Why the Rockies believe Chase Dollander is ready for his major-league debut

DENVER — Chase Dollander has just 24 professional starts to his name. Just one was at a level higher than AA — a 4-inning appearance last week in Sacramento for the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes.

But on Friday, the Colorado Rockies decided that was enough for their 2023 first-round pick. And with Austin Gomber on the injured list, they decided that the time was now for Dollander to make his first major-league start, on Sunday afternoon against the insert-city-name-here Athletics.

But he didn’t learn this in the most conventional of ways.

The Rockies posted a social-media video of Dollander learning about the promotion while going over a scouting report in advance of what was supposed to be his second Albuquerque start.

Bah God, that’s Chase Dollander’s Music pic.twitter.com/3XyLU9YtoT

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 4, 2025

But in reality, Dollander had an inkling moments earlier.

“Right before I got called into the office, I got a text from the hotel saying, ‘Hey, we’re looking forward to welcoming your stay.’ And I was like, ‘Oh,’ like, I started — my heart dropped, and I was like, ‘What’s going on?'” Dollander said in the Rockies dugout Saturday afternoon.

“And then I walk in, and thankfully, our pitching coach [Chris] Michalak, played it off really well and was like, ‘Hey, let’s just go over this scouting report.’ I was like, ‘All right, sounds good.’ And I looked up, and I saw the camera, and I was like, ‘Is this happening right now?’

“And then it happened, so, yeah. It was pretty funny, though.”

Chase Dollander rolled with it — just like he’ll have to if he is to survive pitching in the hurlers’ house of horrors that Coors Field has been for most of its 30-year history. Dollander is among the most ballyhooed pitching prospects to ever step into the Rockies clubhouse — certainly the most celebrated since Jon Gray, who made his major-league debut 10 years ago.

The team believes he’s ready for this — and not just because of his fastball velocity and his mix of pitches.

CHASE DOLLANDER’S MENTAL MAKEUP PREPARES HIM FOR THIS

“Quite a bit,” manager Bud Black said. “It’s the whole player that we evaluate and with him, we knew this going into spring training because we saw it in the minor leagues that his his routines, his work ethic, his aptitude were all in the right spot.

“So, making this decision, there is really no hesitancy at all on our part.”

Certainly, the Rockies had a bit more to work with given that Chase Dollander pitched at the college level — in the high-pressure SEC at Tennessee, which went to the College World Series in 2023, his last season there.

Dollander is part of a recent pivot in draft emphasis for the Rockies to college pitching, which could begin bearing fruit this year, not only with him, but potential future closer Zach Agnos, an East Carolina product who is in Albuquerque.

On the mound, Dollander’s spring-training work was promising, albeit inconsistent. It was enough to ensure that he would get the major-league call at some point this season, but his struggles — he walked four batters over 1 2/3 innings in his second Cactus League start and got tagged for two home runs in 3 1/3 innings during his final appearance on March 23 — indicated he needed polish.

Chase Dollander averaged 19.85 pitches per inning over five Cactus League appearances, so that, along with a 1.596 WHIP and a 2.30 HR/9 rate showed that there will likely be some moments where Rockies supporters will face a wild ride.

“I think — without getting too elaborate, a little bit of his issue has been the efficiency, as we’ve talked about before … some deeper counts, some high pitch count-per innings, there’s — and even in the minor leagues a little bit, too,” Black said. “So, we gotta get a handle on that. And he understood exactly what I’m saying.

“So, I mean, some of the. Just the pitching principle stuff that I. That I preach a lot to young and old pitchers, with him, I think he understands some of the principles.

But he’ll also make batters miss; in his final two spring-training starts, 13 of the 21 outs he recorded were via strikeout. Dollander’s 12.1 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate in the Cactus League tracks well with the 12.8 K/9 rate he had in the minor leagues.

But that’s the between-the-lines stuff. That’s quantifiable. If that was all Chase Dollander had on his CV, he’d be getting ready to pitch against Salt Lake.

Instead, now he’s got a clubhouse stall in Denver and a major-league jersey number — 32.

“He’s got a good head on his shoulders,” Black said.

ANOTHER LEVEL OF PRESSURE

As if there wasn’t enough expectation heaped upon Chase Dollander, there was this: one of the two Rockies players with a jersey number retired and displayed over the right-center field wall, Todd Helton, changed his plans just to see Dollander’s debut.

Helton, like Dollander, is a product of the University of Tennessee. Now serving as a special assistant to the general manager, Helton usually spends time working with Rockies minor-leaguers. But he was in Denver for the home opener — and the first start for his fellow Vol wasn’t to be missed.

“Todd texted me [Friday], congratulated me and said he was extending his stay so he could watch me pitch, which I thought was really cool, to see him and give him a hug and stuff like that,” Dollander said.

No pressure, kid.

But Chase Dollander doesn’t see it like that.

“All of those guys have really good advice to give me,” Dollander said, “and I’m excited to be able to learn from them.”

At some point, that advice will focus on how to learn from the adversity that comes from being shelled at Coors Field because of pitches that don’t break at altitude and by the doubles and triples to the gaps and the singles that drop into the spaces that exists in the cavernous outfield — hits that don’t happen in other, more compact venues.

Coors Field can break a pitcher’s spirit.

The Rockies believe it won’t break Chase Dollander’s.