Colorado Rockies prospects: No. 6, Robert Calaz

6. Robert Calaz (470 points, 19 ballots)

At the end of 2024, Calaz seemed to be on a rocket ship toward the big leagues after a season in which he was named the MVP of the Arizona Complex League and tore up the Low-A California league in a small sample. Instead, the 2025 season saw the 6’2” toolsy right-handed 20-year-old Dominican outfielder repeat in the California League and perform at an above-average (but not elite) level as one of the youngest players in the league. Calaz, who was 24th on MLB.com’s international amateur free agent prospect rankings for 2023, received Colorado’s top international signing bonus in the 2023 January period at $1.7 million, which is similar to what fellow PuRP Sean Sullivan received as a second-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Calaz began his professional career with a bang in the Dominican Summer League, producing a 149 wRC+ and playing center field with a bit of right field mixed in. In 2024, Calaz came stateside to play with the Arizona Complex League and flat-out murdered the ball. In 210 PA with the ACL team, Calaz hit ten homers among his 27 extra-base hits with 12 steals in 13 attempts en route to a monster .349/.462/.651 line, good for a 172 wRC+. He led the ACL in several major offensive categories (AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS/HR/RBI/TB) en route to a well-deserved league MVP award. The Rockies promoted Calaz to Low-A Fresno after the ACL season in early August, where he was 3.1 years younger than league average. That didn’t stop Calaz — he hit .327/.386/.571 with two homers, two triples, two doubles, and three steals in 57 plate appearances (147 wRC+).

In 2025, the Rockies chose to send Calaz back to Fresno for a longer run, where he was still 2.2 years younger than league average. The season started inauspiciously, as Calaz suffered an injury in the first game of the season that knocked him out for three weeks. In 424 plate appearances, Calaz hit .259/.338/.399 with ten homers among his 29 extra-base hits. Calaz performed above average offensively (105 wRC+), but not nearly as high as Rockies fans were expecting considering his performance in 2024 at the same level.

Additionally, Calaz struck out in 26% of plate appearances (9% walks), which is pretty high for low minors pitching (though he improved his contact % from 66% to 70% year over year). It is of course important to remember that Calaz only faced a younger pitcher than him in 6% of plate appearances in 2025, but at some point Calaz will need to figure out how to beat upper minors pitching that can execute a scouting report. In the field, Calaz split time between right field (71 games, five assists, nine errors) and center (25 games, two errors).

Here is a look at Calaz from 2025 in Fresno, including some slow-mo looks at his swing:

Keith Law of the Athletic ranked Calaz 11th in the system earlier this month:

Calaz got a lot of attention after he hit .349/.462/.651 in the Arizona Complex League in 2024, but he did so mostly on physical ability rather than a feel for the game, and that deficiency caught up to him in Low A last year. Still just 19, he hit .259/.338/.399 in Fresno with a 26 percent strikeout rate driven by high whiff and chase rates, including a 34 percent swing-and-miss rate just on fastballs. He wasn’t ready for the level and probably needed short-season ball — he would have put up stupid numbers in Grand Junction — so take some of that with a grain of salt, but his baseball instincts just aren’t that advanced yet. He’s going to be big and strong with 30-homer upside in an outfield corner, with a lot of work to do on approach to get there.

Baseball America recently ranked Calaz 9th in the system:

Calaz stands 6-foot-2 with room to add more strength to an already-mature frame. He brings explosive raw power to the plate, though his game remains a bit unrefined. Swing-and-miss concerns have followed him since signing—a common caveat with young, power-first hitters—but they’ve become more pronounced. Calaz’s swing starts with an extremely high hand-set, and he sometimes rests the bat on his shoulder before using a waggle to start his trigger.

