It's going to be a long summer of baseball for the Colorado Rockies in 2026. They underwent a ton of changes following a third straight 100-loss season in 2025 in the Mile High City, including a new president of baseball operations in Paul DePodesta. However, one of its first moves was retaining interim manager Warren Schaeffer.
There were no big offseason moves by DePodesta in his first winter in charge after being hired in November, shortly after the Los Angeles Dodgers won their second straight World Series in seven games over the Toronto Blue Jays. The Rockies brought in a handful of veterans on the mound, but they did swing a couple of trades, including one with the New York Yankees.
DePodesta acquired first baseman and former Virginia Tech standout TJ Rumfield from the Yankees for relief pitcher Angel Chivilli. What a move that is turning out to be after the former Hokies slugger was named the National League Rookie of the Month in June, the second straight time he captured the award. This one was well-earned.
Former Virginia Tech standout TJ Rumfield tabbed NL Rookie of the Month in June
Rumfield won the award in May and now has won it for a second straight month. In June, he led all MLB rookies with 15 extra-base hits, which included five home runs. He had 10 multi-hit games in the month and collected a hit in 18 of Colorado's final 19 games of the month. Rumfield had a .989 OPS, .400 on-base percentage, and a .316 average.
The Rockies are looking for some younger players to inject themselves into the lineup, not only this year, but beyond, in rebuilding through some young talent. Rumfield was being blocked in New York by Paul Goldschmidt and Ben Rice, which made it easy for GM Brian Cashman to trade him. New York gave up on him, and Colorado saw the benefits in Denver.
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