At some point, the Rockies will have to make a decision.

Last month when we ran our “State of the Position, 2025 Mid-season” series, Mac Wilcox covered second base. He laid out the Colorado Rockies options at the keystone.

Now that we’ve passed the 2025 trade deadline and have a clear sense of where the Rockies are, it’s worth taking a minute to look at possible answers to an on-the-horizon decision: Who will play second base in 2026? Adael Amador (No. 3 PuRP) or Ryan Ritter (No. 17 PuRP)?

A week ago, I would have included Thairo Estrada. However, a right hamstring injury has ended his season. The Rockies decision to sign Estrada during the offseason seemed like a move that could benefit both parties. However, Estrada’s time with the Rockies has been riddled with injuries.

Here’s what he did with the playing time he’s had.

In terms of his offense, Estrada had 165 plate appearances over 39 games in which he slashed .253/.285/.370 with three home runs. His wRC+ is 67.

Oddly enough, Estrada was significantly better on the road (101 wRC+) than at Coors Field (35 wRC+). The Rockies signed him in large part due to his history of making hay at elevation, but that offense failed to emerge this year.

Defensively, this season, Estrada has played 336.0 innings at second base.

He accumulated -3 DRS, -1 OAA, and -1 FRV with a -0.3 defensive WAR. In addition, he committed four errors and earned a fielding percentage of .973.

Estrada’s 2025 contract was for one year and $3.25 million with a $ 7 million mutual option in 2026. But it seems unlikely that either Estrada or the Rockies would be interested in continuing given how 2025 has gone.

That means it’s time to consider other options with an eye to 2026.

Let me begin with a couple of caveats.

First, I’ve ruled out Orlando Arcia and Kyle Farmer even though they have spent time playing second base this season. Neither player is a long-term solution to the Rockies second-base question. In addition, Arcia’s season may be over. That leaves Amador and Ritter as vying to be the Rockies starting second baseman for the rest of 2025 and then 2026.

Second, the data on Amador and Ritter at second is small — as in “small sample size” small — and should be regarded as such.

(All numbers are current as of Monday morning.)

Amador has had three stints with the Rockies this season. The first were short, but given the almost continuous injuries to second basemen this season, it seems likely Amador will finish with the Rockies after being called up for a third time.

Offensively, Amador has had 122 plate appearances and a slashline of .187/.269/.280 with one home run and a wRC+ of 43.

He has been better at Coors Field (47 wRC+) than away (34 wRC+).

In terms of his defense, he has spent 294.1 innings playing second. During that time, he has accumulated -4 DRS, -1 OAA, and -1 FRV for a Def total of -0.3.

Add to that three errors and a .978 fielding percentage.

It seems odd to discuss Ritter here given that he is a shortstop. That said, it’s clear Ezequiel Tovar is the Rockies’ shortstop of the future, so it’s worth exploring whether Ritter may have a future at second — and he has been clear that he’s comfortable moving from short to second.

Over the course of the season, so far Ritter has had 113 plate appearances. Currently, he has a slashline of .238/.291/.347 with one home run and a 64 wRC+.

Ritter, too, fares better at Coors where he has a 69 wRC+ compared to 51 on the road.

Although he received most of his playing time at short this season, he did spend 15.0 innings at second. (This is, I realize, not even a “small” sample size.)

During that time, Ritter earned 0 DRS, 1 OAA, and 0 FRV with a Def score of 0.5. Add to that 0 errors and a fielding percentage of 1000. Again, as data this is fairly worthless. At this point, it’s more interesting in terms of what it suggests in terms of Ritter’s potential to move to the position.

Neither of these players is absolutely impressing with their opportunities so far this season — again, in this small sample size of data.

Will the Rockies decide to go with Amador or Ritter?

Ritter is expected to return in the near future though he will require a rehab assignment. After that, the Rockies’ best approach will be to give Amador and Ritter equal playing time for the rest of the season, which will allow both players to get more practice and prepare for 2026

The odds are good this is not a question we’ll have an answer to for some time — probably until the end of spring training. Both Amador and Ritter appear to be fairly evenly matched there — and if Ritter is told during the offseason to prepare to play second, that will provide another indicator of the Rockies’ thinking.

Don’t forget Roc Riggio, who was part of the return from the Yankees for Jake Bird. That said, let’s wait for PuRPs voting to shake out before adding him to this conversation. Since he’s in Double-A, it seems unlike he would be part of this conversation until mid-season in 2026.

The Keystone Competition will be one to watch going forward.

This week on the internet

Speaking of Roc Riggio, if you haven’t checked out his X profile, I recommend you do.

For those without an account, it looks like the former Yankees prospect changed his profile almost immediately after the trade:

And there’s this video, ICYMI:

That right there is what the Rockies need.

(Imagine Roc and Cole Carrigg on the same team, Reader. Very here for it.)

Day of reckoning looms for Monforts, but will it change anything? | Denver Post ($)

Patrick Saunders asks the big question: Has the Rockies 2025 season been bad enough to spur Dick Monfort into action and substantial change?

Jack Dreyer is a Dodgers with a sneaky heater and a bad slider | FanGraphs

This is, I realize, not a Dodgers blog, but buried in David Laurila’s weekly column are some interesting tidbits on Kyle Karros, and this time, there’s some focus on his defense. As Saunders writes, ‘A longtime baseball executive, who knows the Rockies well, recently told me, “Dick doesn’t like to make big changes and won’t until he’s forced to. He won’t until the walls start crashing in on him.’” The question is if the walls have collapsed enough.

Rockies’ Chris Forbes: Top prospect Charlie Condon adjusting to Eastern League | Denver Gazette ($)

Forbes, the Rockies senior director of player development, answered a range of questions for Kevin Henry. He addresses Charlie Condon’s transition to a full-time first baseman (“I think he likes being over there”) and added this about helping players prepare for The Show: “I think the biggest gap there is between Triple-A and the big leagues. Once they’ve come up here and they’ve seen these pitchers and hitters, they’re able to have the awareness of, ‘Here’s what I need to do the big-league level to stay there.’ Understanding that is critical to staying in the big leagues.”

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