Rockies Prospect Profile: An underrated lefty in Carson Palmquist

Carson Palmquist, a 6'3 185 left-handed pitcher who currently is throwing up some wizard-like numbers in Double-A Hartford for the Yard Goats, is currently the Rockies number 15 prospect (according to MLB Pipeline). While many of us believe this is too low of a ranking for the lefty (we at Rox Pile had him at number 10), he is making some serious noise in 2024 and is quickly making his name known throughout the organization.

So far, Palmquist boasts an ERA of 0.00 throughout 16 innings pitched, giving up eight hits, walking only seven while striking out 25 of the batters he has faced. After being drafted in the 3rd round, 88th overall in 2022 out of University of Miami, where he was a closer his sophomore season before being moved the rotation as a junior, Palmquist was assigned to High-A Spokane where he quickly impressed with a funky delivery and lots of deception. He will only sit around 92-93 MPH on his fastball, but his three-quarter arm slot creates a very strange look for batters, and he features an extremely slow but effective slider that is the stuff of nightmares for left-handed hitters, and a decent changeup as well.

Between High-A Spokane and Hartford last year, Palmquist averaged a spectacular 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings, and he has made a drastic improvement in all facets of his game early this season. The major question mark with Palmquist looking forward is whether or not his weird throwing angle will create a situation where he won't be durable enough to start, or if his skill set will be best utilized as a reliever, not a bad problem to have. The Rockies have had some young pitchers impress so far, but Palmquist may push his way onto some of the prospect lists next year. Either way the Rockies will be getting a high-quality pitcher very soon, if he continues at the pace he is at it wouldn't be the least bit surprising to see him in the MLB in 2024.

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