Baseball Prospectus put Calaz 49th on their pre-season top 101 prospects list last January on the strength of that breakout 2024. That ranked third in the system, where Calaz was given a 60 OFP grade by Jeffrey Paternostro:

Calaz seemed a pretty easy scout last year, but nevertheless we underranked him. He hit the ball incredibly hard for a 17-year-old, but his contact rate in the DSL suggested better pitching would really undo his swing. Well, he came stateside and hit the ball incredibly hard for an 18-year-old, but made more contact than we expected in the process, making it all the way to full-season ball by the end of the 2024 season. It’s a pretty simple setup with a high back elbow creating a steep swing path that can really do damage in the air when he barrels one in the zone, but while Calaz’s ‘A’ swing is impressive, there’s really no ‘B’ swing a lot of the time, which can lead to in-zone whiff if the pitch isn’t where he expects, or topped/mishit contact even when he tracks it all right.

The thing is, even Calaz’s mishits sound loud, and there just aren’t a lot of teenaged prospects with this combination of damage potential and minor league production, even if it’s come only in the complex and Cal League. I think there is more in the tank here, too. Calaz has already reshaped his body some from last season—not really a surprise for a 17-year-old getting his first couple seasons of professional S+C work—and I’m more confident he will add even more strength and stick on the grass than I was at this time last year. It’s far more likely to be right field than center—he split time at both in 2024—but that’s better than first base or DH, and while the contact rate is still concerning, if he can maintain even this for another year at a higher level, Calaz will be one of the premier outfield prospects in baseball.

Calaz continues to show impressive power for his age, now we just need to see if he can hit upper-minors pitching in a year or two. That’s not that hard, tell ‘em Wash.

MLB Pipeline ranked Calaz fourth in the system as a 50 Future Value player last year, highlighted by a 55 power grade and 50 grades on every other tool:

[Calaz] managed to win the ACL Triple Crown without really having an idea of what he’s doing at the plate yet. Already strong and physical, Calaz hits the ball about as hard as anyone in the system, posting elite-level exit velocities, with tremendous raw power he’s still learning to tap into. He draws walks but still needs to tone down his swing tendencies as he is susceptible to breaking stuff away and out of the zone in particular.

The Rockies feel like Calaz is starting to show the makings of being a five-tool player and he’ll continue to get reps in center field. Most feel that his 6-foot-2 frame will continue to fill out and he’ll slow down more, necessitating a full-time move to right field, where his power production should profile perfectly.

Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked Calaz as a 40+ FV player (eighth in the system) last January, highlighted by a plus-plus future grade on his raw power, a plus arm, and even a plus future fielding grade:

The power aspect of Calaz’s profile is for real. Perhaps what is most absurd is how much thump he can generate without a leg kick — he starts with a very wide stance and uses just a little toe tap to get going. A very loose athlete, Calaz rotates with verve and ferocity, but in order to do so, his hips often clear very early, leaving him vulnerable to sliders away from him. This is a pretty serious issue already. Calaz ran a paltry 66% contact rate in 2024, worse than all but one qualified big leaguer (Zack Gelof). There are a handful of very toolsy whiff-prone power hitters in that contact rate area, including Christopher Morel and Logan O’Hoppe, both of whom are sound build/frame comps for Calaz. And Calaz projects to have raw power similar to other players in that group, like Brent Rooker and Adolis García. There’s 35-homer ceiling here, but there’s also a lot of bust risk because of how many rookie-level strikeouts we’re talking about.

Calaz is settling more into a right-field role than center and has some big contact rate questions. Still though, plus right-handed power is tough to come by, and the big signing bonus Calaz got is proof positive of its market value. Calaz is clearly a high-ceiling player who at least a couple years away (my bet is a late 2028 debut at age 22) and we’ll see how his plate approach develops as the opposition improves. The recently designated for assignment Yanquiel Fernández has some similar traits and in multiple cases took steps forward in repeat assignments.

Calaz will likely spend 2026 in High-A Spokane as a 20-year-old. I ranked Calaz fourth on my list as a 45 FV player because of the performance, signing bonus, and his ability to stick in the outfield, though I am leery of the contact rate struggles.

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