NEW YORK -- Rockies first baseman Michael Toglia was supposed to have a breakout season in 2025 after hitting 25 home runs in 116 games last year. But he has had a tough time making contact this season and was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque before Saturday’s game against the Mets. The Rockies purchased the contract of infielder Keston Hiura in a corresponding move, while also designating infielder Aaron Schunk for assignment.
Toglia slashed .194/.266/.349 and struck out an MLB-leading 81 times in 186 at-bats this season. Toglia went hitless in four at-bats in Colorado's 4-2 loss to New York Friday night, striking out twice.
It didn’t matter what pitch was thrown to him this season, Toglia had problems making contact. He was 21-for-100 (.210) with 38 strikeouts against fastballs. Against the breaking ball? Toglia had a .170 average with 24 strikeouts in 47 at-bats. In order for him to come back to the big leagues, Toglia has to learn to control the strike zone.
“Mike had some strikeouts, and we tried to be patient,” said Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt. “We thought, coming off last season, he was going to take a step forward. Ultimately, he took a step backwards. So we have to do a little bit of a reset, send him back down to Albuquerque and hopefully make some adjustments and see where it goes.
“We want consistency. We want him to figure it out. … I think there is a hitter in there. We’ve seen it at times, but not consistently.”
With Togila in the Minors, Hiura is expected to see a lot of time at first base. If he is consistent in the batter’s box, Hiura can add some pop to a lineup that is 30th in runs scored (179) entering Saturday’s action. His best season was in 2019, when he slashed .303/.368/.570 with 19 homers with the Brewers. He hasn’t come close to replicating those numbers since then. Before his callup to the big leagues, Hiura was slashing .243/.360/.467 for Albuquerque.
As for Schunk, he didn’t see much action with the Rockies this year and was 6-for-28 (.214) with a run scored in 11 games.