With trusty journal by his side, Dollander paving MLB path

This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding’s Rockies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

DENVER – A journal holds the mostly glowing autobiography of MLB Pipeline No. 20 and Rockies No. 2 prospect Chase Dollander’s first full pro season.

Dollander, a right-handed pitcher and the team’s top Draft pick (ninth overall) in 2023, gave himself quite a happy story in 2024 – 6-2 with a 2.59 ERA in a combined 23 starts and 118 innings at High-A Spokane and Double-A Hartford. The performance, which included 169 strikeouts, earned Dollander an invitation to his first Major League Spring Training in ‘25.

With the Rockies light on player moves this winter – the biggest splash being the agreement with former Giants and Yankees second baseman Thairo Estrada for one year and a mutual option at a guaranteed $4 million – the top newsmaker could be a newbie pitcher forcing his way into the rotation. Dollander, 23, wants to write his own headline.

After each start, Dollander opens his notebook and records thoughts under three categories: “Well” for his successes, “Better” for areas to improve and “How” so he can keep doing well and get better. Dollander believes he learned the most from the few times that “Better” was the category that took up most of his journal entry.

Dollander said sharing a clubhouse with Rockies pitchers Antonio Senzatela and Germán Márquez during their injury rehab assignments last season taught him to think – and even write – like a Major Leaguer.

“I was coming off of a rough outing one time – I don’t actually remember when it was,” Dollander said. “But it was right after I had a talk with Senzatela. He said when it happens, you can’t really dwell too much. Look forward to the next and not really worry about it.

“So I journal every night – put my thoughts down on paper. That time, as soon as I closed the journal, it was over with. It was time to go to sleep. It was time to be a person. It was time to put Chase Dollander, the athlete, to rest and look forward to the next day.”

Dollander was already learning perspective.

Going into the 2023 season at the University of Tennessee, Dollander – possessor of a Major League-level power fastball and slider – was predicted to be chosen first in the MLB Draft. But Dollander tinkered with the slider in an attempt to make it even better and didn’t pitch to expectations. LSU hurler Paul Skenes leapfrogged Dollander in the public eye, was chosen first overall by the Pirates in the ‘23 Draft and earned the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year Award.

Dollander needed more time to turn off his mind upon closing his journal.

“I didn’t have the greatest year ever, and that kind of stuck with me,” Dollander said. “If I were to put a percentage on things I could control and couldn’t control, I was focusing on about 80 percent on the things I couldn’t control. As soon as I flipped that switch, I started focusing on the things I can control 90 percent of the time.”

Dollander said listening to a mental skills coach began correcting his thought process, and the in-depth conversation with Senzatela solidified his approach.

Dollander’s brief time around Márquez last summer turned into an advanced study on handling those days between starts.

“I watched what he did and asked different questions about it, like, ‘What’s the point of doing this?’ Or, ‘Why do you do that?’” Dollander said. “He said, ‘It really makes me feel good and puts me in a good head space.’ So, I took some things and ran with them. My routines weren’t bad coming into pro ball, but he showed me things I can add, and they helped a lot.”

The willingness to absorb knowledge from Major Leaguers is nothing new. After the Rockies drafted Dollander, his agent, Forrest Martin of VaynerSports, introduced him to Rays left-handed starter and two-time All-Star Shane McClanahan. Conversations went so well that Dollander has spent the last two winters in Tampa, with McClanahan as his training partner.

“In his garage, he built a home gym, and it’s been a super experience,” Dollander said. “He has a trainer, Larry Adegoke, one of the Yankees’ strength and conditioning coaches, who comes in. It’s been a lot of fun getting to know Shane and seeing what it takes to be a successful Major League pitcher.”

The winter is the time to open the journal and tinker with areas that need improvement. Dollander said last season he experimented with “three different shapes of a slider,” and he needs to figure out what works. But while the slider wasn’t to his liking, the fastball overpowered hitters, he used his curve more frequently and effectively than ever and he improved at “getting to two strikes as quickly as possible.”

With Dollander’s head and stuff in the right place, the Rockies are eager to see if he is ready.

“First and foremost, he’s a really good competitor,” general manager Bill Schmidt said. “He’s pitched in high-leverage situations coming up in the past. His experience in the past leads us to see where he is during Spring Training.”

Schmidt said Dollander will not be broken in as a reliever. He’ll make the big squad only in the rotation, and if he doesn’t break camp, he will continue developing.

Dollander feels prepared for the challenge of simply being himself, rather than pressing to impress, when all eyes are on him in Major League camp for the first time.

“My mindset is the offseason is for tinkering and preparation,” Dollander said. “But Spring Training and going into the season, it’s all about having fun. Whether I make the team is not completely in my control, but I want to give them every opportunity to put me on that team.”