SAN DIEGO — Chase Dollander’s rookie season with the Rockies is over.

With the sudden end comes plenty of questions about what comes next.

Dollander exited his last start after five innings Monday night in Los Angeles against the Dodgers with what was termed a left patella tendon strain. That issue with his knee hobbled him in the clubhouse after the game and eventually caused the Rockies to pull the plug on his scheduled start for Saturday in San Diego.

Interim manager Warren Schaeffer confirmed Dollander will miss his start in San Diego, and the 23-year-old right-hander is expected to go on the injured list closer to Saturday, giving the Rockies time to call up a replacement.

With that move, with just 15 games left after Thursday’s series opener against the Padres, Dollander will finish his rookie year with a 2-12 record and 6.52 ERA in 21 starts covering 98.0 innings.

“I’ve learned a lot,” Dollander told The Denver Gazette on Thursday at Petco Park. “I feel like I came into the big leagues just as a thrower. I ended as a pitcher. I felt like I was actually learning how to set guys up, to connect everything and to really, truly be efficient in the big leagues.

“When you take a hit like this, it hurts, but being able to take the positives from it is going to be a really important thing.”

It was a season that included a late July demotion to Triple-A after posting a 6.68 ERA in his first 15 starts. Once Dollander returned, there were three starts where he allowed a combined nine hits and three earned runs over a combined 16.0 innings, equating to a 1.69 ERA.

That was the good Schaeffer and others emphasize in regards to what could come from Dollander in 2026 and beyond. However, there must be an answer for what happened in those other three starts where opponents battered his pitching for 17 earned runs in 15.2 innings (a 10.07 ERA).

“I think for him, it’s determining what works and how he wants his arsenal to play at home as opposed to on the road,” Schaeffer said. “There are adjustments that have been made in season, trying to discover that by looking at the numbers and looking at the analytic data, but he’s always progressing towards that.”

Progress has been a key for Dollander, who didn’t make Colorado’s Opening Day roster but is penciled in as an important part of the rotation in 2026. That growth and the lessons learned along the way this season are things that Dollander believes will pay dividends.

“Do I want to go through the struggles that I went through? Absolutely not. Nobody wants to, but it’s all growing pains,” Dollander said. “It’s something that, unfortunately, I believe I had to go through for whatever reason. I took the positives from it, and I kept moving forward.

“There were definitely times I could have gone to a really dark spot, but I didn’t let myself do that. I looked forward to the next (start) and took the positives from that when I could. I feel like that’s really important in this game, making sure that you’re staying on the positive side of things. If you get too down and too critical of yourself, you can get yourself in a really tough spot.

“I would say I’m proud of the way I handled the failure and the adversity, and I know it’s just going to make me 10 times better next year.”

That improvement for next season must include how to lower his numbers at Coors Field. In 2025, Dollander pitched to a 9.98 ERA in 46.0 innings in Denver. Away from altitude, the numbers dropped to a 3.46 ERA over 52.0 innings.

“It’s about figuring out your arsenal,” Schaeffer said. “How much do you use your two-seam (fastball)? How much do you use your four-seam (fastball) at home? Do you scrap one? Do you throw more breaking balls? Do you throw more sliders? I mean, these are all things that he’s figuring out.”

Dollander and many of the young Rockies are learning on the fly this season. He is one of 13 Colorado players who made their debuts in 2025, a group the franchise (and Dollander) hopes will improve and grow next season.

“It’s really special to be around this group of people and know that we’re all going to hit this offseason running with what we could be next year,” Dollander said. “I don’t want to say too much and get ahead of myself but, next year, I feel like there’s going to be a lot of fun. I feel like getting a lot of games under the young guys’ belts, myself included, has been really important this year. Next year, it’s going to be about let’s take that a step further. Let’s get to winning.”