Adael Amador still unable to live up to hype in 2025

Welcome to the 2025 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2025. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.

No. 53, Adael Amador (-1.1 rWAR)

Once one of the most promising prospects in the Rockies organization, Adael Amador continued to move backwards in 2025.

After starting the season in Triple-A Albuquerque, Amador was called up and sent back down three times. The first call-up came on April 13 and he stayed with the Rockies until May 29. The following call-ups lasted four days in July and nine days in August. Amador was unable to take advantage of his playing time, raising questions about the middle infielder’s future in the organization.

Playing in 41 games in 2025 compared to 10 last year, Amador’s 128 plate appearances didn’t go much better this season. Amador, the 22-year-old switch-hitter who signed with the Rockies in the Dominican Republic in 2019, hit .177/.256/.521 with an OPS of .521.

He hit his first and only homer on April 26 at Coors Field vs. the Reds in the form of a 378-foot solo home run to right field.

Amador also drove in 10 runs, hit seven doubles and scored five runs. He struck out 27 times for a strikeout rate of 21.1%. His performance at the plate equaled a -0.5 rWAR.

Amador fell from being ranked No. 1 in the Purple Row pre-season 2024 prospect list, to No. 3 to start 2025 before losing his prospect eligibility midseason.

Even though his playing time slightly increased, it was still limited. Combined with his limited time last season, Amador has now played in 51 games with 148 at-bats and a slashline of .176/.242/.250 for a -1.6 rWAR in his MLB career.

Amador follows an all-too-common pattern that traps many Rockies prospects: playing incredibly well with the Isotopes, but not being able to translate that to the Major Leagues. In 314 at-bats in 80 games with Albuquerque, Amador hit .303/.405/.478 with an .883 OPS with 11 homers, 16 doubles, 59 RBIs, 50 walks compared to 47 strikeouts and 49 runs scored.

Originally a shortstop, Amador’s best chance to compete is at second base since shortstop Ezequiel Tovar is one of the few locks on the roster. After not re-signing Brendan Rodgers for the 2025 season, the Rockies signed Thairo Estrada to play second, signaling they weren’t ready for Amador to earn the spot.

Estrada only played in 39 games after suffering two injuries and ending the season on the 60-day IL, but his 336 innings at second still led the Rockies at second base in 2025. Amador was second with 309 1/3 innings in 41 games. His fielding was well below average, as Amador registered -6 defensive runs above average for a -0.5 rWAR defensively.

At the same time, Amador did flash his range and potential to make great plays like this in the field:

Tyler Freeman, along with veterans Kyle Farmer and Orlando Arcia, combined to make 53 starts at second, taking a big chunk of time. Rookie Ryan Ritter made 28 starts and performed better, possibly giving him an edge in the Rockies future second base plans.

Amador is still young and has only 0.024 service time. His contract was only $760,000 in 2025, and he remains in pre-arbitration status through 2027. He becomes arbitration eligible in 2028 with free agency slated for 2031.

There is still time for Amador to develop. However, as the Rockies try to build a roster to climb out of the 119-loss hole they dug themselves into in 2025, they need to find an offensively productive and defensively solid player to pair up with Tovar sooner than later. Amador still has time to be that player, but it’s not clear how much longer the Rockies can wait.

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