Rockies promote Gabriel Hughes from Triple-A

Hughes kept the Guardians off the board for the first three frames, but he then gave up one of the longest homers we’ve seen this year with a couple of runners on to turn what was a solid -- and surprising -- outing into a middling one. He walked two and struck out a pair while generating only three swings and misses before leaving. Hughes will be back on the bump against the Nationals on Thursday, if there’s no change to the Rockies’ rotation order.

That makes back-to-back starts that Hughes has given up seven runs. The right-hander allowed six hits, a walk and struck out a pair in another ineffective outing for the former first-round selection. It doesn’t help that Hughes has to pitch in Coors Field, but his 7.80 ERA away from Colorado tells the story. He faces the Guardians at home Saturday.

Hughes gave up five hits, walked three and struck out three. He fell to 0-4 with the loss. Hughes has now allowed 15 earned runs in 14 1/3 innings over his last three starts. The big blow came almost immediately as he allowed a grand slam to Nolan Arenado in the first inning. Hughes has a 5.61 ERA in his first seven major league appearances (six starts). He’s lined up to face the Giants on the road on Sunday.

Hughes kept the Rays scoreless through two innings, then gave up a run on a bases-loaded walk in the third before Liam Hick cleared them all with a grand slam. He settled back in to pitch into the sixth, leaving with one out in the inning at 77 pitches. Hughes generated 11 whiffs to strike out seven. The 24-year-old right-hander will take a 4.25 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and a 28/9 K/BB ratio across 29 2/3 innings into a start against the Diamondbacks in Arizona on Monday.

Hughes’s fastball and sinker were down 1.5-2 mph today, with his hardest pitch of the game checking in at 93.1 mph. He still managed to hold his own against the Padres, but he wound up with just two strikeouts and a poor 18 percent CSW. Let’s hope that isn’t a sign of things to come, because he’d been quite impressive since arriving at the beginning of the month. He’s due to face the Rays at Coors next week.

Hughes has pitched well in all three of his starts for the Rockies, surrendering six runs in 16 1/3 innings, and he might be getting some mixed-league attention now if he pitched elsewhere. He’ll likely make his next start Tuesday or Wednesday in San Diego.

The rookie right-hander struck out six batters in the contest while issuing a pair of walks. He allowed an RBI double to Sal Stewart in the opening inning, then kept the Reds off the board until the sixth where he left a man on base when he turned the ball over to the bullpen — and he ultimately scored. Hughes generated eight swings and misses on 82 pitches on the evening, posting a CSW of 29 percent. The 24-year-old hurler will carry a solid 3.14 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and a 14/5 K/BB ratio (14 1/3 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Nationals.

Hughes gave up three runs in the first, but that was it. Helping the cause was that Alex Call foolishly used up both of the Dodgers’ challenges on back-to-back pitches in the second. Hughes ended up striking out seven and walking two. He’ll have a case for staying in Colorado’s rotation after the break.

Feltner probably won’t mind, since he’ll now be facing the Giants, rather than the Dodgers. It’ll be Hughes’ first major league start after he debuted with three scoreless innings for a save in 15-3 game last Friday.

Palmquist, 25, appeared in nine games for the Rockies in 2025 where he compiled an uninspiring 8.91 ERA and 2.04 WHIP across 34 1/3 innings. Given the Rockies’ overall lack of pitching depth, he’ll probably get another shot at the big league level at some point during the 2026 season.