NASHVILLE >> In the Rockies’ perfect world, young, hard-throwing right-hander Anthony Molina will blossom into the next German Marquez. For now, however, the Rockies simply need Molina to provide quality depth to their pitching staff.

Molina, 21, was selected by the Rockies Wednesday from Tampa Bay in the major league phase of the Rule 5 Draft and will be added to the active 26-man roster.

Sterling Monfort, Colorado’s director of professional scouting, said longtime scout Jack Gillis believes Molina has a huge upside.

“Jack kind of (compared) this guy to German Marquez when Marquez was the same age,” Monfort said. “Molina is actually two levels higher than when we traded for Marquez. The numbers are about the same as Marquez’s.

“German wasn’t a huge strikeout guy until he got to us and developed his off-speed pitches and stuff like that. I’m not saying they are going to be the same guy, but we are hoping we got a guy like German Marquez.”

Monfort said that Molina will likely be pegged in a long relief role this season to begin his Rockies career.

Marquez, who’s currently recovering from Tommy John surgery, was acquired from Tampa Bay in January 2016, along with reliever Jake McGee, in exchange for outfielder Corey Dickerson and prospect Kevin Padlo. It turned out to be one of the best trades in Rockies history.

Marquez was just 20 at the time of the trade and had not pitched above High-A ball. He made his major-league debut in September 2016 and was an All-Star in 2021. From 2017-22, he was a durable starter and only three more pitchers made more starts than Marquez: Gerrit Cole, Patrick Corbin, and Aaron Nola.

To make room for Molina on the 40-man roster, Colorado released right-hander Connor Seabold.

Molina, listed at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, went 5-7 with a 4.50 ERA and 102 strikeouts through 28 games (27 starts) between Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham this past season. He was 3-2 with a 4.37 ERA in 13 Triple-A games. The native of San Joaquin, Venezuela, originally was signed by the Rays as a non-drafted international free agent on July 2, 2018.

“He has a big fastball that sits at 96 (mph) and can hit 98,” Monfort said. “His slider is getting better and sharper than it has been in the past, and he has a really solid changeup. You don’t really run across a guy who has his numbers and the stuff and a lack of injury history. He’s super young and we are taking a chance on a guy with a huge upside. We may be looking at an impact starter down the way.”

The annual Rule 5 Draft, which comes at the end of the winter meetings, gives teams a chance to select players not protected on 40-man rosters, thus giving the players a chance to make a major-league roster. For major league teams, it provides a chance to make a relatively low-risk move to enhance their roster.

Players available in the Rule 5 Draft were not added to their club’s 40-man roster at the mid-November deadline. Once selected, for $100,000, they must stick on their new team’s 26-man roster for the full season or get offered back to their former team for $50,000.

McMahon challenged

. General manager Bill Schmidt expects more from veteran third baseman Ryan McMahon, who signed a six-year, $70 million contract in March 2021. Schmidt made that clear during the winter meetings when he referred to McMahon as “an average player.”

“We would like to see him more (consistently) put the ball in play,” Schmidt said. “Cut down on strikeouts, put the ball in play. He’s capable of being a .260, .270 hitter — not a .240 hitter.

“If you look, he’s an average player right now, and I’ve told him that. He’s an above-average defender, which makes him (an) average player, but he can be better. There are a lot of people that believe that, and he’s aware of that.”

McMahon, a Gold Glove finalist for three consecutive seasons, slashed .240/.322/.431 with 23 homers and 70 RBIs in 2023. His strikeout rate was 31.6%, well above the league average of 22.6%.

“For him, it’s about being a consistent hitter,” Schmidt said. “There was a point there, during a six-week period (beginning) in late May, when he was one of the better players in the league and he was doing what he’s capable of doing offensively.”

The third baseman slashed .349/.434/.644 with eight home runs, 11 doubles, two triples, 25 RBIs over 35 games from May 12-June 19.

Fernandez honored

Rolando Fernandez was honored as Major League Baseball’s international scout of the year on Wednesday.

Fernandez, 56, became Colorado’s roving Latin American coordinator in 1998, then was promoted to director of Latin American operations in 2002, director of international operations in 2008 and vice president for international scouting and player development in 2015. He has been involved with the signings of 29 major leaguers, including pitchers Ubaldo Jimenez and Antonio Senzatela, as well as current top prospects Adael Amador and Yanquiel Fernandez.