Rockies' affiliate wins title on walk-off ... HBP?!
This browser does not support the video element.
This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding’s Rockies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
DENVER -- Third baseman Kyle Karros, the Rockies’ No. 18 prospect, has been going hard at baseball since being selected in the sixth round of the 2023 Draft. But he’ll finally take a short break in the coming weeks to complete the work necessary to graduate from UCLA in December with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
It turns out that Karros, 22, has lived a baseball career that’s a case study in unusual game endings. When Karros drove in the run that gave High-A Spokane a 3-2 victory over Vancouver on Saturday to lock up the Northwest League championship -- which he did by being hit on the upper arm by a pitch from righty Geison Urbaez with the bases loaded -- it didn’t seem that strange.
“I know at UCLA we had a ton of walk-offs [on a] hit-by-pitch or a balk or a walk,” Karros said. “Weird stuff kept happening there. I don’t know if I have ever been the one to get hit for the win."
As odd as it may be for most, it’s fitting in a sense that Karros found the way to win it for his team.
Karros led the league in batting average (.311), on-base percentage (.390), slugging (.485) and OPS (.875). Right there with him was center fielder Cole Carrigg (Colorado’s No. 7 prospect), who slashed .280/.358/.475 with a league-leading 16 home runs (one more than Karros) and 51 stolen bases (second in the league) in 111 games with Spokane.
Listed at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, Karros had the physical tools but was slowed because of injuries at UCLA. The Rockies, seeing similarities to his father Eric Karros -- who spent most of his 14-season career with the Dodgers -- felt there was more to Kyle than his college stats, so they drafted him.
“I've grown up a lot in this league,” Karros said. “I made it more about just enjoying showing up every day -- enjoying the good, enjoying the bad -- and just trying to learn as much as I can in my first year. And I think I accomplished that, and I had pretty damn good stats to go along with it."