Jake

McCarthy

The Rockies erased a 6-3 deficit by scoring five in the top of the eighth, only to see the Angels tie things up in the bottom of the inning. In the ninth, Kyle Karros singled, McCarthy doubled and TJ Rumfield delivered a sac fly to make it 9-8, and the Rockies held on this time. With the Rockies having three outfielders on the IL, McCarthy has been an everyday player of late, starting 17 straight games. The good times won’t last forever, but he’s a mixed-league outfielder right now.

It’s the fifth career four-RBI game for McCarthy, who knocked in five in a game earlier this month. He scored three runs for the fourth time. McCarthy should be worth playing in mixed leagues at least until the Rockies outfield gets healthier and maybe beyond. It is, however, likely that the Rockies will trade him in July if anyone offers a decent prospect for his services.

McCarthy hit leadoff, his first time doing so since March 31. Edouard Julien had led off in the past seven contests versus a righty, but he was dropped to seventh against Jack Leiter on Wednesday. McCarthy is now up to nine thefts on the year, and he leads the league in Statcast’s stolen-base attempt rate. He carries streaming appeal whenever he’s in the lineup and the Rockies are at home.

The Rockies will go with an entire line shift with left-hander Jesus Luzardo toeing the slab for the Phillies, with Edouard Julien, Troy Johnston and Jake McCarthy joining Moniak on the bench for this one. We could see a similar lineup against Cristopher Sanchez on Sunday, which makes the 27-year-old slugger a tough start in leagues that utilize bi-weekly moves for hitters.

The Rockies entered the home half of the eighth inning embattled in a 2-2 tie with the Mets. They got things going with a pair of singles and a walk though, that’s when Jake McCarthy strolled to the dish. He walloped a 1-0 fastball from Craig Kimbrel for a majestic 448-foot (107.4 mph EV) grand slam that changed the entire complexion of the game. McCarthy also had a game-tying RBI double in the sixth inning. It was the first grand slam of McCarthy’s career. He finished the day 2-for-4 and is now hitting .275/.346/.507 with a pair of homers and 14 RBI on the season.

McCarthy led off in each of the Rockies’ first five games before sitting Thursday and being dropped in the order today. He’s now 2-for-21 to start the year, though he has managed four steals anyway. Even though Coors suits his approach pretty well, there’s just no good reason for Colorado to be playing him over Jordan Beck, who has now been on the bench in two out of three games. He might turn in an adequate year, but not in a way that should get him included in the Rockies’ plans for 2027 and beyond.

We wouldn’t want to count on him remaining relevant in the second half, but as the Rockies’ probable leadoff man against righties — and maybe still a starter against lefties — there’s a decent chance of McCarthy offering mixed-league value early on. The best-case scenario for Colorado is that he puts up solid for four months and then gets flipped for a prospect at the deadline.

McCarthy’s fall from fantasy-relevance with the Diamondbacks likely remains at the forefront of most fantasy manager’s brains this spring, but it’s worth noting that he’s hitting .297 in 13 games since arriving in Colorado. The 28-year-old speedster appears to be the favorite to lead off for the Rockies on Opening Day and should get a boost in the batting average department from Coors Field. At the risk of sounding like Charlie Brown with Lucy and the football, there are some reasons to believe in McCarthy as a late-round flyer, especially in deeper mixed leagues.

It’s a phenomenal landing spot for the speedy McCarthy, who stands to benefit exponentially from Coors Field’s high-octane offensive environment — particularly from a BABIP standpoint — as he steps into a corner outfield role for Colorado next season. The 28-year-old former first-round pick was out of minor-league options this spring and likely to be lost in the shuffle with Arizona by an overflow of left-field depth, which includes some combination of Jordan Lawlar, Blaze Alexander, Tim Tawa and Jorge Barrosa, along with top prospect Ryan Waldschmidt. He scuffled in the majors last season, but he’s only one year removed from a 25-steal campaign where he slashed .285/.349/.400 with eight homers in 142 games. He’s at least an interesting late-round flyer as a low-risk rebound candidate for fantasy purposes heading into drafts this spring.

Despite a brutal season at the dish in 2025, McCarthy earns a decent raise in his first season of arbitration eligibility. The Diamondbacks still have a logjam of outfielders on their roster heading into 2026 though and there has been plenty of speculation that either McCarthy or Alek Thomas could be moved elsewhere. Unless he winds up in a full-time gig someplace, it’s unlikely that the speedy 28-year-old will gain relevance from a fantasy perspective.