Chase Dollander is expected to undergo surgery to repair UCL damage in his elbow. Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer confirmed Friday night. The club hasn’t finalized surgery plans yet, but Dollander has one more pre-op appointment before the team makes it official. No sugarcoating here: this is a gut punch for a Rockies franchise already teetering on the edge of irrelevance.
Colorado’s golden arm, the ninth overall pick in 2023 and the only pitcher on the roster with even a sniff of ace potential, is now staring down a lost season. And that’s the optimistic scenario. If Dollander gets the internal brace procedure, he’s out 12 to 14 months. If it’s the dreaded full Tommy John reconstruction, he could miss all of 2027, too. For a team already cemented at the bottom of the standings, this isn’t just a setback. It’s a catastrophe.
Rockies’ Rotation: From Bad to Unwatchable
Dollander was the lone bright spot in a rotation that is, by any measure, the worst in Major League Baseball. His 3.89 ERA over 44 innings this year, with a strikeout rate near 25%, was the only thing keeping the Rockies’ pitching from being an outright embarrassment. He took his lumps, a six-run disaster against Atlanta, a handful of rookie mistakes, but compared to the rest of this sorry staff, he looked like Nolan Ryan reincarnated.
The rest of the rotation? Here’s the carnage:
| Pitcher | Innings | ERA | xERA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomoyuki Sugano | 68.1 | 4.08 | 7.39 |
| Michael Lorenzen | 50+ | >7.50 | N/A |
| Kyle Freeland | 50+ | >7.50 | N/A |
| Rockies Rotation | , | 5.94 | , |
A league-worst 5.94 ERA, even after adjusting for the hitter’s haven that is Coors Field. No starter has pitched enough innings to qualify for the ERA title. That’s not just a stat, it’s an indictment. Tomoyuki Sugano, the supposed veteran anchor, is living on borrowed luck with an xERA of 7.39. Lorenzen and Freeland? Both north of 7.50. This isn’t just bad, it’s unwatchable.
With Dollander down. Colorado promoted Sean Sullivan, a soft-tossing lefty with a 5.60 ERA in Triple-A, to fill the void. Sullivan’s fastball barely scratches 89 mph, and his best weapon is a changeup. “Control and deception” is the scouting report, which is code for “pray the BABIP gods are kind.” The Rockies are essentially throwing darts blindfolded, hoping one of these arms can stick.
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Long-Term Fallout: Rockies’ Rebuild Hits Rock Bottom
The Rockies are headed for their fourth straight 100-loss season, and next year looks just as bleak. With no real hope of competing in 2027 if Dollander’s recovery drags, this franchise is locked in a holding pattern. The only thing fans care about is the development of young players, and now the centerpiece of that hope is headed for surgery.
Dollander’s electric four-seam fastball and sinker, sitting 98-99 mph, were supposed to be the backbone of the rebuild. Instead, he’s shut down until at least next summer, and possibly much longer. The Rockies will keep him on the 40-man roster through the offseason, but he’ll be back on the 60-day IL once Spring Training begins. All the while, he’ll collect MLB salary and service time, a cold comfort for a team and fanbase desperate for anything resembling a future.
Colorado’s front office tried to keep hope alive, initially suggesting Dollander could avoid surgery. That pipe dream evaporated as his elbow refused to cooperate. Now, the Rockies’ only real developmental priority just crashed and burned.
If you want a sense of how this stacks up with other infamous sports disasters, and how bettors have reacted to similar bombshells, you can compare the chaos to some wild moves by celebrity gamblers in recent seasons.
The Rockies are left with a rotation in shambles and a fanbase with nothing but more pain on the horizon. If Dollander’s surgery is Tommy John. Colorado might as well skip ahead to 2028 and pray someone, anyone, rises from the ashes.
