The Colorado Rockies could theoretically finish the rest of the season without winning another game and still end up 14 wins better than last year. However, the downside? They would still have 105 losses.
On Tuesday, the Rockies secured their fourth consecutive season with at least 100 losses, suffering a 7-2 defeat against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field. They’ve now joined an unfortunate group as the first team since the 1962-65 New York Mets to reach this milestone, making them just the fifth team overall to do so.
Even if they improve by at least 14 games from last year and potentially more if they finish strong, this season will still be remembered as another letdown. First-year manager Warren Schaeffer mentioned that the team really needs to learn from these struggles.
“You learn your hardest lessons in difficulty in life,” Schaeffer said during his first season as Colorado’s full-time manager. “This is not easy. Last year, we talked about how we want to feel this and never feel it again. We’ve just lost 100 again. There are a ton of lessons here. If we don’t learn from these games this year, we won’t get better.”
The Rockies, who have faced constant challenges for over fifteen years, have only made the postseason twice since 2010 and haven’t won a playoff series since their World Series appearance in 2007.
The pitching staff continues to be a significant problem, with their team ERA at 5.57, the highest in Major League Baseball. They’ve had the worst team ERA every season since 2022, and if they do it again this year, they’ll become just the third team since 1913 to have the worst ERA in the majors for five straight seasons.
Despite the struggles, there are a few bright spots for the Rockies looking ahead. Rookie first baseman TJ Rumfield ranks fifth in the National League with a .300 batting average and leads all qualified rookies in that category as well as on-base percentage. Hunter Goodman, the 26-year-old catcher, is a two-time All-Star and just one home run away from being the first Rockies player to hit 40 homers in a season since 2019.
Veteran pitcher Kyle Freeland, who has spent a decade with the team, expressed a sense of optimism. “I think everything we’re doing in this clubhouse — the coaches, players, front office, all staff — is working hard to ensure that this team is moving toward winning,” Freeland remarked. “You can see it.”
