List of Colorado Rockies first-round draft picks
The Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball franchise based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National League West division. The Rockies have participated in MLB's annual June draft since 1992. Officially known as the "First-Year Player Draft", the Rule 4 Draft is MLB's primary mechanism for assigning players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur clubs to its franchises. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings, with the team possessing the worst record receiving the first pick. In addition, teams which lost free agents in the previous off-season may be awarded compensatory or supplementary picks. Since the franchise was established as an expansion team in 1992, the Rockies have selected 31 players in the first round. The First-Year Player Draft is unrelated to the 1992 expansion draft through which the Rockies filled their roster.
Of the 31 players selected in the first round by the Rockies, 18 have been pitchers, the most of any position; 12 of these have been right handed, and 6 have been left-handed. The Rockies have also selected six outfielders, four shortstops, and one player each at catcher, first base, and third base. The Rockies have never selected a second baseman in the first round. The Rockies have drafted 16 players out of high school, and 14 out of college. Colorado has drafted seven players from high schools or colleges in the state of California, with five coming from Texas and three from Tennessee. The Rockies' 2002 selection—Jeff Francis—is the only selection from outside the United States.
None of the Rockies' first-round picks have won a World Series championship with the team. One pick has been elected to the Hall of Fame, Todd Helton who was the 8th overall pick in 1995. The Rockies' first-round selection in 1999—Jason Jennings—won the MLB Rookie of the Year award with the franchise in 2002, his first full season in the Major Leagues. Todd Helton—the Rockies' 1995 selection—has won four Silver Slugger Awards and three Gold Gloves, as well as being named to five All-Star teams. Casey Weathers, the Rockies' 2007 selection, won a bronze medal in baseball with the United States team at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The Rockies have never held the first overall pick in the draft, but held the second overall pick once, which they used in 2006 to select Greg Reynolds.
The Rockies have received nine compensatory picks, including seven selections made in the supplemental round of the draft since the franchise's first draft in 1992. These additional picks are provided when a team loses a particularly valuable free agent in the previous off-season, or, more recently, if a team fails to sign a draft pick from the previous year. The Rockies have failed to sign their first round pick only once—2000 selection Matt Harrington—for which they received the 44th overall pick in the 2001 draft.