Rockies Making Early Case For Multiple All-Star Selections

The Colorado Rockies have multiple players with All-Star worthy resumes over the early stages of the 2026 season.

A Colorado Rockies hat and glove | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

It's becoming something of an annual tradition - a lowly Colorado Rockies team gets its single, token All-Star selection because MLB insists on having every team represented.

It was Germán Márquez in 2021, C.J. Cron in 2022, Elias Diaz in 2023, Ryan McMahon in 2024 and, most recently, Hunter Goodman last season.

Admittedly, it isn't exactly a murderer's row of star power. Four of the five are no longer with the organization, while one (Cron) is out of baseball entirely. McMahon and Goodman's All-Star seasons have their merits, but Márquez, Cron and Diaz certainly seemed to benefit from the 'at least one All-Star per team' rule.

That trend looks poised to change this season - and may even result in more Rockies' representation at the 2026 mid-season exhibition in Philadelphia.

While it hasn't quite been a worst-to-first type of transformation, Colorado has demonstrated growth early this season. And some of that growth has been evident in a few standout individual performances.

Rockies Have More Than One Deserving All-Star

Colorado Rockies left fielder Mickey Moniak | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Suffice to say, when a Rockies player gets selected to the 2026 All-Star Game, it will be related less to tokenism and more on merit. The questions, then, are who might get the nod and how many?

In terms of position players, Mickey Moniak looks to be making a push for his first All-Star invite. The 27-year-old left fielder leads the team in home runs (eight) and tops the entire league in slugging percentage (.712).

While there's plenty of time for things to change, his numbers (.315/.338/.712) currently look far superior to Goodman's first-half stats in his All-Star campaign last season (.277/.325/.517).

One surprising name atop many of Colorado's offensive categories is offseason waiver pick-up Troy Johnston, who hasn't displayed much power but leads all qualified Rockies in average (.317) and OBP (.371). Of course, the former Miami Marlin, like Moniak, has reaped the benefits of playing half of his games at Coors Field.

On the pitching front, there are even more viable All-Star candidates on Colorado's roster. Chase Dollander is beginning to break out as a long relief option out of the Rockies' bullpen, looking like the player that the franchise hoped to land when they selected him ninth overall in the 2023 MLB Draft and prompting discussion of a possible promotion to the rotation.

If Dollander does get promoted to the starting five, he'll join an inconsistent unit that has, at least, been bolstered by strong starts from ace Kyle Freeland and newcomer Tomoyuki Sugano.

Freeland is 1-1 with a 2.30 ERA through three starts, while Sugano has been sensational, save for one tough outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and is now 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA.

To this point, Dollander has contributed to a relief unit that holds the 11th-best bullpen ERA (3.77) in baseball, a stark departure from the unit's 29th-place finish in 2025 (5.18 ERA).

Also starring as part of the unit (and potentially worthy of All-Star consideration in their own right) are Antonio Senzatela, Brennan Bernadino and Jimmy Herget.

In many ways, this is what growth looks like. Sure, the 2026 Rockies may be unlikely to make a serious postseason push. But if they can win a few more games and demonstrate developmental progress through the presence of multiple All-Stars, then it's a significant step in the right direction.

Thus far, the players have done their part.