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Early returns on the Rockies’ 2024 international signing class suggest a return to a past successful strategy.

Colorado’s pitching staffs of 2007-10 -- a period that featured a World Series trip, a postseason run and a near-playoff year -- featured Ubaldo Jiménez, Franklin Morales, Manuel Corpas and Jhoulys Chacín, all of whom were gems of the international development program. 

Key pitchers from the postseason squads of 2017 and 2018 were Germán Márquez -- who almost signed with the Rockies as an amateur but was acquired from the Rays before reaching the Majors -- Antonio Senzatela and reliever Carlos Estévez. The Dominican Republic (Jiménez and Estévez), Venezuela (Morales, Chacín, Márquez and Senzatela) and Panama (Corpas) have been productive places for the Rockies.

Márquez and Senzatela are still a part of the picture, though both are recovering from Tommy John surgeries last season.

But the current farm system shows that the Rockies have had more success with Latin American position players. Infielder Adael Amador and outfielder Yanquiel Fernandez are the top two players on the team’s Top 30 prospects list, per MLB Pipeline, and five of the top 15 are hitters. The only international pitcher signed as an amateur in the Top 30 is righty Jordy Vargas (No. 17), who underwent Tommy John right elbow surgery in 2023 and will spend 2024 regaining health and strength.

The first two days of the 2024 international signing period have brought, among other hurlers, two highly ranked right-handed starting pitchers from the Dominican Republic: Oscar Pujols and Gregory Sanchez. Pujols ranked 35th among international prospects according to MLB Pipeline, while Sanchez, who turned 17 on Friday, already possesses fastball velocity that many Major Leaguers would covet.

• Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff talk to MLB.com international prospect guru Jesse Sanchez on the Pipeline Podcast

The Rockies have accelerated their pursuit of pitchers since Bill Schmidt took over as general manager in 2021, using the MLB Draft and trade acquisitions to build out that unit. But this week shows that they haven’t sworn off Latin American pitching talent. With the signing period running through Dec. 15, time will tell if the Rockies concentrate on signing a volume of pitchers. But Pujols and Sanchez represent quality.

“We are always looking for pitching,” said Rolando Fernandez, Rockies vice president of international scouting and development. “The difference between the international market and the Draft is that there is a Draft -- so there is plenty of time for the scouts to see the pitchers at a higher competition level. So there is a lot more [high school and college] pitching in the Draft.

“But if we see a guy who can start at a particular level and he has a power arm, we go after him. We go back to Ubaldo, Corpas, Morales. We haven’t forgotten about that. But there is competition in the international market. Everybody’s trying to do the same thing because of the lack of starting pitching.”

Pujols, who is from Santo Domingo and trains with DDLA Sports, brings advanced action and strategy on his secondary pitches and a 6-foot-2, 165-pound frame that caught the Rockies’ attention.

“We’ve been following him for about two years,” Fernandez said. “We saw as a group that he had a chance to get taller. You could dream about his upside. He comes from a good program, is a hard worker and a very mature kid for his age. That made it easy for us to decide to pursue him, but there were a lot of other teams interested.”

Sanchez, who was also born in Santo Domingo and trained at Chapita Baseball Academy, has “easy” power on his fastball, according to Fernandez, along with a slider as his second-best pitch and a changeup.

“I’m excited about Gregory Sanchez -- 17 and up to 96 already,” Fernandez said. “I believe he’s going to start, and he has the ability to throw a strike with all his pitches.”

Through the first two days, the Rockies have continued to sign position players. According to Fernandez, they also signed switch-hitting shortstop Ashly Andujar, the No. 17 international prospect; speedy and toolsy Dominican infielder/outfielder Roldy Brito; Cuban infielder/outfielder Eriel Dihigo and shortstop Herlinton Herrera.

Fernandez arrived in Venezuela on Tuesday to continue the search for more international prospects.