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DENVER -- Rockies No. 18 prospect Kyle Karros has spent the last year and a half confirming the club’s belief in his headiness when it drafted him in the fifth round in 2023.
Now the Rockies are asking Karros, a third baseman, to keep his head at Triple-A Albuquerque.
The Rockies still love big guys with power, and Karros, 22, is 6-foot-5. But the Draft philosophy in recent years has moved away from players who sacrifice contact for big swings.
The right-handed-hitting Karros was promoted last week after slashing .294/.399/.462 with four home runs and 32 walks (against 45 strikeouts) in 55 games with Double-A Hartford. His season was interrupted by an injured list stint and further delayed after he fouled a pitch off his knee during a Rookie ball rehab assignment, but by the time of the promotion, he had settled back into his approach.
He even picks friends with the right idea in the batter’s box.
“My best friend in pro ball is Chase Meidroth, with the White Sox,” Karros said before the promotion. “I like the way he went about it in the Minors -- similar walks to strikeouts, and he didn’t chase power. He’s a complete hitter first. I think he led the Minors in walks last year [with 105].
“It’s controlling the zone, swinging at the right pitches. If you put a lot of emphasis on power, that takes time to translate. You can grow into that later. When it comes to taking a professional at-bat, I take a lot from my buddy, Chase. That stuff plays.”
Last year, the Rockies kept Karros at High-A Spokane for the full year -- and he earned MVP honors while the team won the title. Karros easily settled into a leadership role in Hartford.
Karros grew up around the sport, with his father, Eric, a longtime Major Leaguer and older brother, Jared, a pitcher in the Dodgers’ system. That may assist with the transition to an older club.
“The [Double-A] Eastern League is a big prospect league,” Rockies player development director Chris Forbes said. “But getting up into Triple-A, you see a pedigree of guys with service time -- and how they pitch, defensively how they play.
“I’ll steal a line from Doug Bernier [the Rockies system’s defensive coordinator] -- they’ll out-baseball you when you get to Triple-A. Plus, you get into a clubhouse with guys with Major League service time, versus being the guy that runs the show in the clubhouse.”
There will be situations over which Karros has no control. He’s a step from the Majors with the Trade Deadline approaching and teams possibly interested in veteran third baseman Ryan McMahon. The Rockies, however, have the more-experienced Aaron Schunk should they need an infielder sooner than later.
The best way to handle the situation is to maintain priorities, like the ones Karros spoke of before the promotion.
“You’ve got to look at certain aspects of the game, like defense -- that’s not going to struggle,” said Karros, who is 1-for-11 with a double in his first Triple-A days. “I put a lot of emphasis on that.”