Mickey

Moniak

Moniak apparently suffered the injury during a collision in the outfield while the team was in Pittsburgh and had been attempting to play through it. He’s not expected to need much longer than the minimum stint on the injured list. Sterlin Thompson was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque to take his place on the Rockies’ active roster.

Moniak’s homer was a go-ahead, three-run blast off Mitch Keller in the fifth. Quite the way to celebrate his 28th birthday. The former No. 1 overall pick by the Phillies is up to 12 homers while batting .315/.358/.693 through 137 plate appearances. The Rockies have one more game in Pittsburgh before returning to Coors for a six-game home stand.

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.

Moniak is hitting .329 with 11 homers, which seems like it should have produced more than 21 RBI. There’s no real improvement in his plate discipline or exit velocity numbers to back up all of this success, but he can remain in mixed-league lineups while he’s hot.

Moniak singled off of Grant Holmes in the opening inning and scored on an RBI single off the bat of TJ Rumfield. He then crushed a 439-foot (105.5 mph EV) solo shot to lead off the second inning, increasing the Rockies’ early edge to 6-0. That would wind up being the extent of their offense though. The 27-year-old outfielder has been terrific to open the 2026 campaign, slashing .319/.363/.670 with nine homers, 18 RBI and one stolen base in his first 102 plate appearances.

It is against LHP Andrew Abbott, and while the Rockies haven’t strictly platooned Moniak against left-handers, they did drop him to ninth in the order against Brandon Williamson yesterday. On the season, Moniak is hitting .361/.413/.736 against right-handers and .067/.067/.267 against lefties. He probably would be platooned more aggressively on a team with better options.

Moniak homered off Matt Waldron in the first, which wasn’t much of a surprise. However, taking Adrian Morejon deep in a lefty-lefty matchup in the eighth was very impressive. Before that, Moniak, a platoon player, was 0-for-10 with five strikeouts against lefties this season. He’s batting .368/.393/.825 with seven homers in 57 at-bats against righties.

Moniak takes a seat with lefty Justin Wrobleski toeing the rubber for Los Angeles during Monday’s series opener at Coors Field. Jordan Beck takes over in left field with Tyler Freeman in the opposite corner. The 27-year-old outfielder is up to six round-trippers through 16 games after belting a career-high 24 over 135 games in his Rockies debut last year. He’s unexpectedly morphed into a potent power hitter after arriving in the big leagues a half-decade ago with almost zero over-the-fence pop.

Moniak blistered a two-run shot off Blake Treinen — who allowed three runs without getting an out — that gave the Rockies a 5-4 lead and ultimately a win. It’s already the sixth homer of the season for Moniak, and he’s now slugging .655 over the first three weeks of the campaign. Keep in mind that he’s a 27-year-old that was the first-overall pick in 2017. He hasn’t come close to living up to that hype since reaching the majors, but weirder things have happened.

Moniak worked Tyler Glasnow for a one-out walk in the opening inning and swiped second base, but the Rockies were unable to cash him in from there. He then led off the fourth inning with a double and scored the Rockies’ lone run on an RBI ground out off the bat of Troy Johnston. The 27-year-old outfielder is off to a solid start to the 2026 season, slashing .261/.300/.630 with five homers, nine RBI and one stolen base in his first 50 plate appearances.