streak.

A fourth-round pick of the Rockies in 2022 from the University of Kentucky, Ritter’s power stroke at AAA exceeded that which he displayed at AA Hartford, where he logged a .751 OPS over the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

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