If the Rockies were hoping Tomoyuki Sugano would steady their rotation in 2026, the results told a more complicated story. The veteran right-hander had his moments, but he never quite looked like the ace Colorado was chasing when it brought him in on a one-year deal in February.
Sugano arrived after 12 seasons as the top starter for Japan’s Yomiuri Giants and a stop with the Baltimore Orioles. The Rockies wanted a rotation mix that paired experience with youth, and the 36-year-old did provide some useful starts. But in the end, he was a long way from the consistency and dominance that made him such a force earlier in his career.
He finished 12-11 with a 5.36 ERA over 147.2 innings, leaving him nine strikeouts short of 100. That milestone will stay just out of reach, though it still would have been a notable number for a pitcher his age. It’s not Chris Sale’s 200-strikeout season, but 100 would have looked good on the resume.
Compared with his year in Baltimore, Sugano did show some improvement. With the Orioles, he went 10-10 with a 4.64 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 157 innings.
His start in Colorado was encouraging enough to keep him out of the worst grading territory. April was his best month, and it began with a strong pair of outings against the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies. In those two starts, he combined for nine strikeouts and a 1.69 ERA, and he picked up his first win of the season against Philadelphia.
That early stretch set the tone for a solid opening month. In April, Sugano went 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA and 17 strikeouts across five games, allowing nine earned runs.
June brought another productive run, even if the ERA wasn’t pretty. Run support helped him pile up wins, and he went 4-0 with a 6.58 ERA, 17 strikeouts, and 19 earned runs allowed. He worked five innings in each start that month, and on June 20 against the Pittsburgh Pirates he turned in one of his better outings, going six innings without issuing a walk and striking out five.
July was his strongest month after April. He allowed just six earned runs and went a perfect 3-0, beating the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, and Kansas City Royals.
The rough patches, though, were hard to miss. May was his first bad month, as he went 1-3 and got hit hard by the Mets, Diamondbacks, and Dodgers.
The final two months were even tougher. In August and September, Sugano combined for a 1-7 record while allowing 10 home runs, 37 earned runs, and 56 hits.
Colorado is expected to add new arms to the rotation next season, and Sugano likely won’t be part of that mix. With a one-year contract already in place and management likely having seen enough, his run with the Rockies appears to be over.
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Kyle Freeland's Rockies Future Suddenly Feels Painfully Uncertain
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On a recent start at Coors Field, Freeland fought through a rough outing and was visibly emotional afterward, acknowledging the possibility that it could have been his final appearance in a Rockies uniform. For a pitcher who has been part of the organizations identity for years, the uncertainty around what comes next hangs over both his future and a franchise still trying to find firmer footing. [Read more 🡒]