Cole Carrigg: Up-And-Coming Dynasty Player

Welcome back, everyone. I hope you had a relaxing Fourth of July weekend.

The season is now past the halfway mark, which means we should all know the holes we have in our teams and are now trying to fill them. Obviously, a trade can fill that hole, but finding the right partner is not always easy. Which means you can try to add via the waiver wire, where there are some quality up-and-coming dynasty players just waiting to be added to your team.

One of those players is Cole Carrigg of the Colorado Rockies. Right now, he is rostered in only 23% of ESPN leagues and 33% of Yahoo leagues. Even in Fantrax leagues, which is heavy with dynasty leagues, he is rostered in only 67% of leagues. Carrigg is a player who can help you right now, but he is also a player who should help you win games for years to come.

Let’s dive into Cole Carrigg.

The Stats

Undrafted out of high school, Cole Carrigg headed to San Diego State University to play ball for the Aztecs and had a solid three-year career there. In 133 games, he slashed .333/.399/.477 with seven homers, 90 RBI, 101 runs scored, and 39 steals. His best season actually came during his sophomore season when he slashed .388/.426/.509 with 34 runs scored, three homers, 40 RBI and 19 steals in 54 games.

His numbers were not as good during his junior year (.303/.357/.458 30-2-27-17 in 42 games), but the Rockies liked his overall body of work and selected him in the second round of the 2023 draft with the 65th pick. Carrigg quickly showed off his skill set by slashing .350/.408/.600 in 36 games, but he struggled at times over the next two years before finding his groove this year at Triple-A as he was slashing .338/.414/.529 in 57 games with an outstanding 30 steals.

The Rockies recalled Carrigg from the minors in June, and he made his major league debut on June 9 against the Cubs, and he has basically been a mainstay in the lineup since.

The Tools

• Power

In college, he had only seven career homers in 480 at-bats. But since becoming a pro, he has learned to get the most out of his swing as he has gained strength, hitting 17 homers in 118 games in 2024 and then 15 in 123 games last season in Double-A. This year at Triple-A, he had six dingers in 57 games before joining Colorado.

Carrigg is not a classic power hitter, but he can do damage at the plate as he has learned to tap into his power. He already has four homers with the Rockies, and he can hit for power from both sides of the plate, as seen here versus the Athletics as a lefty and here versus the Cubs as a righty.

When looking at Carrigg’s Statcast numbers, they tend to show a hitter who may be hitting homers, but don’t count on huge power numbers. At Triple-A this season, he had an Average EV of 88.6 mph and a Hard Hit% of 38.8% with a 6.4% Barrel%. Those numbers are close to what he is doing with the Rockies. Carrigg currently has an AEV of 86.1 mph (MLB average is 88.2 mph) with a 30.6% Hard Hit% and 6.9% Barrel% (MLB averages are 37.1% and 7.6%).

• Hit

The hit tool for Cole Carrigg received a below average grade coming out of college, as scouts gave him a 45 grade. And Carrigg has shown at times why that grade was given. His career batting average in the minors was .283, and as a 23-year-old at Double-A in 2025, he slashed only .237/.316/.394. He also had a 27% strikeout rate with only an 8.3% walk rate. So there was concern about how well Carrigg will hit at the major league level.

But 2026 has been a nice turnaround at the plate for the switch-hitting Carrigg. In his 57 games at Triple-A he had a 15% strikeout rate and a 10.5% walk rate. So far with Colorado, he has been able to maintain those rates as his strikeout rate is 19% and his walk rate is 11.4%. If he can maintain those percentages, Carrigg will find a lot of success with the Rockies.

His bat speed is above average, and he tends to hit the ball in the air as he has a 37.5% ground ball percentage, way below the MLB average of 44.2%. The ability to lift the ball with his above average bat speed should allow him to hit his fair share of homers in the long run. However, his speed has allowed him to rack up nine infield singles and thus allow him to maintain a solid batting average and OBP.

• Speed

Probably one of the main reasons Cole Carrigg rose in the Rockies’ prospect rankings was the fact Carrigg has the ability to steal bases. His sprint speed of 29 feet per second ranks in the 90th percentile, and he racked up 142 steals in 334 career minor league games with an 82% success rate.

But with the Rockies, Carrigg’s speed has not been on display as he has only two steals in two attempts. As a team, the Rockies are not averse to stealing bags as they have 65 steals for the season, just above the MLB average of 63. I can’t explain why Carrigg isn’t running more, as he has displayed the ability to steal bags throughout his college and minor league career. But I am going to assume that at some point he will start running more.

The Results

• The Positive

Entering the season, Cole Carrigg was not a top 100 prospect. But he is showing he can be a solid dynasty player. Right now his 162-game average is 24 homers, 124 RBI, 138 runs scored, and 12 steals with a .307/.385/.580 slash line. We all know that is not going to happen – at least the 138 runs scored and 124 RBI. That would put him at a superstar level, and Carrigg is not a superstar.

But he is a good hitter, and the fact that he is a switch hitter helps in that he is not going to be stuck in a platoon situation. And so far he is showing he can succeed from both sides of the plate. From the left side of the plate, he is slashing .283/.414/.587 with two homers and 11 RBI in 46 at-bats. From the right side he is slashing .333/.348/.571 with two homers and 10 RBI in 42 at-bats.

• The Negative

The main concern with Carrigg is one that applies to nearly every Colorado hitter – the home/road splits. In 15 home games, he is slashing .348/.400/.652 with two homers and 12 RBI. In 12 road games, that slash line drops to .262/.367/.500 with two homers and nine RBI. The numbers I like, however, are the two homers on the road vs. the two at home.

Colorado has a massive amount of territory in the outfield, leading to a lot more hits. But the fact that his home runs are an even split between home and road games is a solid indicator that he isn’t going to be a horrible hitter away from Coors Field. The sample size is small, but Carrigg has a .500 SLG away from Coors Field and his 162-game road average is 27 homers and 122 RBI with that .262/.367/.500 slash line. So he is not the same hitter on the road as he is at home, but he is showing that he can be very productive away from Coors Field.

• The X-Factor

During his time at San Diego State, Carrigg played 27 games at third, 21 at second, five at catcher, and one at first base. But since becoming a pro, most of his time has been spent in center field, as he is an above average center fielder with an arm strength that ranks in the 99th percentile. But he can also play shortstop in a pinch, as he appeared in 45 games at that position in the minors and two so far with the Rockies.

But center field appears to be the basic home for Carrigg, and with the Rockies having yet another typical, horrible season, the chances of Jake McCarthy being traded away are all but certain, leaving the center field position for Carrigg to claim full-time.

If you have a hole in your outfield, Cole Carrigg is a player to go after. His power numbers are a little ahead of what he did in the minors, but I think he is certainly a 20-homer guy. And while his steals are down, I think that will change over time. In the end, this is a player who I think will help your team.

Thank You

Thanks for reading, and come back again next week.