Rockies Major Pipeline: Hughes on the IL, Palmquist Searching for a Role

Welcome to the Rockies Majors Pipeline, a weekly look at the prospects moving through the Colorado Rockies system. We will take a look at what their development means for the future of the franchise.

New president of baseball operations, Paul DePodesta, has made it very clear that player development is at the top of his priority list.

It will build the foundation of the team he hopes to build, and at this point, the pipeline has never been more important.

Gabriel Hughes, RHP

Important notes: Status: 7-Day IL, Triple-A Albuquerque, 10th overall pick of the 2022 MLB Draft, 24 years old.

The 2026 campaign started well for Hughes. He had two good outings, including one on March 31, where he posted a 3.60 ERA, and then again on April 5, when he had a 2.61 ERA.

Given that the young pitcher had to have Tommy John surgery in July of 2023 and then missed the entire 2024 season recovering, these results were encouraging.

Since then, though, things have gone downhill. He posted ERAs of 4.91, 6.11, 9.00 and 8.64 in his last four outings. His season record is 0-1, with an 8.64 ERA, 1.72 WHIP across 25 innings in six different outings.

He has not been able to control the damage as he is allowing nearly 15 hits per inning.

The most recent blow to earning his way up the ladder came on April 30. Just one day after he took the mound against El Paso, he was placed on the 7-day injured list. The nature of the injury wasn’t disclosed, so this truly isn’t anything to panic about yet, but the unknown does bring up questions.

His trend line was moving in the wrong direction before being placed on the injured list. Time will tell what the real story is here.

Unless he has a complete turnaround, it looks like his expected date to arrive in the MLB may have to be pushed to 2027.

Should Hughes return healthy and then put together a string of quality outings, it is possible he could see some Big League playing time. The Rockies can always use more quality pitching, but the right-hander so far hasn’t shown he is ready for the big show.

2026 stat line: 0-1, 8.64 ERA, 6 appearances, 4 starts, 25.0 IP, 37 H, 24 ER, 6 BB, 32 SO, 1.72 WHIP

Carson Palmquist, LHP

Important notes: Status: Triple-A Albuquerque, 3rd Round Pick of the 2022 MLB Draft, 25 years old.

Palmquist entered the 2026 season looking for his place within the team. The hopeful pitcher had to unfortunately delay his start in spring training due to a shin injury and was then optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque.

His usage there is starting to tell the story, and confirm what was already expected.

In nine appearances, he has just two starts. He has been utilized as a short reliever, and in that role, he may have finally found his calling.

From March 27 to April 11 as a reliever, the lefty had four consecutive scoreless outings. He wasn’t in the game long sometimes, but he was effective when he was toeing the mound.

If you don’t just look at the overall stats and break down his season line into starts versus relief work, the questions about his role start to answer themselves. Using Palmquist as a reliever works well; trying him on a starter turns into a disaster.

His scouting report shows that he gives up more power to right-handed batters and that isn’t going to get better in the Mile High City. His stats this year, along with his profile, are making him look like a specialist or reliever rather than a rotation piece.

Should the Rockies choose to make him a reliever and continue on that development path, he will need to continue to work on his walk rate. He has 10 walks in 17 innings. That's too high to stick around at the big league level in any role. He will need to increase his strike balls.

Palmquist has some MLB stats to use to evaluate him as well. He had a chance in 2025 to show his stuff. The team had reached an epic level of losses and just decided to give some of their prospects some playing time. Maybe it was a Hail Mary?

The Rockies gave Palmquist a nine-game shot to show what he had.

When given his chance, he went 0-4 with an 8.91 ERA, 2.04 WHIP and allowed an astounding 10 home runs in just 34.1 innings.

That equates to a 2.62 HR/9 rate that is just unsustainable at any level, let alone in the punishing area of Coors Field.

2026 stat line: 1-2, 4.76 ERA, 9 appearances, 2 starts, 17.0 IP, 19 H, 9 ER, 10 BB, 18 SO, 1.71 WHIP.

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