Complete(ly Miserable)

 

Here's something true. Earlier today, in the midst of a 3-10 season with a 7 ERA and a league-leading 81 earned runs, Kyle Freeland of the Rockies notched his first ever complete game. This game was against the Royals at home, which honestly makes sense. It wasn't even a complete game shutout, there was a run scored. But something like this, in the midst of a lost season for both the Rockies and Freeland, is something close to a season highlight. 

Even if the Rockies are visibly better than they were last year, you can still tell this isn't really another marquee year for them. Though admittedly there's better pitching than usual, trotting Michael Lorenzen and Kyle Freeland out there every few days isn't doing this team any favors. I keep hearing rumors that they're gonna try and trade Lorenzen, but I'm not sure if Coors Field is the problem or if Lorenzen's just cooked. He's got a 1.806 WHIP, leads the league in hits allowed and has a 6.34 ERA, despite making all his starts and striking out 80. Obviously pitching at Coors has ballooned the ERA, but let's be clear, his away ERA is still 5.16, with more hits allowed. Are teams thinking he's just gonna bounce back once he's out of the purple? The opposite might happen if Tomoyuki Sugano's dealt, I have no idea if his numbers will be better anywhere else. He seems like the kind of low-velocity, high-craftsmanship pitcher that's made for the Rockies, and putting him on a competitor might expose just how inconsequential he'd be for, y'know, a good team. Sort of like the Ryan McMahon conversation.

What I will say is that, barring a few negative WAR seasons [including from former prized prospect Ezequiel Tovar], this lineup isn't much of an issue. Assuming we're losing Hunter Goodman in the next 24 hours, as somebody like Boston or Tampa or the Cubs could go for him, the Rockies will be down to Braxton Fulford or Brett Sullivan behind the plate. Beyond that, there's still plenty of options for general offensive lunacy. Cole Carrigg's having a very nice rookie season, hitting .292 with an .891 OPS, plus 5 homers and 26 RBIs in 43 games. T.J. Rumfield seems to be the answer at first, he's a .297 hitter with 13 home runs and 57 RBIs. Kyle Karros is also putting together an excellent contact-friendly campaign at third, and Mickey Moniak and Jake McCarthy have gone from novelty pickups to genuinely helpful offensive pieces. 

If people leave, and they will, the hope is that the guys who were supposed to be a factor but weren't [Brenton Doyle, Jordan Beck, Zac Even] can eventually take over and continue to build this lineup. I think overall a better pitching staff would help, as they competed in the mid-2010s because they had Freeland, Marquez, Senzatela and Gray all healthy and thriving, so they need something like that again. Having Gabriel Hughes in position to help is one thing, but if Hughes, Dollander, Feltner and Sean Sullivan could lock in and produce something consistent, then we can actually talk about this team scraping out of last. Until then, expect a lot of teams like this.

Coming Tomorrow- He was traded to make room for an infielder who still hasn't been promoted yet, and is still managing to feel like a positive addition to his team. 

A Different Kind of Air Quality Concern

 

D'you think they're sitting in the Coors Field clubhouse, prepping for a game which is likely gonna have multiple longballs and unstable pitching, going 'gather round, the Pirates have called the game due to an air quality concern. Can...can teams do that?' The Rockies have had an air quality concern for 33 years now. They somehow got to a World Series in 2007, even with said air quality concern. I mean the smoke in the Northeast is bad, maybe it'll screw up the Pittsburgh humidor yet again, but...the Rockies are hearing this going 'thicker air?? what a concept'. Kyle Freeland's gonna find something to burn down so he can pitch decently again. 

Anyway, the Rockies are still last in the NL West and expected to stay there, but it's not without some fun performances from the hitters. Any way you look at it, this team has gotten great production from T.J. Rumfield, Hunter Goodman, Jake McCarthy, Cole Carrigg, Troy Johnston, Mickey Moniak and Kyle Karros. That's...more than a few. The issue with the 2025 team was not just the atrocious pitching, it was the anonymity of the lineup, the lack of power in a power park, all of the above. When you get guys who can mesh well with the park, and when they're all working, even if it's a bad team you're still going in the right direction. Cole Carrigg's been in the league for 31 games, and he has an .871 OPS, 22 RBIs and 4 homers. McCarthy is a .300 hitter after the D-Backs let him come over here, he's got 10 homers and a team-leading 53 RBIs. I did not expect Jake McCarthy to have more RBIs than Hunter Goodman, but here we are. Happy for him honestly, he was really struggling in Phoenix. Rumfield is getting some Rookie of the Year buzz, he's been skillfully on target without being solely a power bat; same thing with Troy Johnston. And then Goodman's 5 homers away from his 2025 total, so he's probably gonna be chasing 35+, maybe even 40. 

