MESA, Ariz. -- The purple jersey and the Cactus League -- where “I try to keep my hands moist, versus looking for a towel everywhere” in Florida Spring Training -- are new to right-handed pitcher Dakota Hudson. But there was something familiar about his Rockies debut on Thursday afternoon: the opponent.

Hudson faced the Cubs, against whom he has made 10 regular-season appearances (3-0, 3.72 ERA) while with the Cardinals.

“Going across the country just to face the same team I faced over and over,” Hudson said with a chuckle. He teetered in the first inning -- his lone frame in the Rockies’ 10-9 victory at Sloan Park -- but kept it scoreless by striking out Jorge Alfaro looking.

Hudson went through his catalog of pitches, with the curveball working better than the sinker, cutter and slider. The lone hit off Hudson was a screamer to center from Christopher Morel over the head of center fielder Brenton Doyle. He walked two.

“A little bit of those first-start jitters, but it was good to get out there and compete,” Hudson said. “There were a lot of small misses early, so it’s just reining in those misses, getting in the zone a little bit quicker. I liked how my stuff was playing.

“What’s been good for me in my live BP, I didn’t really have it. I had been working mostly a slower slider and a cutter. Today it was more sinker and then the curveball. But do what you can, work through it early. With 100 pitches [in a normal start], I’d like to have seen where we ended up going with a few more curveballs than normal.”

After a lengthy comeback from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in 2020, Hudson finished last season healthy for the first time since the operation. The Cardinals non-tendered him, and the Rockies swooped in to sign him for $1.5 million, with incentives based on innings pitched that could double his salary.

“He probably was not as sharp as he’d like to be in his first outing, but overall I liked the movement to his pitches,” Rockies manager Bud Black said.

The Rockies have two rotation spots available and want Hudson competing with Ryan Feltner, Peter Lambert (who replaced Hudson on Thursday and gave up two runs on two hits with two strikeouts in two innings), Ty Blach and Noah Davis. But after scouting Hudson last season, the Rockies believe he can regain the form of 2019-20, when he went 19-9 with a 3.24 ERA in 41 games (40 starts) across two seasons.

“It feels like baseball again,” Hudson said.

Notes:
• Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar singled off Cubs lefty starter Drew Smyly in the first, blasted an out-of-here-quick homer off Smyly in the third and doubled in the fifth off Daniel Palencia. Tovar led off against Smyly and was used at various batting order spots last year, although he figures to bat lower in the order this season.

• Infielder Julio Carreras, who made it to Triple-A last season and is trying to fight his way onto the big club, had the day’s biggest swing -- a three-run shot to left-center off Smyly in the second.

• After struggling against left-handed pitching last year, switch-hitting Michael Toglia jumped on Smyly's first pitch of the second inning for a single. It’s his second first-pitch hit batting right-handed this spring.

“I like the early-count swings -- he’s ready to hit,” Black said. “He’s got good command of the strike zone, but you’ve still got to be ready.”

• Elehuris Montero added to his bid for regular playing time by going 2-for-3 with his second Cactus League homer, a two-run shot off Palencia in the fifth. Montero started Thursday at first base, and he could see time in the lineup there or at designated hitter. Manager Bud Black said one way to accommodate Montero’s bat is to play Kris Bryant in right field on occasion.

• Tyler Kinley, an option for the closer job, gave up a Pablo Aliendo double, walked one and threw a wild pitch, but struck out two -- including Casey Strumpf to end his inning.

• Lefty starter prospect Carson Palmquist said sleeping in the wrong position could have caused the right trapezius soreness that forced him from Wednesday’s game against the Angels. Speaking of sleeping, Palmquist lived a dream by striking out Angels star Mike Trout on three pitches.

“That was a memorable moment, something I’ve dreamt of since I was a little kid,” said Palmquist, who pitched with High-A Spokane and Double-A Hartford last year and is getting a long look in camp. “Hopefully now it’s just part of the job.”