Colorado Rockies On SI

This Underrated Rockies Lefty Is a Pitching Prospect to Watch in 2026

After a strong 2025 season, this former sixth round selection of Colorado is one to watch on the mound in 2026.

Tobey Schulman

Mar 3, 2023; Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; A detail view of Colorado Rockies hats, gloves and glasses prior to the game against the San Francisco Giants during a Spring Training game at Scottsdale Stadium.
Mar 3, 2023; Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; A detail view of Colorado Rockies hats, gloves and glasses prior to the game against the San Francisco Giants during a Spring Training game at Scottsdale Stadium. / Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images
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The Colorado Rockies' farm system is chock-full of underrated pitching prospects. In one of, if not the most hitter-friendly environments in Major League Baseball, having arms from within the organization producing strong numbers is a very encouraging sight to see.

One pitching prospect in particular who's coming off a strong 2025 season is left-hander Konner Eaton. A former sixth-round selection back in the 2024 MLB draft, the George Mason product has shown to be one of the Rockies organization's best arms in the lower levels of the minor leagues.

Before joining Colorado's organization, Eaton played three seasons with George Mason, making 28 starts over 29 appearances. Throughout each year in college, Eaton would consistently improve, and in his final season, he'd lead the entire Atlantic 10 Conference with an 11.9 K/9 rate.

This high level of play earned Eaton the draft pick from the Rockies, and upon making his professional debut, he excelled in a very small sample size. In the 11.0 innings that he pitched, he struck out batters at a rate north of 36%.

In what would be his biggest test yet of his baseball career, Eaton would continue to look like a solid selection for Colorado. While it wasn't dominant like his brief debut, he still managed to rise up to the Double-A level in his first full season.

In 121.1 innings pitched at the High-A level, Eaton would make 23 starts, posting a 3.56 ERA, with 125 strikeouts to 42 walks. He excelled at generating swing-and-miss, while generating a solid amount of ground-ball contact to pair. Everything you could want out of a left-handed pitcher.

Upon his Double-A promotion, Eaton gave the Rockies organization a preview of what could be set to come during the 2026 season.

Over four starts and 18.2 innings pitched, Eaton showed that he could handle Double-A competition well, posting an 11.57 K/9. He managed to continue to generate ground-ball contact at an effective rate, but struggled to keep the walk rate under 10% like he did in High-A.

More time at the Double-A level should allow Eaton to adjust and continue to post the numbers he's consistently done since his 2023 season for George Mason. As Colorado's No. 21 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline, the expectations for the 23-year-old southpaw are higher than they are for most.

With an estimated time of arrival to the Major Leagues set at 2027 by MLB Pipeline, his 2026 season will be one to keep tabs on if you're a Rockies fan.

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Tobey Schulman
TOBEY SCHULMAN

Tobey Schulman is a freelance writer currently covering baseball in the South Florida area, independently on X and SubStack. Prior to freelancing, Tobey was a writer for The Skippers View, covering both Major and Minor League Baseball. Over the past year, he has grown a following of almost 10,000 on X, while covering all things across the sport, both professional and amateur. In his free time he produces and live streams a podcast ‘Inside The Diamond’, where he co-hosts player interviews, breakdowns, and game watch parties.

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