That's half the battle right there, this team can put their heads together and score runs, and it's not a full on cop-out every game. The pitching still leaves a lot to be desired, and the early lead the bullpen had has been basically shattered, with Victor Vodnik, Juan Mejia and Zach Agnos all having very rough seasons. Somehow Jordan Romano hasn't shat the bed too greatly yet, but it's early. Tomoyuki Sugano's hurt, so now it's down to Ryan Feltner and Gabriel Hughes to be the only people in the rotation to seem to be able to keep runs down this year. Michael Lorenzen is 3-9 with a 6.22 ERA. YEESH. Even if the team's hitting, this pitching staff still isn't it, and bringing in young, efficient options hasn't helped because it's impossible to pitch competently if half your season's played in Denver. It's purely impractical at this point. At least the Vegas stadium is gonna be domed. 

There's still fun to be had with this team. Maybe a trade or two, maybe some more breakouts, maybe some genuine promise from Carrigg, maybe even a Zac Veen appearance. But whatever happens will mostly be a side-plot to this already convoluted year, sad to say. Maybe some of this will carry over to next year, provided there's actually baseball next year.

Coming Tomorrow- Somehow one of the most consistent veteran pitchers left in the game if Verlander and Scherzer both retire. 

A Control Artist in Denver

 

...sounds crazy, no?

Tomoyuki Sugano finding success in the MLB despite not overthrowing or being an especially remarkable athlete is one of those complex stories you only get every so often. Remember, Jefry Yan, who jumps a mile high when he gets an out, will likely never make the bigs, but Sugano, even with his flaws, still stays dominant, even in a slightly different definition of dominance.

Fundamentally, Sugano is not Jacob Misiorowski. He's not even Parker Messick. He doesn't throw hard, he doesn't strike people out, and he doesn't go too deep. Sugano is an arsenal picture who keeps it in the park and goes by efficiency and trickery. He's 36 years old, and his fastball peaked in the 2010s in Japan. What he has left is intelligence and form, and that goes a long way. He's 8-4 so far this year, with a 4.80 ERA and 16 homers allowed. Now, in Denver of course he's gonna allow a lot of home runs, but he allowed 32 last year in Baltimore. Putting a leverage pitcher in Coors Field could be a recipe for disaster [as Michael Lorenzen could tell you], but Sugano keeps winning games and throwing strikes, and he still very much has a job in Denver. Will he get lit up? Yes, sometimes. But he's able to hold the Cubs to 3 runs, or the Pirates to 1 run, or the Reds scoreless. He doesn't get lit up terribly often, and even when he does he still finishes out the start. Just a consistent, steady, reliable guy playing for a team that needs something reliable.

Anyway, the Rockies are once again last in the MLB. Not as embarrassingly as last year, but it's still going pretty poorly. They've found a winning combo with Hunter Goodman and T.J. Rumfield, that's definitely the answer. And Kyle Karros, Willi Castro and Cole Carrigg are making decent progress. Carrigg at least has an .860 OPS in 16 games, and already has 11 RBIs, so there's not a ton of learning curve. Karros there sort of is a learning curve, it's taken him a bit to get going, but he's up to .250 and has decent contact perks, so that's a start. I also credit this team for finding great seasons from Jake McCarthy, Mickey Moniak and Troy Johnston. The rest of the lineup is painfully replacement level, including the once promising Ezequiel Tovar and the still-not-all-the-way-there Jordan Beck. Pitching-wise it's not much better. Feltner, Freeland and Lorenzen are all struggling. Dollander was doing well but got hurt. Sean Sullivan might be a decent rotation option if he played literally anywhere else. The bullpen's actually kinda okay but even Victor Vodnik's having a rough time out there.

It is nice to see success stories and signs of life, but it's still not an especially impressive full team effort, and it's not too much further than last year. Like, again...Tomoyuki Sugano is counted as a major success story here, with his 4.80 ERA. Maybe someday they can have a full squad capable of rising beyond replacement level novelty guys, but until then, that's gonna be what keeps the lights on sadly.

