Gonzaga Professional Athletes

Gabriel Hughes and Troy Johnston Are Making Gonzaga's MLB Presence Known in Denver

The Colorado Rockies may be playing out a tough 2026 season, but two Gonzaga alumni are giving the Bulldogs faithful something to watch in the final weeks of the summer.

Gabriel Hughes: Still Hunting Win No. 1

Rookie right-hander Gabriel Hughes continued to build his MLB résumé this week, making two starts for Colorado — and drawing a milestone moment in the process.

On Sunday, Aug. 23, Hughes turned in five innings against the Cleveland Guardians, allowing three earned runs and striking out two in a 3-4 Rockies loss. His ERA crept up slightly to 6.54 following the outing — not the birthday gift he was hoping for. The 25-year-old then took the hill again Thursday, Aug. 27, against the Washington Nationals, going another five innings with three strikeouts and four earned runs, nudging his ERA to 6.61.

The quality of Hughes' raw stuff isn't what's in question — his ability to limit damage is. Two straight five-inning outings show the Gonzaga product can eat innings at the big-league level, but he's been bitten by costly run-scoring frames. Per a Yahoo Sports game preview, Hughes entered his Aug. 23 start against Cleveland explicitly chasing his first MLB win on his birthday. He's still chasing it.

He's scheduled to get another crack at it before the week closes out, facing Cleveland again in what Yahoo Sports billed as a second notable matchup for the young Zag. The ceiling is real — the wins column just hasn't caught up yet.

Troy Johnston: Quietly Raking in the Outfield

While Hughes works through early-career growing pains, Johnston is quietly putting together one of the more productive stretches by a Gonzaga alumnus in recent MLB memory.

The outfielder went 7-for-the-week by the numbers, including a signature Wednesday, Aug. 26 performance against the Nationals: two hits, a home run, two RBI, and a run scored. He followed that with a hit Thursday and another on Saturday against the Braves, pushing his batting average from .282 on Monday to .287 by Saturday — a steady, upward tick that reflects real contact consistency, not noise.

Johnston's .287 average isn't a fluke line built on one hot series. He's been grinding hits across every game he's appeared in this week, showing patience at the plate (two walks logged across the week) and pop when he gets his pitch. The home run Wednesday was a reminder that his bat has more than gap power.

Notably, Johnston also logged a pitching appearance on Monday, Aug. 24 — throwing a clean inning against Washington — which underscores his value as a versatile roster piece in Colorado's fluid lineup construction.

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Two Zags, one roster, one very long summer in the Rockies organization. Hughes is still looking for the breakthrough result to match his effort; Johnston is steadily making the case that he belongs. Both are worth tracking as September approaches — and both are reason enough for Gonzaga fans to keep a Colorado box score open.

It was a week Gonzaga's MLB contingent would rather forget — at least for two of its headliners.

Hughes Gets Burned in the Desert

Gabriel Hughes had no answers for Arizona on Tuesday, Aug. 11, surrendering seven earned runs in four innings as the Colorado Rockies were shutout 9-0 by the Diamondbacks. The right-hander struck out three but couldn't survive the early damage, with the Rockies offense offering zero support in return. The rough outing pushed Hughes' ERA to 5.61 on the season — a troubling number for a young arm Colorado is counting on to develop.

The game was framed as a pitching matchup against Arizona's Michael Soroka, but it turned into a one-sided affair almost immediately. Hughes, who entered the week as one of the more closely-watched Zag prospects in the majors, will need to bounce back quickly with Colorado mired in the NL West basement and a three-series gauntlet against division foes on the schedule.

Mills Designated, Dealt to Washington

While Hughes was struggling on the mound, Wyatt Mills was navigating a roster squeeze across the league. The Dodgers designated the right-hander for assignment earlier in the week — a casualty of Los Angeles clearing 40-man roster space after a flurry of trade deadline activity — and Mills subsequently landed with the Washington Nationals.

It's a familiar kind of move for a reliever working to stick on a big-league roster, but the destination matters: Washington gives Mills a chance to log innings on a rebuilding club rather than sitting in Triple-A behind one of baseball's deepest bullpens. Whether he can carve out a role in the nation's capital remains to be seen, but the opportunity is there.

Johnston Stays Steady

Not all the news from the Zag camp was grim. Outfielder Troy Johnston provided a quiet bright spot for the Rockies, going 2-for-something on Tuesday in the same Diamondbacks loss that buried Hughes, and following it up Saturday with a hit, an RBI, and a walk in a 4-1 Colorado win over the Giants. Johnston is hitting .282 on the season — a respectable number that keeps him in the everyday conversation for a rebuilding Colorado club.

Around the Rest of the Alumni

Casey Legumina continued his steady work out of the Tampa Bay bullpen, pitching across three appearances this week and posting a 3.86 ERA through two innings Saturday against Baltimore, with four strikeouts. The Rays reliever has been one of the more consistent Gonzaga arms in the majors this season.

Marco Gonzales, now with the Rangers, was touched for a brief outing Saturday against the Athletics — just two-thirds of an inning — though his ERA sits at a sterling 1.35, suggesting his season as a whole has been quietly excellent.

A rough week for the program's highest-profile arm in Hughes, a reshuffling for Mills, and steady if unspectacular contributions from the rest of the Zag roster. August has a way of separating the contenders from the roster fillers — and several Gonzaga alums are squarely in the middle of that reckoning right now.

Three Gonzaga alumni made noise across MLB this week, with a Dodger reliever returning from the IL, a Rockies starter putting up a gutty mid-rotation outing, and a fellow Zag driving in runs in the thick of Colorado's lineup.

Wyatt Mills Back on the Mound for LA

The most significant roster news for Gonzaga fans came out of Los Angeles, where right-hander Wyatt Mills was activated from the injured list ahead of Sunday's game against the Red Sox. Mills wasted little time making his presence felt, spinning 2.0 innings and striking out one — allowing just one earned run in his return. His ERA sits at 5.68, but the activation alone signals the Dodgers view him as a viable bullpen piece heading into the final stretch of the season. The move came as part of a flurry of roster activity in LA, with Will Klein simultaneously landing on the IL with elbow discomfort.

Gabriel Hughes Battles Through in Denver

Gabriel Hughes gave Rockies fans a reason to watch on Wednesday, squaring off against the Rays in a game that doubled as a Gonzaga reunion of sorts. Hughes went 5.1 innings, racking up 7 strikeouts — a strong punch-out total for any starter — before allowing 5 earned runs in a 7-9 Rockies loss. The performance was a microcosm of Hughes's season: enough swing-and-miss stuff to keep hitters honest, but inconsistency in limiting damage. His ERA now sits at 4.25. The matchup carried an extra subplot: Rays reliever Casey Legumina, also a Gonzaga product, threw 2.0 innings of relief in the same game, striking out one and finishing with a 4.28 ERA on the season.

Troy Johnston Producing in Colorado's Outfield

The week's quietly consistent Zag was Troy Johnston, who continued to hold down a spot in the Rockies' outfield. Johnston went 1-for-1 with a run scored in Tuesday's series opener against Tampa Bay, and then delivered his biggest moment of the week on Saturday against the Cardinals — going 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs while hitting .279 on the season. Johnston has settled into the .279–.283 range over this stretch, providing reliable contact production in a Colorado lineup that needs every run it can manufacture.

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All told, it was a week that highlighted Gonzaga's quiet but genuine footprint in professional baseball. From a Dodger bullpen piece reclaiming his roster spot to a mid-rotation arm logging strikeouts in a tough loss, the Zags were spread across the league — and contributing.