Who is Karl Kauffmann? All you need to know about young Rockies pitcher

25-year-old right-handed starter Karl Kauffmann has only played in two professional seasons. A prolonged run in the College World Series, followed by the missed COVID-19 year (and a shoulder injury on the alternate site) in 2020, delayed the professional debut of the 77th overall pick in 2019 (slot $800k signing bonus).

In 2023, the Colorado Rockies pitcher finally made his Major League Baseball debut.

"Time for Karl Kauffmann to take the mound! #GoBlue | #ProBlue," Michigan Baseball tweeted on May 20.

Kauffmann was chosen by the Colorado Rockies in the second round of the 2019 MLB draft. Before getting promoted to the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats, Kauffmann made his professional debut in 2021 with the High-A Spokane Indians.

"With the 77th pick of the 2019 #MLBDraft, the @Rockies select @umichbaseball RHP Karl Kauffmann," MLB draft wrote in June 2019.

The 6-foot-2 pitcher only made two starts in High-A in 2021 before being promoted to Double-A, where he was nearly 1.7 years younger than the league average.

Kauffmann was moved back to Hartford in 2022 and performed significantly better. Over the course of 15 starts, he tossed 77 frames in 23 innings with a 4.06 ERA (3.86 xFIP), 1.35 WHIP, 9.7 K/9 rate, and 3.9 BB/9 rate. The Rockies decided that it was sufficient justification to promote Kauffmann to Triple-A Albuquerque in early July.

Colorado's Karl Kauffmann against the Marlins

Despite having a strong beginning, Karl Kauffmann's performance faltered after 35 pitches. At Coors Field on Wednesday night, the Rockies lost 10-2 to the visiting Marlins after the right-hander made errors in the fourth and fifth innings.

Kauffman's second MLB start was ruined by Miami, who scored five earned runs on six hits. The 25-year-old Michigan native is adjusting to life in the major leagues.

"This may sum up the Rockies season nicely…'Right-hander Karl Kauffmann was called up from Triple-A Albuquerque to start Wednesday’s game, but could not make it to Cincinnati in time. Instead, right-handed reliever Jake Bird will get the start.'"- blakestbanter

The Colorado infield turned two groundball double plays, which let Kauffmann pitch three scoreless innings. However, his total balls-to-strike ratio (37 to 45) indicates more serious problems that require attention.

Kauffmann's performance last week in Texas during his MLB debut was pretty comparable to it. Both the Rangers and the Marlins could get past Kauffman on their third go-around. Against Miami, Kauffman had two strikeouts and three walks.