The Colorado Rockies received troubling news Friday, just one week before the start of the 2025 season. Manager Bud Black told reporters that second baseman Thairo Estrada suffered a broken wrist Thursday night after getting hit by a pitch thrown by Texas Rangers pitcher Kumar Rocker. He is expected to miss four to eight weeks, though he will be re-X-rayed in four weeks to assess his progress.

The news is a big blow for the Rockies as Estrada, 29, was expected to serve as the primary second baseman on Opening Day. He had joined the team on a one-year, $3.25 million deal after the team non-tendered longtime incumbent Brendan Rodgers over the offseason.

Estrada had just recently returned to Cactus League action Thursday night having sat out a few days after getting kicked in the back of the neck last Saturday. Leading off the game, Estrada was hit by a 97.1 mph sinker that got away from Rocker, the seventh pitch of the at-bat, running up and in and hitting him on the wrist. Estrada stayed in the game, stealing second, and played the entire bottom of the first inning before being lifted in the top of the second for pinch-hitter Julio Carreras.

It’s been a successful camp for Estrada who hit .400 (14-for-35) with a triple in 14 games while playing quality defense. It was a promising sign for him to bounce back from an injury-hindered 2024 season and replicate the production shown in his three-year run with the Giants prior to that. Over the 2021 to 2023 seasons, Estrada slashed .266/.320/.416 for a wRC+ of 105. The left wrist sprains suffered in 2024 limited him to a slash of .217/.247/.343 and a 64 wRC+. He has historically hit well at Coors Field and the team hoped he could be the type of contact and on-base machine to aid the lineup production and increase their speed on the base paths. Unfortunately, things are up in the air as 2024 was plagued by a left wrist injury and now he has a non-displaced fracture in his right wrist. These types of injuries are always troublesome for a hitter to fully recover and Estrada’s season will lose all the momentum he built up over the last few weeks.

In the meantime, the Rockies now have to pivot their plans for second base.

MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reports that the initial plan will be to have veteran infielder Kyle Farmer get the bulk of starts at second. Signed to a $3.25 million deal this offseason, the plan was for Farmer to work as the utility infielder to help the Rockies focus on load management. Farmer has displayed his versatility in Spring Training, playing across the infield, and has at least shown well offensively, batting .333/.371/.333 in 33 at-bats. Farmer has typically been a glove-first type of player as he has hit .252/.313/.396 for a wRC+ of 93 over the past four years. Still, that approach might just be enough for the Rockies to stomach playing him more often than at the onset of the season.

However there is still the matter of how the Rockies replace Estrada on the roster for Opening Day. Farmer was set to the bench infielder but now that he will see more regular playing time it leaves the team with a decision to make as to how to fill the void.

Initial thoughts turn to the Rockies No. 7 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, Adael Amador. He made a brief big league debut in 2024 after Rodgers suffered an injury but Amador struggled in his brief stint. Amador had bulked up last season and it hindered him on both sides of the ball as his inexperience and unfamiliarity with second base was quite evident and his offensive output suffered. He finished the year strong in Double-A Hartford and got back into a familiar size physically over the offseason. He is just 22 years old still but has yet to play in Triple-A, where he has already been optioned.

The Rockies could turn back to Aaron Schunk who spent most of the second half of the 2024 season on the bench for the team. The club thinks highly of him even though they outrighted him off the roster early in Spring Training. Defensively he has performed well at third base, shortstop, and second base but has struggled at the plate hitting just .067/.125/.100 in camp.

The team has also employed the services of Owen Miller in Spring Training and he has also had a quietly good Spring with the Rockies. The 28-year-old has slashed .262/.304/.310 with two doubles and five RBI along with four stolen bases while playing quite a bit of shortstop in camp among the other infield spots. He would have to be added to the 40-man roster like Schunk.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale suggests the Rockies could look to the open market, naming Nicky Lopez and Garrett Hampson as possibilities. Lopez was released by the Cubs today. Hampson, who played with the Rockies from 2018 to 2022, has triggered an opt-out in his deal with the Diamondbacks. The added wrinkle of his ability to play the outfield could make a reunion more attractive for the Rockies, especially after he hit .290 in camp with Arizona.

Regardless, the Rockies are going to have to be creative in the interim until Estrada is able to return. An injury at this point in camp can sometimes lead to a move of desperation that can be detrimental to a club, something that has happened to the Rockies in the past. Either way, the last few days of Spring Training are going to be interesting for the Rockies as they prepare to take on the Tampa Bay Rays on March 28.