Coming Tomorrow- A guy about to suit up against my Yankees and hopefully this doesn't go as badly for my team as the last two nights. 

Can't Keep Goodman Down

 

The good news is that, generally, the 2026 Colorado Rockies can be described as 'not as bad as last year's.' The bad news is that since April ended they haven't exactly been acting like it.

Look, here's what should sum it up. Yesterday the Rockies called up Cole Carrigg, a centerfield prospect looking to stake his claim on the team. To remind you, this team has already gone through so many 'here's the big new prospect' moments that haven't worked. This has been since like 2024. We've seen Drew Romo, Zac Veen, Yanquiel Fernandez, Warming Bernabel, Braxton Fulford, Jordan Beck, Ryan Ritter, Kyle Karros, Adael Amador, McCade Brown, Carson Palmquist and Bradley Blalock in the bigs, and with the exception of a few decent months from Beck, a solid week from Bernabel and maybe some of Karros's recent stuff, there's been little to no impact. 

The goal is to build a team upwards with young talent, and it's not gonna work if all of them can't play in the bigs. It's bad enough that there's two actual good pitching talents that absolutely refuse to stay healthy, meaning Dollander and Feltner are leaving major responsibilities to veterans on one year deals AGAIN. But the lineup is mostly replacement-level guys because the prospects aren't panning out. Brenton Doyle might even be cooked at this point. Dude started his career with two straight gold gloves and hasn't been competent since. 

So what is working? Well, once again, Hunter Goodman, who's got 17 homers and 31 RBIs already. Dude's a born hitter perfect for Coors Field, his power work has been very helpful as usual. T.J. Rumfield and Troy Johnston are having great offensive campaigns as supporting players. Jake McCarthy and Willi Castro are playing pivotal roles...seeing as Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle really aren't. The bullpen's still great, and Seth Halvorsen's finally stepping up in a big way. Feltner's been great his last few starts. Tomoyuki Sugano might be the perfect Rockies starter because he's a fly ball pitcher anyway and these guys are used to the air difference, plus he's efficient without overexerting himself. Everything else is kind of forgettable, especially the major pieces like Freeland and Tovar.

Hopefully Carrigg can provide some level of stability upon his call-up. I know they've got people coming, Roc Riggio eventually, Veen again at some point, and hopefully that can work better than what they've got. If they can eventually build something sustainable, then we can really talk, but until then it's gonna be stuff like this. And as long as it's not 2025-bad, I think we'll be alright.

Coming Tonight: In a very good sign for the club, the Red Sox are once again calling up homegrown pitchers who can actually keep runs down. 

The Latent #1

 

Ooooh, I bet you thought that just because they restructured the draft lottery rules, that meant that the Rockies wouldn't have a #1 overall guy surfacing this year. Think again! They've got Mickey Moniak. True, THEY didn't draft him first overall [the Phillies did], but it's better than nothing.

And yes, as far as 1st overall picks go, Mickey Moniak is around the mid-to-bottom tier, and he knows it. Not the absolute bottom, because...Brady Aiken and Mark Appel and Bryan Bullington exist, but he's entered into the tier of 'letdown that's still capable of a late-20s surge. You saw what happened with Tim Beckham out of nowhere, how he started hitting homers with Baltimore. And how Matt Bush crashed out then eventually became a likable relief option with the Rangers. Even guys like Phil Nevin, Adrian Gonzalez, Kris Benson and, yes, Josh Hamilton needed to set the expectations a bit before they had their breakouts. 

Not everyone is gonna be like Griffey or Strasburg and Skenes and be incredible right from the start. Sometimes you get a Mickey Moniak, who takes an extra three years to develop, gets hurt the second he has a shot with the team that drafted him, is traded for a rental the same day that team gets a centerfielder they actually CAN trust [from the same team!!], dries out in mediocrity for a year, gets cut, winds up playing for the worst team in the league AND THEN, SUDDENLY, BECOMES GOOD. Make 'em work for it!

Moniak, though sidelined for a little bit with an injury, has surfaced fully in Denver, because that's what becomes of all power hitters once thought lost. It honestly surprises me that Colorado parted with Blaine Crim so easily; yes, T.J. Rumfield's a better working option, but Crim seemed so at home in Coors Field. Moniak has that same feeling, he's hitting .280 with 12 homers and 28 RBIs. At the moment he does lead the team in long balls, but Hunter Goodman's heating up, and he's got 11 right now. Moniak is 28, and the heights that were once assumed for him have come down, but he's still a pretty nice hitter with some defensive perks, and the Rockies need a guy like that right now, as they begin to assemble the next stage of the rebuild.

