'I'm an everyday player:' Toglia set to become key piece for Rox

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Rockies switch-hitting first baseman Michael Toglia began last season 5-for-47, but with four of his hits going for home runs, he thought he was on his way to something special.

Triple-A Albuquerque wasn’t the place he had in mind, but that’s where manager Bud Black and general manager Bill Schmidt told him he was headed.

“My baseball card numbers weren’t good, but there were numbers behind the scenes that showed that over time, what I was doing was good, and my luck would change,” Toglia said.

Toglia proved that you can send down a player, but you cannot make him sink. He performed his way back to the Majors and made himself indispensable.

“I tried to compartmentalize it as a business decision -- it was nothing personal,” Toglia said. “When I got sent down earlier in my career, like in 2023, I felt like there were some more adjustments I needed to make --versus in 2024 when I got sent down, I knew I had what I needed to succeed at this level. And so I was like, ‘As soon as I get back up, I know that this is going to be the time.'"

Beginning with his June 6 recall, Toglia started the remaining 101 games, including the final 90 at first base. He hit 21 homers over that stretch to bring his total to 25, one behind shortstop Ezequiel Tovar’s team-leading total. He finished the season with a .218 batting average. But during the second stint, he hit .233 with a .469 slugging percentage and an .800 OPS. Toglia's offensive development and respected defensive skills make him an intriguing player.

“Being available is one of the biggest tools you can have -- you can’t contribute if you’re hurt,” he said. “I take pride in my self-care and my preparation for my body so I can play every day. And it’s a good point -- you have to perform to play every day. You can’t just be healthy.”

The Rockies selected Toglia in the first round of the 2019 Draft out of UCLA, believing his size, natural power and strike zone awareness could make him a lineup force.

Toglia broke in with 76 games over his first two seasons in the Majors (2022 & 2023). Last season, in his first year as a regular, he showed patience by walking once per 11.8 plate appearances. But he also had a 32.1 strikeout rate.

He should have plenty of chances to smoothen his performance. Barring injury, he could quickly eclipse Andrés Galarraga’s club record of 99 straight starts at first base (July 24, 1995 to May 11, 1996).

“‘I’m an everyday player, I want to play every day' ... there’s a mindset,” Black said. “He has the mindset. The defensive side is real. He’s a really good defender. In time he’s going to get his due, both inside the game and outside the game. But that takes time.

“Offensively, we know he has power. He showed it last year. For him, it’s the incremental improvement on some of the statistical things -- lowering the strikeout rate, putting the ball in play in certain situations to get RBIs. The walk rate is fine. His control of the strike zone is pretty good. We’ve talked about the chase rate -- swinging at balls outside the zone. He’s facing Major League pitching.”

Schmidt, the Rockies’ former vice president of scouting who selected Toglia in 2019, said, “He’s got to show strike-zone consistency -- cut down the strikeout rate and his average will increase, and along with that so will his production.”

When the Rockies sent Toglia down, he didn’t overhaul his swing. He quickened his mindset.

“I thought shorter in my mind,” he said. “I wanted to be concise with my plans -- plan for the at-bat and how I was going to get better each day. That didn’t necessarily mean taking 150 swings or 500 ground balls in early work.”

Some of the most valuable work had nothing to do with the bat or the ball.

“I maintained my self-talk, knowing that if I get down on myself in Triple-A, it can spiral in a hurry,” he said. “I tried to take it one day at a time, knowing that if I got the call again, I’d be ready.”