Rockies Star Chase Dollander Explains What He's Taking From Rocky Debut Season

Colorado Rockies fans should like to hear this.

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Chase Dollander's rookie season for the Coloado Rockies is over.

After suffering a left patella tendon strain in his last outing on Sept. 8, the Rockies decided to put the 23-year-old on the injured list, which will end his season. What makes things even more frustrating for both parties is that he was actually having one of his best starts of the year before he got hurt, allowing one run on one hit across 5 1/3 innings with five strikeouts against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Dollander's rookie season has been dissected by many, including here at Colorado Rockies On SI. The difference in his home-road splits is the most glaring thing that has come out of this campaign, with the right-hander looking like a minor leaguer when pitching at Coors Field but a future star when on the mound away from it.

Because of that, it's hard to really get a gauge on what the right-hander can become. It's clear he possesses the high-end talent that caused Colorado to select him ninth overall in the first place, but if he can't showcase that during roughly half of his starts, then that's an issue.

But what does Dollander think about his rookie year?

Chase Dollander Discusses His Up and Down Season

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He admitted there were some highs and lows during his conversation with Samantha Bradfield of Purple Row. But he also is focusing on the positives he had this year as opposed to only beating himself for the rough stretches he had.

"[This season had] a lot of ups and downs, for sure. A lot of learning moments, and a lot of growing pains, I guess you could say. But most importantly, I took a lot of positives from it. If you focus on all the negative stuff, you're not going to get too far. So trying to be positive about it, knowing I ended on a good note. I finally started to feel like I was making some ground on some stuff, and I've got to take that into the offseason and into next season," he said.

What he's likely going to focus on this winter is fastball command. It's important for every pitcher to be able to command their fastball since all of their breaking stuff plays off of that. So for him to get back to being the high strikeout guy he was in the minors, that will be important.

Rockies top prospect Chase Dollander gets his first career strikeout. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/c1f4oK7X4a

— MLB (@MLB) April 6, 2025

Dollander has been considered to be someone ahead of the curve when it comes to his maturity and mental makeup. And that showed during his conversation with Bradfield, with him discussing the growth he experienced through the challenges that took place.

"I feel like I came in as a thrower and left as a pitcher. In college and up until now, in the minor leagues and such, I could just get away with a really good fastball. And because I lost the shape on it a little, I had to figure out how to pitch," he said.

That's a good sign when it comes to his development. Some highly-touted guys never figure out how to do things differently when they reach the bigs, which holds them back from reaching their ceiling. Dollander doesn't seem to have that issue, and that bodes well going forward.

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