Colorado Rockies spring training game no. 22 thread: Ben Brown vs. Kyle Freeland
Yesterday the Rockies fell to the Texas Rangers, 9–4. Colorado couldn’t overcome a disastrous third inning in which starter José Quintana was pulled after allowing five runs before Ryan Miller entered and surrendered two more. Quintana later returned to start the fourth inning — a maneuver allowed under the relaxed rules of spring training.
The Rockies’ offense was pedestrian, mustering just four hits, though they did draw six walks.
Turning the page to today’s game, the Colorado Rockies take on the Chicago Cubs in one half of a split-squad matchup.
On the mound for the Rockies is Kyle Freeland. This will be Freeland’s third start of the spring after opening camp against Team USA and then pitching on March 9 against the Chicago White Sox. The left-hander allowed one run in one inning against Team USA and one run over two innings against the Sox. Expect Freeland to begin stretching his pitch count with Opening Day just under two weeks away.
Opposing Freeland is Cubs right-hander Ben Brown. The 26-year-old is an imposing presence on the mound, standing 6’6″. Brown primarily works with a fastball-curveball combination, averaging around 96 mph with his fastball and throwing the pitch more than half the time. He also features a changeup that he uses sparingly.
Brown has worked both as a starter and in long relief, and is coming off a rough 2025 season in which he posted a 5.92 ERA over 106.1 innings across 25 games (15 starts). So far this spring, Brown is 1-1 with a 4.05 ERA and nine strikeouts in 6.2 innings pitched.
Also noteworthy is Ethan Holliday (No. 2 PuRP) getting the start at shortstop today. The last time we saw Holliday was 10 days ago with Team USA versus the Rockies. Today’s start gives the young infielder a chance to face big-league pitching alongside players like Brenton Doyle and Hunter Goodman. Holliday isn’t the only young player worth watching today as Kyle Karros looks to stay hot at the plate – the third baseman is hitting a sizzling .417/.481/1.231 across 24 spring at-bats.
First Pitch: 2:10 p.m. MDT
TV: None
Radio: 670 The Score (Cubs)
MLB Gameday: Live Box Score
Lineups:
Colorado Rockies spring training game no. 23 thread: Zach Agnos vs. Jacob Misiorowski
Meanwhile, over at American Family Fields of Phoenix, the other half of the Rockies will face off against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Opening for the Rockies will be Zach Agnos. This is his second “start” of the spring, having pitched a scoreless first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 7th. Agnos will look to repeat that performance today against the Brewers. So far this spring, Agnos has not allowed a run in five and a third innings of work.
The Rockies split squad lineup with face off against young phenom Jacob Misiorowski. His only other official game action this spring came against the Seattle Mariners on March 8th wherein he pitched 3.1 innings of one run ball while striking out six and walked only one. Earlier this spring he did also pitch two innings, and struck out another five, in an exhibition game against Great Britain’s WBC team.
On the offensive side, the Rockies are lining up an interesting mix of younger major leaguers (Tyler Freeman, Jordan Beck, Ryan Ritter) with some of their top prospects (Charlie Condon, Cole Carrigg, TJ Rumfield). Misiorowki’s biggest issue in his otherwise stellar rookie campaign had been a walk rate of 4.23 per nine innings pitched, so a thing to watch would be whether this youthful Rockies lineup can remain patient at the plate.
First Pitch: 2:10 p.m. MDT
TV: None
Radio: WKTI 94.5
MLB Gameday: Live Box Score
Lineups:
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