Right now, they've got slightly surer footing than before. Goodman and Rumfield are locked in, Tovar's been struggling but he's still great at short. Karros is more serviceable than anything but he's becoming more sure of himself. I think Troy Johnston's more of a placeholder guy, a good contact walloper in the tradition of Nathan Lukes and Addison Barger, without much defensive ability. A shame Beck, Doyle and Ritter haven't done much, as well as Zac Veen still in the minors. Freeland and Quintana's last few starts have ballooned their ERAs, and now Dollander's hurt, but Tomoyuki Sugano's been keeping things down and still has an ERA under 4. The bullpen's solidified but very snakebitten so far. 

As of right now they're still a last place team, but the Rockies arguably have more of a spark than the Giants at rest. This dismal May stretch just hasn't done them any favors, and they're now at 20-34, which is more in line with how things were the last few years. I still think an improvement is imminent, but they need to get past this month and get back to how surprising they were in April.

Coming Tomorrow- Moving to 1st base isn't for everyone, but after a couple seasons he's fully adjusted and is now focusing more on pure power damage. 

Building a Better Rockies Team, the Unhinged Way

 

Hey fun fact, the Colorado Rockies currently have four players with a WAR higher than 1. The first place Cleveland Guardians have the same amount. The second place Tampa Bay Rays, an actual good team, have only two. But the Colorado Rockies, the punchline of the bigs last year, have four players worth at least a win by themselves. Tomoyuki Sugano, Mickey Moniak, Antonio Senzatela....and Chase Dollander. And a year ago, maybe one of them would make sense.

Dollander has been one of the Rockies' top pitching prospects, he was their 2023 first round pick, Baseball America ranked him the #8 prospect in baseball prior to the 2025 season, and he progressed through the minors in essentially a year and a half. Forgetting for a moment...how crappy his 2025 major league stats were...Dollander still had a high ceiling of potential, and he still felt like an organizational gem. Therefore, him eventually getting his act together and leading the charge? Very likely outcome. Heading into this year it was a large possibility. So far in 8 appearances he's got a 3.38 ERA, 42 Ks and 37.1 innings, all better than any starter.

Which is to say...the Rockies have not been starting him.

So what they've been doing...is using Jimmy Herget or Brennan Bernardino as an opener, giving them an inning, and then letting Dollander go long and essentially carry out a start. I assume this is to ensure he doesn't get chased in the first, and if you give the heart of the order to a specialist then start Dollander off with mid-order guys, that's at least a better way of breaking him in. It's a little psychological, a little strategic. Unlike the 2018 Kevin Cash stuff, by all accounts the Rox COULD start Dollander if they wanted to, but right now they're choosing to do this. And it's working.

So...that's the *reasonable* WAR leader. Now the other three...

Moniak becoming a hit in Colorado isn't surprising. What's surprising is the Angels cut this man to make room for Tim Anderson, and he ends up finding his swing and becoming a hero for a Rockies team that needs a hard-hitting outfield bat. Obviously Moniak isn't the guy the Phillies were looking for at the draft, but he's definitely got his uses. Right now he's got 11 homers and 21 RBIs. Jordan Beck and Brenton Doyle don't have that much combined. Moniak currently leads the NL in OPS with 1.123. Coors Field, man...

Then you have the return of Antonio Senzatela, who's gotten his ERA down to 1.21, and he has done this...by becoming a long relief guy who goes 2 or 3 innings an appearance. Somehow this has worked, and the awfulness of his 2025 has not appeared yet. Perhaps because he's finally recovered from his injuries, or maybe it's the same psychological thing that Dollander worked through? Who knows. And then Tomoyuki Sugano, another guy that shouldn't have been cut, has taken his low-velocity/all-craftsmanship stuff to Denver, and it's working! He's got a 3.41 ERA through 7 starts. As Michael Lorenzen can tell you, you could do a lot worse in Coors Field. 

Is it weird to me that they're lifting the team past the levels of true awfulness? Or is it just weird that it's them and not Tovar, Goodman, Doyle and Beck as much? Little of both. Eventually a consistent young core is gonna form, and clearly it's not this year, but I'll take goofy stuff like this. It's more entertaining than the alternative.

