No one wants to be the guy who follows “the guy”. Ryan McMahon had that unfortunate responsibility in Colorado following the very unpopular trade of Colorado Rockies star Nolan Arenado to St. Louis in 2021. But McMahon developed into a Gold Glove-level All-Star himself and was traded to the New York Yankees last season as one of the Rockies’ most valuable trade chips. Enter Kyle Karros, the 23-year-old fifth-round pick of the Rockies in 2023, who would continue the cycle in the second half of last season.
Kyle Karros Looking to Carry Mantle at Hot Corner
While Karros took his lumps offensively, he continued the excellent defense the Rockies have come to know for the last decade-plus thanks to Arenado and McMahon. Karros was an excellent four outs above average with a three-run value, per Statcast.
McMahon often showed flashes of his offensive potential during his career in Colorado, but struggled to put a full season of offense together. Karros was expected to be a glove-first prospect, so his rookie year was not a surprise by any means. But it did create an offseason of intrigue leading into Karros’ first full season in Colorado.
Rockies’ manager Warren Schaeffer reportedly challenged Karros and his teammate TJ Rumfield to earn their spots at the infield corners this spring. Both players delivered on that challenge. In 16 games, Karros hit .372/.426/.628 with a stellar 1.054 OPS. He finished with two home runs, nine RBI, and three extra-base hits. On decision day for the Rockies, Schaeffer lauded Karros’ spring performance:
“He has not had a ton of Minor League seasoning, and we talked to him about that before camp started, that this wasn’t a lock for him,” Schaeffer said. “He had to go do his thing.” “It became blatantly obvious that he’s ready to play third base in the big leagues on both sides of the ball.”
Slow Start
With Karros and Rumfield, the Rockies trotted out one of the youngest infields in Major League Baseball on Opening Day. Karros has continued the excellent defense, earning two OAA and a two-run value so far this season. But Karros started slowly offensively. In 75 April at-bats, Karros hit right at the Mendoza line with just a .607 OPS and 20 Ks. He did, however, draw an impressive 17 BBs, carrying over his great plate discipline from the minors, in which he drew 116 BBs in his 237 minor-league games played.
A similar May followed as Karros hit just .225 with a .675 OPS in 71 at-bats, but he did collect two home runs and 11 RBI. On May 31, following a 19-6 loss to the San Francisco Giants, Karros was hitting .215 with minimal production to that point. It wasn’t time to hit the panic button, but the lingering questions about Karros’ offense remained. Karros’ offensive struggles were additionally more pronounced as fellow young players in Rumfield and Troy Johnston were flourishing for Colorado. But these questions didn’t last much longer. As the weather got warmer, so did Karros’ bat. A lot warmer.
Thank the Lord for the Sunshine
Karros was absolutely scorching in June, hitting .357 with an otherworldly .1030 OPS in 75 at-bats. Ranking in the top six in the MLB in both categories per Statmuse, joining the likes of Pete Crow-Armstrong, Yordan Alvarez, and Shohei Ohtani. The reason for the sudden explosion? Karros started finding the launch-angle sweet spot an incredible 42.3% of the time (96th percentile league-wide). Additionally, Karros began to tee off on four-seam fastballs.
Karros currently is tied for 22nd league-wide with an excellent eight run value against four-seam fastballs. Just one behind teammate Mickey Moniak, who is having another special season of his own with the Rockies. It is a massive improvement from Karros’ rookie year, in which he posted a -3 run value against four-seamers. Karros is combining elite plate discipline with production and the results have been stellar.
It has not all been at Coors either. In 129 at-bats on the road this season, Karros is hitting a respectable .248 with a .713 OPS. Including 15 of his 29 RBI and three of his seven home runs. For a Colorado team that has historically been anemic on the road, they will take those numbers away from Coors all day. Karros also has an excellent .342 xwOBA, which removes defense from the equation on a player’s batted balls. It’s all coming together for the Rockies yet again at third base, and Karros is showing a glimpse of a very exciting future in Colorado. But he’s not alone.
The Rockies Suddenly Have Quite the Corner Infielder Tandem
While Colorado has had a great run of third basemen for a decade plus, first base has been years of trap doors for the franchise. Rumfield is providing hope that the turnstile at first base may finally be coming to a halt. He is now the back-to-back National League Rookie of the Month and is putting together a strong campaign for NL Rookie of the Year. Which is the best case scenario the Rockies could have hoped for following Michael Toglia’s disastrous 2025.
He’s been great defensively as well, with three outs above average this season. With both players hitting the way they are, they’ve played a major role in this reinvigorated Rockies’ offense that is much improved from last season. Last season, only Hunter Goodman (118 WRC+) and Moniak (110 WRC+) finished with WRC+ north of 100 among Rockies with at least 20 games played. The Rockies were a distant last in the MLB per Fangraphs with a collective 74 WRC+ in 2025, a full 14 behind the 29th-place Chicago White Sox.
This season, the Rockies are up to a 94 WRC+. Karros (103 WRC+) and Rumfield (125 WRC+) join a group of seven Rockies that currently have WRC+ over 100. It’s still early for these young Rockies, but they are a highly entertaining, resilient team to watch, offering a glimpse of a brighter future in Colorado. Get used to how Sunday’s 7-6 win over the Giants ended, Rockies fans, there could be a lot more of that in the not too distant future. Rumfield hit a one-out double right before this, by the way.
Go-ahead call from @KOAColorado 👏 pic.twitter.com/Ok15zoDiU8
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) July 5, 2026
Main Photo Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
