SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. \u2014 Kyle Karros doesn\u2019t want to be just another guy in the big leagues; he wants to be \u201ca dude.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Explain, please.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot just be a player, but one of the best third basemen in the game,\u201d the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Rockies rookie said.\n<\/p>\n
On a rebuilding team, coming off a 119-loss season, Karros is intent on being part of the turnaround by playing 24-karat defense at the hot corner and becoming an offensive force \u2014 starting this season.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cRealistically, in order for us to get this team turned in the right direction, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s just going to be a matter of, \u2018Oh, this guy squeaked out a spot on the roster over this guy,\u2019 \u201d Karros said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take players taking a big step and showing that they are some of the best players in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
During a one-on-one meeting early in spring training, he shared his lofty goal with manager Warren Schaeffer.
\n![\"SCOTTSDALE,](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/TDP-L-Rockies-Spring-RJS-05812.jpg\")
SCOTTSDALE, AZ – FEBRUARY 19: Infielder, Kyle Karros, watches a teammates ball travel out of the park during batting practice at spring training for the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Field at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Arizona on February 19, 2026. (Photo by RJ Sangosti\/The Denver Post)\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI had this conversation with \u2018Schaeff,\u2019 and I told him that the expectations for myself are set at a pretty high standard,\u201d Karros said. \u201cWe talked about what I wanted to get out of this camp. That, truth be told, I\u2019m not here to beat out someone else or win a spot. I\u2019m here to be a dude in the big leagues.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, does \u2018Schaeff\u2019 believe in Karros\u2019 dude mentality?<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, yeah,\u201d the manager said without hesitation.<\/p>\n
Rockies fans might be surprised by the spring bravado. After all, in 43 games last season, Karros didn\u2019t exactly mash. After a hot start \u2014 4 for 11 with two doubles in his first three games \u2014 he cooled off, finishing the season with a .226\/.308\/.277 slash line with four doubles, just one home run, nine RBIs, 15 walks (9.6% BB-rate) and 41 strikeouts (26.3% K-rate).\n<\/p>\n
Schaeffer says those late-season numbers were misleading.<\/p>\n
\u201cRockies fans, last year, watching Kyle Karros, have to realize that he was 20 pounds underweight and he had pretty much gone through his first full professional season,\u201d Schaeffer said, noting that Karros was down to 210 pounds by the end of the season. \u201cAnd getting called up, and getting thrown into the fire, without his best body, and without his best ability at the time? And still see flashes of good stuff? Kyle Karros has the potential to be a Gold Glove defender at third base for a long time.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he\u2019s going to hit. He\u2019s got long levers, he\u2019s got the baseball acumen, he wants it. Now he just has to go out there and do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Major League pedigree<\/p>\n
A big part of that acumen comes from his father, Eric Karros, who played 14 seasons in the majors, most of them with the Dodgers. Eric had a career .268 batting average and slugged 284 homers. He said his son has the physical skills and intangibles to eclipse his career.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cKyle\u2019s desire to be great and be the best at whatever he does is 100%,\u201d Eric said.<\/p>\n
Eric and his wife, Trish, were at Chase Field on Aug. 8 last season when their son made his major league debut against the Diamondbacks and witnessed his first big-league hit in his first at-bat. There were hugs, and proof that there is crying in baseball.<\/p>\n
In the dugout, after hitting an RBI single off Zac Gallen, Kyle made the mistake of catching a video of the TV broadcast.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe camera panned to my dad and mom,\u201d he recalled. \u201cThey were getting emotional. Then I started tearing up in the dugout. I was just trying to analyze how Gallen pitched to me in my first at-bat. I ended up walking away from the iPad with some tears in my eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eric used to work overtime on his hitting, the very essence of a baseball cage rate. He was, and remains, obsessive about baseball, even now as he works as an announcer for select Dodgers games.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cKyle\u2019s very different from me,\u201d he said, laughing. \u201cI lived in the batting cage. Even now, I eat, breathe, and sleep baseball. That might be kind of screwed up. I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
\u201cKyle will take groundballs forever, and I know he will do anything to compete. But he knows how to get away from things better than I did. That\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 19, Kyle was \u201ckind of lanky and awkward,\u201d according to his dad, who added, \u201cMaybe people didn\u2019t see the kind of body he would grow into.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"SCOTTSDALE,](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/TDP-L-Rockies-Spring-RJS-08197.jpg\")
Infielder, Kyle Karros, left, takes batting practice during spring training for the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Field at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Arizona on Feb. 19, 2026. (Photo by RJ Sangosti\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n
Injuries during his collegiate career at UCLA caused Kyle to fall a bit on the draft board, and he slid to the Rockies in the fifth round of the 2023 draft. But he rocketed through the minors.\n<\/p>\n
He earned MVP honors in the High-A Northwest League in 2024, when he led Spokane to the championship by slashing .311\/.390\/.485 in 123 games. Last year, he impressed at Double-A Hartford, hitting .294 with four homers among his 23 extra-base hits over 55 games. In a 16-game stint at Triple-A, he hit .306 with two homers, four doubles and a triple.\n<\/p>\n
When the Rockies shipped Ryan McMahon to the Yankees at the trade deadline, room opened up at third base. Colorado baseball fans, used to seeing sparkling plays, first by Nolan Arenado, and then by McMahon, could be in for more acrobatics at third base.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve heard people say, \u2018At 6-5, there\u2019s no way Kyle can play third base,\u201d Eric said. \u201cBut, I know it\u2019s going to sound corny, but Kyle looks effortless at third base, it\u2019s pretty to watch. It\u2019s smooth, that\u2019s the best way to describe it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Growing pains<\/p>\n
Regarding his son\u2019s relatively rough start at the plate last season, Eric said he\u2019s not the slightest bit concerned.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, getting a taste of the big leagues and getting called up when he did is probably the best thing that could have happened for Kyle,\u201d he said. \u201cThe exposure he got, against some of the game\u2019s best pitchers, showed that he can play at this level and hold his own.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pitchers Kyle faced during his first 43 games included Pittsburgh\u2019s Paul Skenes (the 2025 National League Cy Young Award winner), Dodgers ace lefty Blake Snell, three-time Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, and Dodgers\u2019 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cOffensively, the production, obviously, wasn\u2019t there for me,\u201d Kyle said. \u201cBut honestly, I never felt like I was overmatched by any of the pitchers or pitches that I saw. And I faced some pretty legitimate pitchers while I was up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do think there is some natural swing stuff that I had to clean up. I\u2019m working on that. You have to, because you get a lot fewer pitches to hit in the majors than you do in the minors. So, when you miss your pitch, it\u2019s definitely going to make it hard. I definitely felt that. I\u2019ll work to adjust.\u201d<\/p>\n
His manager expects significant growth this spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cKyle knows how this game works,\u201d Schaeffer said. \u201cHe knows that nothing is given to you. I think a lot of that has to do with growing up in the clubhouse, along with his dad. He gets it.\u201d<\/p>\n