Coming Tonight: A guy whose Hall of Fame case will eventually need to be discussed, which will really puzzle a lot of people I think. 

Some Bounce, Some Don't

 

When you're dealing with two notoriously all-time-bad teams, your immediate inclination is to judge which one is worse solely on which one returns to something resembling 'good' faster. I think about how bad the early 2010s Astros were, and it took them til 2014 or 2015 to craft something palpable. The Rays, meanwhile, went from a 4th place team in '07 to a 1st place juggernaut in 2008. It really depends on organizational stuff, what's baking in the minors, what the team can retain, who's ready when. Lot of factors go into it.

So watching the Rockies and White Sox this season is definitely interesting, because you're waiting to see how long it's gonna take both teams to reform and contend again. With the amount of time passed since the White Sox bottomed out vs. the Rockies, you'd think Chicago would be progressing further, but not even Pope Leo shining on them could make the team look any better right now. 

The depth that was forming last year with this White Sox team seems to be evaporating. Brooks Baldwin, Mike Vasil and Kyle Teel, three signs of growth from last year, are all hurt right now. And the roster is simply wearing thin. The starting pitching seems even more pedestrian than before, and now that Shane Smith has been demoted and Jonathan Cannon is out for a bit, the team is down to Sean Burke, Davis Martin and Anthony Kay as viable starting options. Martin currently looks the best, he's 2-0 with 12 Ks through 3 starts, but that's a 5 man line for most other teams. Kay has a 2.45 ERA through 3 starts, and though Erick Fedde exists as a stark reminder that the post-international-leagues bump can wear off fast, he's still being relied upon. But beyond that...lots of openers and replacement level guys. It's not a great look, and it looks even worse when you line up the Sox' hitters, where really only Munetaka Murakami has done anything. Meidroth and Vargas have made some headway but the team's hitting .204 cumulatively. It's not pretty.

You can hope they improve over time, or as they get better pieces back, but it even looks like a setback from last year, which still wasn't terrific.

The Rockies, meanwhile, have shown immediate improvement over their dismal 2025 numbers. Some incredible things you're hearing. The bullpen kept runs down during a homestead. There's multiple starters, including Tomoyuki Sugano, who are really impressive. The young kids hanging around for starts last year are actually earning them now. So far the team's best hitter has been T.J. Rumfield, a career minor leaguer snagged in a deal that sent Angel Chivilli to the Yankees['s minor league system]. Rumfield jumped right in at 1st and is hitting .326 with 14 hits, 8 RBIs and 2 homers in 13 games. 

It's wild to see a core begin to come together for this team when nothing was happening last year. Troy Johnston has joined the power core and is looking like a definite everyday option [while Jordan Beck is looking less and less like one]. Mickey Moniak is hitting all sorts of homers off the bench. Tovar and Goodman still like decent organizational cornerstones right now. Kyle Freeland is still a very nice starting option, and has a 2.30 ERA in 3 starts. And somehow the team figured out that Antonio Senzatela doesn't completely shit the bed if you bring him out as a bullpen option. I knew the Rockies' pen had some nice options, but seeing all of Jimmy Herget, Jaden Hill, Victor Vodnik, Juan Mejia and Brennan Bernardino all looking genuinely great out there is a surprising, and excellent, sign. 

It is odd that I see the Rockies doing more this season than the White Sox, especially considering how the pitching could turn at any minute in that stadium, but the Rockies just seem better put together right now, and have more actual strengths. It could evaporate at any second, I'm aware, but the way things are going now, I see the Rockies looking 'good' sooner than the White Sox. 

Coming Tonight: A guy who absolutely refuses to be an easy out. Naturally he's playing my team this weekend. 

The Last Few Burning Questions of Spring

 

The last few exhibition games are being played out tonight, to get the last few trials in before the real ones. The final cuts are currently being made, call-ups are being announced, and we're finally ready to get the season moving before there's no season to play. It's the most exciting moment of a season, because it's the last moment where there's still potential energy, before the sobering reality hits. And then the colors mute, the cold returns, and the season runs ahead. 

I've still got a couple more customs from Spring Training to dole out, and so from there, let's examine some of the last few lingering concerns and loose threads that might be at play during the 2026 season.

