The Rockies are calling up 1B prospect Michael Toglia

The Colorado Rockies announced multiple roster moves this afternoon. The highlight of these roster moves is that they will be calling up top 1B prospect Michael Toglia. Toglia will join the team in Cobb County for the series opener against the Atlanta Braves tonight. Earlier this week we pondered if the time had come for Michael Toglia to become a major leaguer, and it would appear indeed it has.

Michael Toglia (no. 11 PuRP) was the Rockies’ first round selection in the 2019 draft out of UCLA. The big-bodied, switch-hitting first baseman played 41 games with the short-season A-ball Boise Hawks that year while slashing .248/.369/.483 with nine home runs.

After the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Toglia joined the High-A Spokane Indians to start his 2021 campaign. He was also named to the All-Star Futures game at Coors Field, where he clobbered a two-run home run.

Toglia earned a late-season call-up to Double-A Hartford in 2021, where he struggled to hit for average but clearly demonstrated the power in his bat. He hit ten doubles, a triple, and five home runs over 41 games and posted a .737 OPS.

This season Toglia has played the majority of his games with the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats, slashing .234/.329/.466 over 363 at-bats while hitting 23 home runs. The Rockies promoted him to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes on August 9th to challenge the young first baseman, who was expected to be MLB-ready this season.

Toglia hit the ground running in the PCL. Though the sample size is admittedly small, it’s impossible to ignore just how outstanding he’s been over 17 games with the Isotopes. He hit a home run in his very first game with Albuquerque and just never stopped. Through 17 games and 66 at-bats he’s slashed .333/.413/.758 with seven doubles and seven home runs. His success culminated in a three-homer night on August 27th.

The Rockies also announced that they have recalled outfielder Sean Bouchard from Triple-A Albuquerque. Bouchard made his major league debut in June but quickly landed on the injured list before being optioned back down to Albuquerque. Bouchard—Toglia’s teammate at UCLA—has also put together a strong body of work with the Isotopes. Through 69 games he has an OPS of 1.039 with 15 doubles, six triples, and 20 home runs.

The Rockies had cleared a spot on the 40-man roster with the designation of RHP Robert Stephenson for assignment earlier this week. The Rockies have optioned outfielders Wynton Bernard and Sam Hilliard to Triple-A Albuquerque to make room on the 26-man roster for Toglia and Bouchard.