SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — As Chase Dollander sat down in the middle of the Rockies clubhouse, the irony was inescapable. He no longer needed a therapy couch. He needed a new coach. A fresh approach.
Dollander experienced a rookie season that ranked somewhere between eating thumbtacks and rubbing a cheese grater on shins. Viewed as a future ace, he flopped.
Unlucky. Unwatchable. And statistics? Unbearable.
He posted a 2-12 record with a 6.52 ERA, including a 9.98 mark at Coors Field. The finest pitching prospect since Ubaldo Jimenez became undone, fraying at the seams as part of a rotation that should be buried underneath the batting cages at Salt River Fields and never be spoken of again.
Humility is revealing. Dollander believes the worst season of his life will be the best thing that happened to him.
“I will take the lessons I learned from it through the rest of my career,” Dollander said Monday. “I think if you don’t take it personally, you are not in a good spot. I definitely did. No. 1, we are too good to be getting tossed around like this. And No. 2, I am too good to be getting tossed around like this. So, it’s like, alright, let’s figure this out. What is going on? Having all these new faces, they are really helping us understand what works.”
Roughly a decade later than the rest of Major League Baseball, the Rockies have embraced analytics. At its core, it means they have hired a front office and coaches who can glean valuable data and make it digestible for players to incorporate and improve performance.
Computers, however, will never wear uniforms — though with all the driverless Waymo cars cruising the streets here, it makes you wonder.
The human element remains integral. As is the willingness to adapt and change.
Pitcher Chase Dollander stands for a photo during media day at spring training for the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Field at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Arizona on February 18, 2026. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
“Chase is building toward (the best version of himself). It’s only been three weeks, but I am not surprised,” Rockies general manager Josh Byrnes said. “His aptitude has been great. In his case, he throws like 98 to 100 (mph) with no effort, so not many guys start out with that as a strength.”
Dollander will, in many ways, represent a case study on the Rockies’ pitching evolution. They want velocity. Variance. As many as five pitches. And the right mindset.
In 2025, Dollander did all the things rookies often do at Coors Field. The place spooked him, made him become too cute. Unable to get outs with his four-seam fastball, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound right-hander became rattled, left to nibble with off-speed pitches.
It was like T-Rex eating salad.
Based on the way-too-small sample size of two spring starts, those days are over.
“He needs to go out there and compete. And he knows that. All the external stuff, the shapes, when it’s time to compete, it’s time to compete. If you lose that, it’s not good results,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “That is a huge part for Chase. And I am happy to hear he sees this as a fresh start.”
Dollander arrived in camp with two clear directives. Modify his plan of his attack, and remember the man in the mirror. Dollander gave big league hitters too much credit last season, trying to bait hitters with errant pitches.
There is no need. Get ahead in the count. Stay ahead.
“They are just putting everything on the table and saying, here it is. You can pick and choose what you want to use. The big focus for me has been strike one. I know it sounds simple,” said Dollander, who has a 2.25 ERA and one walk in four Cactus League innings. “If I am pitching in 0-1 counts, it is really hard for hitters to be in defensive mode and have a good at-bat against me.”
It should be easier for Dollander to achieve with his offseason changes. He is leaning more on a refined two-seamer added late last season. And he has incorporated a sweeper to an arsenal that includes a four-seamer, changeup and cutter. Always overpowering since college, he is demonstrating better command.
“He has the stuff to be one of the top guys in the league,” catcher Hunter Goodman said. “I think it’s a matter of him just being around the zone.”
Not since the days of Jimenez have the Rockies had a pitcher who can throw a 99-mph sinker as Dollander did in his Monday start against the Guardians. This pitch gives him a weapon at altitude where his 100-mph four-seamer did not offer the same carry or movement.
“Chase has an elite arm. He has the stuff,” left-hander Kyle Freeland said. “It’s about filling up the strike zone. We want to be applying constant pressure this year, attacking, turning Coors Field into an advantage since we know opposing pitchers don’t want to be here.”
Baseball is a game that must have dreams to live. Spring training is where they sprout under cloudless skies and on pristine diamonds. Even for the Rockies.
Or finally for the Rockies.
The arrival of new team president Paul DePodesta, Byrnes, and a battery of new coaches has not changed results — those don’t count until April — but has altered perceptions. The Rockies are using cell phones, laptops and know how AirDrop works.
They have not leveled the playing field. But they are on the same playing field.
It has breathed life back into Dollander’s potential. He did not return to Scottsdale believing being a year older would magically make him better. He is in a good headspace and has new tools at his disposal that have made him and this perpetually forgotten team more confident.
“Yeah, 100 percent. They did a deep dive on my pitches. I mean a deep dive. It was crazy. I was like, ‘Holy Moly!’ They showed me what it looks like when I am in the zone, when I am not, and how I can have more success,” Dollander said. “It’s a breath of fresh air with all the new guys coming in. And it started from the top down when we hired DePodesta and Byrnes. Those two guys are incredibly smart and incredibly good at their job. With the addition of Schaeffer and all the hitting and pitching coaches, what isn’t there to be excited about? We have new ideas, new plans, the times are changing here, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
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