-Does Ranger Suarez mean the Red Sox' rotation is for real? On paper, the combination of Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray, Ranger Suarez, Brayan Bello and Connelly Early looks good, but with the exception of Early, all of these guys have shown downsides in recent history. Gray's coming off a down year, Suarez struggled to come back fully after the hand injury, Bello's ERA stayed plainly around 4.50 for a while, and Crochet was in injury hell for a while. How likely will it be that everything clicks at once? Luckily, Johan Oviedo, Payton Tolle and Kutter Crawford are around in case something goes wrong.

-Will Kevin McGonigle succeed where other Tigers infield prospects haven't? Trey Sweeney and Jace Jung, two infield prospects that looked like hits, both failed to make the team out of camp. Colt Keith still has second for now, and Zach McKinstry is mostly an interloper. The future is paved for McGonigle and Clark, but will they take advantage of the moment or end up like Jung, Sweeney, Ryan Kreidler and more?

-Is the world ready for a decidedly non-competitive Cardinals team? Despite the complete lack of star power, the entirely decimated pitching staff, and the reliance on guys like Masyn Winn and Ivan Herrera to provide some form of normalcy, many pundits are still predicting the Cardinals will finish with more wins than the Pirates. Even with substantial evidence that Oli Marmol is well past his expiry date. It's not like the Patriots where it can just suddenly happen overnight. J.J. Wetherholt is likely very good at baseball, but is he gonna be enough to get anyone to care about this team? 

-Similarly, will THIS team be the Angels team that brings non-Ohtani relevance back to Anaheim? A lot of the pieces that worked separately in 2025 are still intact. Trout will be healthy and ready to go, Neto's onto another stage of his peak, Adell can finally power-hit in the majors, now Grayson Rodriguez has a place to pitch, Logan O'Hoppe looks to have a strong year, Soler's healthy. If all goes according to plan, the Angels could surprise some people. But in a division with the Mariners, A's and Astros, will they be able to get anything done?

-Has the injury bug already doomed the Braves before the year can even get going? Yesterday Spencer Strider was announced as an injured piece. The team already knew they'd be without Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep, Ha-Seong Kim and Joey Wentz for a while. This team also has Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, Austin Riley, Mike Yastrzemski and Martin Perez on it. And Ronald Acuna is back, but who knows if he'll be at full capacity this year. Even if there's more reinforcements this year with that possibility in mind, will they have enough to keep them in the mix all year, or will they be running on fumes by August once again?

Will the White Sox finally lap the Twins in a battle for least inept team in the AL Central? Believe me, the White Sox have had a nice head start and had some truly terrible seasons, but the Pohlads completely have up and the Twins now consist of Byron Buxton, Joe Ryan and a bag of chips. Even with strong second-year infielder Luke Keaschall gearing up for a more dominant full season, the Twins don't have much at all this year. Pablo Lopez is hurt, none of the young core has developed, Royce Lewis still spends 2 months on the IL every year. Do the Twins have enough accumulated to outdo the White Sox's smarty-built younger squad?

-Are the Rockies looking at another year firmly on the bottom? I don't really see any evidence that suggests otherwise. Some of these rookies look decent, Kyle Karros and Chase Dollander and Zac Veen, plus the possibility of Charlie Condon and Roc Riggio sometime soon. But man, there really is nothing to this team, even still. And they have to play a ton of games against the Dodgers and Padres. Will there be anything at all that will be seen as an improvement by year's end?

-How off-kilter is the Nationals rotation going to be? In years' past it's been pretty straightforward, the young core of MacKenzie Gore, Mitch Parker, Jake Irvin and D.J. Herz, plus assistance from Trevor Williams. Now it's taken a turn. Josiah Gray was set to make his comeback after 2 years of injuries, but apparently that's not happening for a while. So what's left? Is Cade Cavalli ace material? Does Miles Mikolas have anything left? Did the other 29 teams pass on Zack Littell for any specific reason? Is Foster Griffin a viable MLB option? And is there any place for Cole Irvin, and eventually Herz and Parker, on this shifting team?

-What are the Rays getting at now? At last they get a working core, with Caminero, Aranda and Lowe all propelling them forward, and then Lowe, Mangum, Fairbanks, Josh Lowe and Baz all end up elsewhere. Is it possible that the Rays were closer to competing before than they are now? Even with Chandler Simpson, Carson Williams and Ben Williamson looking to make strides this year, the holes are apparent. If the Rays actually wanted to build a team without needing to save money, they definitely had the opportunity to. Will this season, and an impending lockout, give the Rays any incentive whatsoever to attempt to build a perennial competitor?

