DENVER -- Upon learning that he would be called up to the big club on Sunday, Rockies No. 26 prospect Zach Agnos pitched a perfect strike with his first video call to his mother.
Lee Agnos was in Richmond, Va., visiting her father, who recently moved into hospice care. George Miller, 85, was a pitcher in the Senators/Twins and Angels organizations from 1960-65, with his final three seasons spent at the Double-A level.
So when Agnos called, Lee was able to turn the phone to allow Miller to see his grandson.
¡°The one thing I asked him last night was, ¡®What¡¯s the best pitch?¡¯¡± Agnos said. ¡°He always would ask me that question. The answer is a strike.
¡°So it was a really special moment, not just for him but my whole family.¡±
Tears of thankfulness and happiness engulfed Agnos.
¡°I had turned the phone to my dad,¡± Lee Agnos said. ¡°When I turned it back, I didn¡¯t know what was going on there. He was so broken up, and he was trying to tell me that he had made it.¡±
Agnos made the most of his debut by pitching a scoreless eighth inning in a 3-1 victory over the Nationals in the second game of the Rockies' doubleheader on Sunday, which ended their losing streak at eight games.
The 24-year-old posted a 2.25 ERA with two saves and 10 strikeouts against three hits and three walks in 8 1/3 innings with Triple-A Albuquerque. Since being drafted out of East Carolina in the 10th round in 2022, Agnos is 13-6 with a 1.82 ERA in 99 Minor League games.
But so many more people had their hand in his ascension.
His oldest brother, John, was planning to pitch at Virginia Tech as a walk-on, but went in other directions because of a coaching change. John¡¯s experience through travel ball and showcases for scouts set a path. Jake Agnos, 26, preceded Zach at ECU and was drafted in the fourth round by the Yankees in 2019 as a left-handed pitcher. But four surgeries in four years have Jake, a free agent, at a career crossroads.
While Zach Agnos was a two-way star at East Carolina -- a .300-plus hitter who played shortstop and third base -- the family was hit by tragedy. Niko Agnos, Lee¡¯s husband and father to John, Jake and sister, Katie, died from complications from COVID-19. The ECU program galvanized around the family.
¡°I¡¯m proud of what he¡¯s been able to do, especially with how much our family has gone through, with our dad passing away in '21 unexpectedly,¡± Jake Agnos said. ¡°He¡¯s been able to give our family such a bright spot.¡±
Jake and Zach have been offseason housemates while chasing their shared dream. They lived together in Florida, with Zach preparing for a season and Jake dealing with the repeated rehab exercises from his surgeries.
¡°It¡¯s funny because Zach was always the position player and I was always the pitcher,¡± Jake Agnos said. ¡°But since he got into pro ball, I find myself doing more of the listening and less of the teaching. It¡¯s funny how that has changed.
¡°To see him have those conversations with the guys at the gym and share his baseball knowledge is great. We always knew he had it, but he¡¯s done such a good job of transitioning from that two-way player.¡±
Lee brought Jake and Katie to Colorado, with everyone operating on three to four hours of sleep. John stayed home because his wife is expecting a child. Cheers from Agnos¡¯ family¡¯s row rang as he entered, and grew wilder with a first-pitch strike on a sinker to Keibert Ruiz.
Agnos did not pitch in the first game of Sunday¡¯s doubleheader, a 3-2 Rockies loss, but debuted in Game 2 in the Rockies¡¯ newest City Connect uniform -- a splash of cobalt blue, psychic purple, laser orange and razor pink to nod toward the skies above Coors.
The uniform reminded Agnos of a story from his grandfather. The Washington Senators relocated to become the Minnesota Twins in 1961, while Miller was pitching for the organization.
¡°He actually has a picture in a newspaper,¡± Agnos said. ¡°When they switched from Washington to Minnesota, he and a couple of his buddies just flipped the hat to make the ¡®M¡¯ a ¡®W.¡¯ He likes telling us about that.¡±
Manager Bud Black needed Agnos because the bullpen needed to cover seven innings in the Game 1 loss after starter Kyle Freeland left with a blister on his left middle finger.
¡°It¡¯s good to see,¡± Black said. ¡°We¡¯ve heard a lot about him the last couple of years from player development and we saw him in Spring Training. There¡¯s a lot to like there, so it¡¯s good to get him going.¡±
Josh Bell hit a two-out single off of Agnos and Luis Garc¨ªa drove a pitch deep to center, but Mickey Moniak caught it to end the inning.
¡°My stomach turned to me when that ball was hit ¡ the magnitude was a little bit higher,¡± Agnos said. ¡°But it was just awesome.
¡°I didn¡¯t get a lot of sleep last night because I was so excited and had an early flight. So I¡¯m running off a lot of caffeine. That definitely helped.¡±