Cole Carrigg sure landed on the wrong side of history on Saturday. Just almost a year ago, he was suspended after getting ejected against Portland in an August 31 game. At the time, he had slammed his helmet after an attempted steal of third base. As if that wasn’t enough, he went on to argue with the umpire intermittently over the subsequent innings, and the outcome that unfolded wasn’t exactly foreign. Now, this is August 2026. And he’s landed on similar grounds.

His frustration boiled over in Atlanta after his misplay cost the Colorado Rockies the lead. Yet it was his obscene reaction to the fans cheering at his expense that cost him much more. Almost instantly, Warren Schaeffer wanted to make an example of him.

He took away one of the most important things from Carrigg: his playing time.

“Cole made a mistake—he knows that is an embarrassment to the organization and that we don’t stand for that,” the Rockies manager exclaimed after Carrigg showed the bird to the Atlanta Braves fans.

“Listen, everybody makes mistakes. It’s just one that he has to learn from. It’s just that we will not put up with that here. So he is going to sit a couple of days because he’s a guy that wants to play every day. That’s the repercussion of this.”

The Rockies were leading 1-0 entering the bottom of the eighth on Saturday when reliever Jaden Hill retired the first two batters but allowed singles to both Matt Olson and Mauricio Dubón. Michael Harris II then lined a 0-2 slider toward center field.

Many thought it would be the end of the inning, with Carrigg making a spectacular catch.

Unfortunately, even a full-extension diving attempt was not enough for him to glove the ball. As it deflected off the tips of his fingers, the crowd at Truist Park erupted in joy.

As Carrigg lay on the ground, Olson and Dubón had enough time to score.

The Braves took a 2-1 lead, making it the final score, and the center fielder wasn’t happy about his mistake. He let his frustration boil over by flipping off the Braves fans.

Soon enough, Carrigg’s manager decided not to let it slide. 

“He can play with all the energy in the world that he wants to play with–that’s what makes him unique, and that’s what makes him, him,” Schaeffer noted. “He’s emotional, and over time he will take strides in learning how to better use that emotion. But I want Cole to be Cole. And I don’t think that gesture is Cole.”

This isn’t the first time Carrigg has had an emotional outburst during a game.

Earlier in July, he had a heated altercation with Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing.

The Rockies outfielder was trying to score the go-ahead run when he slid past Rushing to reach home plate. However, in doing so, he collided with the catcher’s leg and also made contact with the plate umpire.

Carrigg shouted while getting up, and Rushing thought it was directed at him.

The duo had a verbal exchange while the dugouts were emptied for a moment. However, the managers and the umpires diffused the situation quickly, and Carrigg explained that his frustration was directed at the umpire, not Rushing. 

That’s just one example involving the Colorado Rockies, but instances of this prevail all over the majors.

Just in April this year, Jarren Duran flipped his middle finger at a fan during a game between the Minnesota Twins and the Boston Red Sox. His reasoning, you may ask?

The fan had told him to go k–l himself as he made his way to the dugout after grounding out in the fifth inning of Boston’s 6-0 loss.

“Somebody just told me to k–l myself. I’m used to it at this point, you know?” Duran said after the game, adding that he “shouldn’t react like that, but that kind of stuff is still kind of triggering.”

While that wasn’t a big issue, showing the birdie to the opponent fans was, and Carrigg understands that. 

Cole Carrigg accepts his punishment

“First, I apologize to my teammates and the organization–that’s not how I want to represent us,” Carrigg exclaimed. “That’s inexcusable on my part. With that being said, I’m somebody who’s going to play at 110% every game and give my all to this team and to the game to try to win ballgames.

“That was a play that I felt could or could not have won the game. So I’m very passionate about that. Braves fans are pretty passionate themselves. Kudos to them. But that [the gesture] can’t happen.”

It appears that the 24-year-old’s words impressed the manager.

Schaeffer initially said Carrigg would miss a couple of days, but he then sent him in as a pinch hitter for Troy Johnston in the seventh inning on Sunday.

The youngster also continued in the outfield before shifting to shortstop in the 10th. However, none of those moves were enough to prevent another series sweep, as the Rockies lost the third game 3-2 in extra innings.

“My job for the next two days is to come off the bench and help the team win any way I can,” Carrigg noted.

Cole Carrigg was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the second round (65th overall pick) of the 2023 MLB Draft out of San Diego State University. Then, he was called up from Triple-A Albuquerque after two-time NL Gold Glove Award-winning center fielder Brenton Doyle got out with a left oblique contusion and left groin tightness. Doyle was later traded to the Chicago White Sox.

Since his big league debut on June 9, Cole has recorded a .261 BA with six home runs and 36 RBIs. The switch-hitter has played 68 games this season and ranks fifth among qualified National League rookies with a .782 OPS.

Despite the call-up and the trades, the Rockies suffered their third sweep in their last four series and have dropped 11 of their last 13 games. The team is currently tied with the Los Angeles Angels for the worst record in MLB at 52-85. Yet, one thing is commendable about the club.

The manager’s emphasis on discipline, even when they have little chance of making the playoffs.