Zach Agnos loves doing impressions.
So when the outgoing 25-year-old got the text from Warren Schaeffer telling him he’d be starting instead of waiting in the bullpen on May 21 vs. the Diamondbacks, Agnos stuck with his pregame routine. That includes mimicking some of his teammates, including the pitchers he works with day in and day out.
“I like impersonating Tomo Sugano. He always gets kind of jokingly upset when I do his impersonation, but he’s a good sport about it,” Agnos told Purple Row. “And [Juan] Mejia, I think my best one is probably Mejia, but the one I like doing the most is Sugano.”
Even with the weight of his first start since high school seven years ago on his shoulders, Agnos knew that the best thing he could do was just be himself. When asked to elaborate on that, Agnos offered details on what he’s like with his teammates inside the Colorado clubhouse.
“We have this little soccer game — a flick soccer game in there. I’ll play darts, just kind of being loose, having fun, cracking jokes, and impersonating some people. It’s a lot of laughs and smiles,” Agnos said. “It’s always the same thing. I came out, warmed up, played soccer with the guys before, so just the same thing all the time.”
Agnos made his MLB debut with the Rockies in April last season after being selected in the 10th round of the 2022 MLB Draft by Colorado out of East Carolina. In his young career, he’s 1-3 with a 6.42 ERA in 45 innings with 44 strikeouts, six saves and three holds. In his rookie season, he mostly worked as a late-inning reliever, often in set-up or closer roles.
This season, Agnos’s 36 innings have already surpassed his 31.1 in 2025. In those 36 innings, he has put up a 6.25 ERA in 15 appearances with 25 strikeouts and 12 walks.
Agnos, who grew up playing shortstop before transitioning to pitching, is also showing more versatility. Outside of his start on May 21 — when he threw five scoreless innings with one hit, one walk, and four strikeouts — Agnos has served as a long reliever. Eight of his starts have been two innings or longer, with five of those going at least three innings.
Even though Agnos got a no-decision and the Rockies lost in the lone start of his MLB career, 2-1, Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer was impressed with his performance.
“He exceeded expectations — fantastic job taking the ball, throwing up five zeros,” Schaeffer said. “I know he’s done it a couple of times this year, where he’s gone three or four innings, but this is uncharted territory for him, and he’s doing it for the team. I can’t praise him enough. He was efficient with his pitches. Fantastic job by Ags.”
Whether it’s the first, the sixth or the ninth inning, Agnos said he sticks to his same approach to pitching. Thanks to his offseason work and preparation from the Rockies pitching staff, he was able to remain calm and manage his excitement for his start. Agnos let his coaches’ advice of “don’t change anything” be his guide.
“In the couple of outings leading up to the start, I was back to being myself in zone with a lot of my pitches. That was our goal — just to stick to that game plan and attack hitters,” Agnos said. “A big word that they use with me is suffocation, meaning just suffocate the hitters with the sinker, cutter, slider, sweeper and splitter. Suffocate them with that in the zone, because it’s going to be a tough at-bat.”
In his 4.1-inning appearance preceding his start, Agnos limited the Diamondbacks to two runs on four hits with no walks and one strikeout after relieving a struggling Kyle Freeland in the fourth inning on May 15. Agnos entered the game with the bases loaded and only gave up one run in an inning that could have been much worse.
Despite the high pitch counts he’s seen this season — 67 vs. the Padres on April 23, 57 against the Diamondbacks on May 15 and 71 on May 21 — Agnos is taking it well.
“My arm feels great,” Agnos said. “I think when you’re rolling in a rhythm, and especially when you’re on the same page as Goody [Hunter Goodman] and [pitching coach] Alon [Leichman], I think the feeling kind of goes away, and it’s just straight compete mode.”
Like most Rockies pitchers, Agnos has had his ups and downs this season. His most recent outing, and the follow-up to his amazing start, was one of those downs. In a two-inning appearance out of the bullpen, he gave up seven runs on six hits, including two homers, with one walk and one strikeout against the Dodgers on May 26.
With the Rockies pitching staff being hit hard by the injury this season, including Thursday’s announcement of José Quintana being placed on the 60-day IL with a left elbow sprain, the Rockies will need lots of innings from Agnos.
When it comes to pitching or starting, Agnos said he doesn’t have a preference and just wants to help the team.
“I just love pitching,” Agnos said. “I love going out there and competing, and playing with the guys behind me, so it doesn’t matter.”
Even though the Isotopes got out-hit 12-11, they out-scored El Paso by taking advantage of nine walks and a five-run fourth inning to earn a victory on Thursday. Nic Kent hit two doubles, drove in two runs, scored two more and added a single, Jose Cordova doubled and drove in three runs and Kyle McCann got two hits, scored two runs and drove in two more, in addition to drawing three walks. Domingo Acevedo had a decent start, giving up three runs on three hits with four walks and four strikeouts in 4.1 innings. Sammy Peralta threw 1.2 scoreless innings to earn the win.
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 5, Altoona Curve 4
Benny Montgomery hit a two-run homer and Aidan Longwell hit two doubles to help Hartford jump out a 5-0 lead after three innings on way to a win Thursday. Connoir Staine picked up the win to improve to 4-1 on the season after throwing 6.2 innings with six strikeouts, only allowing three runs on five hits with two walks. Conner Capel added two hits, scored two runs and drove in another while Fidel Ulloa allowed one run in 2.1 innings, but shut down the Curve when it mattered to get his third save of the season.
Tri City rallied with a two-run eighth inning to pull off an upset over the Indians on Thursday. Jack O’Dowd homered in the first inning to put Spokane up 2-0. After the Indians fell behind 3-2 in the third, O’Dowd tied the game with a triple in the sixth. Max Belyeu kept the rally going with an RBI double to put Spokane up 4-3. O’Dowd went 4-for-4 on the night. Bryson Hammer had a solid start, but didn’t have good defense behind him. In five innings of work, he allowed three runs, only one of which was earned. The Indians committed two errors, while striking out four and walking two. Justin Loer recorded a blown save and the loss after allowing an inherited runner to score on two singles and a sacrifice bunt.
Despite connecting for five hits, the Grizzlies struck out nine times and walked only once as they were shut out on Thursday night. Ethan Cole pitched a gem, throwing 6.1 innings and holding the Giants to one run on three hits and four walks with two strikeouts, but took the loss without any offensive support. Easton Marks added 2.2 scoreless innings to keep the Grizzlies in the game. Roldy Brito posted three of Fresno’s five hits. The Grizzlies had two runners on in the third and Tanner Thach doubled in the seventh with no outs, but that was the only two times Fresno had a runner in scoring position.
The hits just keep coming. With Chase Dollander and Ryan Feltner still on the IL, Jose Quintana was placed on the 60-day IL on Thursday. The LHP left his last start with soreness in his elbow that’s now been categorized as a left elbow sprain. The Rockies activated RHP reliever Jeff Criswell to fill Quintana’s roster spot.
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