Colorado Rockies prospects: No. 4, Cole Carrigg

4. Cole Carrigg (476 points, 19 ballots)

The term “super-utility player” is often employed with hyperbole, but in the case of Carrigg, it fits like a glove (any kind of baseball glove, in Carrigg’s case). The 23-year-old has played literally every position (and played them well) in a college or pro game over the last few years — and he’s even a switch-hitter so he provides versatility there too. Colorado drafted the 6’2” Carrigg 65th overall in 2023 out of San Diego State as a catcher with a plus-plus arm (he threw 102 MPH from the outfield at the Draft Combine) — and signed him for a $1.3 million over-slot bonus (by $116k).

Carrigg tore up the Complex League and Low-A during his draft year (while playing catcher, shortstop, and center field), then mostly stayed at High-A Spokane for 2024. In 510 plate appearances, Carrigg’s 16 homers and 11 triples led the Northwest League — and he added 15 doubles and 42 steals in 51 attempts for good measure — as part of a 132 wRC+ performance. Carrigg settled into a center field role more full time, where he threw out five runners and committed two errors in 92 games. He won the Northwest League Player of the Week award three times — once each in June, July, and September — and was named the best defensive outfielder and most exciting player in the league by Baseball America en route to an All-Star berth and league championship.

In 2025, Carrigg headed to Double-A Hartford, where he was 0.5 years below league-average age. He brought his exciting brand of baseball to the Eastern League, swatting 15 homers, six triples, 18 doubles, and stealing 46 bases in 56 attempts (including stealing second, third, and home in one inning) while scoring a league leading 81 runs, though he also had the second most strikeouts (145) in the league. In 537 plate appearances, Carrigg had a .237/.316/.394 batting line while striking out in over 27% of PA (walking in 8%), which is a 106 wRC+. Defensively, Carrigg had 18 (!!!) outfield assists and six errors in 111 games, most of them in center field.

Carrigg received an invitation to big league camp and will also spend this spring playing for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic at shortstop.

Here’s some video of Carrigg’s many 2024 highlight plays:

Baseball America recently ranked Carrigg sixth in the system while naming him the org’s best defensive outfielder and best outfield arm:

Carrigg is a tall, athletic switch-hitter with the ability to do a variety of things well. He has developed as a hitter as a professional and shows bat-to-ball skills and power from both sides of the plate. Carrigg still shows just fringe bat-to-ball skills overall and struggles against spin and offspeed. Carrigg destroys fastballs and velocity, against which he does most of his damage. … A plus runner who will flash a plus-plus run time, Carrigg is an aggressive basestealing threat.

Keith Law of the Athletic ranked Carrigg 17th in the system earlier this month:

Carrigg played only outfield last year, although he’s previously played shortstop in A-ball and caught a little in college. He has plus speed, helping him to maybe average or 55 defense in center, but he plays out of control on both sides of the ball and hasn’t really made any adjustments since the Rockies took him in the second round in 2023. He hit .237/.316/.394 as a 23-year-old in Double A last year, with a well below-average approach that included a 33 percent chase rate. His speed and positional flexibility get him there, but he’s several adjustments away from being a long-term big leaguer.

Carrigg was ranked third in the system last year by MLB Pipeline as a 50 FV player with a 70 grade on the arm and 60 on the speed:

A super high-energy player who gets some “hair on fire” evaluations, Carrigg is a switch-hitter who makes a ton of contact from both sides of the plate. There was some concern about his aggressive nature and hit tool and how it would translate to this level, but the transition has gone well so far as Carrigg doesn’t strike out much and even drew a decent amount of walks. There’s more pop than many expected, with most of it coming from the left side of the plate to his pull side. He also can turn singles into extra-base hits and doubles into triples — he led the league in three-baggers, too — with his plus speed clearly an asset and giving him at least 20-30 potential.

With one of the best arms in baseball, there were some who wanted to see if catching would work at this level, but that’s been shelved. He’ll keep getting some reps on the dirt at shortstop to maintain some versatility, but it should surprise no one if he shows up to Coors Field as an every day center fielder.

John Trupin of Baseball Prospectus ranked Carrigg fifth last January with a 55 OFP grade:

In a fully healthy campaign [in 2024, Carrigg] swiped over 50 bags, while hitting for power and contact, maintaining his average rates at a higher level. Carrigg pokes his big flies more than crushes them, but his strength is sufficient to keep a pitcher honest, and a lot of his hardest contact comes in the air. Every action he takes on the field has a slight raw tinge still, with his athleticism covering some mechanical inconsistencies on both sides of the ball and an at times overexuberance for swinging outside the zone whilst at the plate. He may not be a superstar, but you only need to look at another multi-positional player, Tommy Edman, to see a beacon for what this sort of player is capable of.

Carrigg could be a shortstop and center fielder with 30-40 steals a year and 20+ home runs.. His relative rawness on both sides of the ball make his longer-term projection hazier, however, as he could end up an outfielder only without the game power to put the rest of his profile together.

Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs graded Carrigg as a 40+ FV player, ninth in the system last year, with an 80 grade on the arm:

Carrigg is a unique multi-positional prospect, a fair switch-hitter with some low ball pop from the left side of the plate and an all-world arm. He slashed .283/.359/.491 with 17 homers in his first full pro season, spent mostly at High-A Spokane. Both visual scouting and a data-oriented assessment of Carrigg as a hitter have him more average (contact) or a shade below (raw power). Both of Carrigg’s swings are geared for pull and lift (he has a pretty classic low-ball stroke as a lefty), and he’ll be able to get to relevant (if modest) power.

The Rockies deployed Carrigg behind the plate a little bit right after he turned pro, but he spent most of 2024 in center field, with infrequent starts at shortstop. A long-striding runner, Carrigg has plus speed underway but takes a little while to get going. In a year and a half of pro ball, Carrigg has now played twice as many games in center field as he did throughout his three years of college. He was more comfortable out there late in 2024 than he was at the start and should be average there in time. Plus, he brings show-stopping arm strength to the table. The way Carrigg’s body unfurls on a max-effort outfield chuck is incredible, though he isn’t an accurate infield thrower at all, and it’s a big enough issue that he might just be an outfielder. The peak outcome for Carrigg would be a dynamic, Willi Castro-esque utilityman, though he’s trending more like a good part-time outfielder whose career might have a relevant second act on the mound.

Carrigg is a really fun player to watch at the plate, on the base paths, and in the field. His tremendous defensive utility makes him very easy to fit into whatever fantasy future Rockies roster you may have in mind (he’s the 2029 starting center fielder for Baseball America). He continued to hit for power against upper minors pitching last year in Hartford, making him more of a candidate to be a big league regular, though the strikeout spike is worrisome. Carrigg won’t be Rule 5 eligible until after the season and should start in Triple-A Albuquerque, but I expect him at Coors Field soon in some capacity, even with the logjam of outfield prospects ahead of him.

If and when a MLB debut happens, Carrigg could be a valuable player all over the diamond, especially if his plate discipline doesn’t crater against big league pitchers and the power development sticks. I ranked Carrigg eighth in the system as a 40+ FV player because I’m a little less sold that he’ll be a big league regular, but even a true super-utility player as exciting as Carrigg would be a win for Rockies fans.

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