Just food for thought, I suppose. Tomorrow night we kick this whole thing off.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2025: Rockies

 

I'm sure you're all spending today cleaning up after Christmas, getting rid of all the ripped up wrapping paper and boxes, spent on leftovers and watching reruns on TV, and I won't even blame you if none of you want to read a post on the 2025 Rockies. Like if this post gets zero page views, then honestly it deserves it. There's a list on the sidebar of the ten most viewed posts, mostly bolstered by bot usage or random spikes or whatever, and if this one ends up on that list then I'll know it's time to end the blog, because if this shit is being rewarded then there's no point.

The 2025 Rockies were an extremely bad baseball team. Any talent was either too injured to contribute, too young to make an impact, too burnt-out to manage anything, or simply couldn't keep pitches away from people at Coors Field. This is a team with Kris Bryant, German Marquez, Kyle Freeland, Mickey Moniak and Orlando Arcia, and if you were to hear that eight years ago you'd have gone 'oh, that sounds like a decent team, right?' This team couldn't even win 45 games. If it weren't for an alarming number of wins against the Cardinals and Diamondbacks, this team would have been even worse than the 2024 White Sox. Imagine that! That was already the bar for ineptitude. And here come the Rockies, with no pitching, like 2 good hitters and a crap-ton of replacement level guys, and they're rivaling it. 

The Rockies' bullpen had a surprising number of clear standouts. Jake Bird before the trade. Jimmy Herget. Ultimately Victor Vodnik, a homegrown relief weapon with a name like a James Bond villain and an imposing stare to match. Vodnik's 1.8 WAR made him the third most valuable Rockie this year, behind Herget and Hunter Goodman, and he had a 3.02 ERA in 52 appearances, despite a 1.401 WHIP. His 10 saves also means he may rival Seth Halvorsen for the ninth next year.

2026 Prediction: Yeah there's no way he's lasting the whole year here, he's way too good for Denver.

Dropped from the Rangers' roster to make room for, I'm assuming, Merrill Kelly or one of the other deadline pickups, 1st baseman Blaine Crim's first season in the bigs was looking like it was getting off to a horrid start. But then the Rockies came calling, and plugged Crim into the lineup for 15 games as a replacement for Michael Toglia. Crim responded with an excellent stretch, with an .851 OPS, 12 RBIs and 5 homers, a fitting power burst for a team with nothing left to lose.

2026 Prediction: Well, the Rockies don't exactly have a lot of options, so he starts the majority of games at 1st and hits 25 homers.

Coming Tomorrow- So many Kansas City Royals.

Not the Worst, But Close

 

Earlier this season, the way the Rockies opened things up was getting people really worried that not even a year after the White Sox set the new record for a losing season it'd be surpassed. Because of the lack of pitching, the troublesome defense and the flaws of even the people set up to be stars, the Rockies were barely even expected to win 40 games, which would have been below the 41 that the Sox were able to win last year. But ultimately, the Rockies sort of mellowed into a regular bad team, and are at 41 wins now, with 9 games left to be played this year. They will not be the new standard for ineptitude. Though seeing as, for their last new custom of regulation, I've been forced to go for Jimmy Herget, a fairly decent reliever, rather than a name guy or a breakout rookie, should tell you everything you need to know.

What do the Rockies have to take with them next year that they know will be good? Not much. Jordan Beck, Ezequiel Tovar, Warming Bernabel I suppose...and that's it. Look, I'm sure that Tanner Gordon, Carson Palmquist, Chase Dollander and McCade Brown could be good pitchers, but I literally cannot tell how good they are at rest because they're forced to pitch for this godawful Rockies team in Coors Field. How do you tell if a rookie is good in Coors Field? Everybody gets lit up there, even the people who are good at pitching. Fundamentally it is difficult to not give up runs in Coors Field. Maybe if it was domed or something you'd level things but I don't think they have the money for that. 

And even with that handicap, you also have to factor in that despite this being a hitter's park, only one person on this team hit 30 home runs this year. Hunter Goodman. And we're still not sure whether or not he's a fluke, cause Michael Toglia hit a lot of home runs last year and then this year he completely switched off. There's a chance Mickey Moniak hits 25, but that's not really a building block, is it? The big young guys who this team is trying to build around are not 30 home run guys, at least not yet. And so the team that is supposed to be an inherent power team had basically no power this year...and I don't even know how much power they're gonna have next year. 

I can see why this team was looking like they were gonna past the White Sox for a while. Not that Andrew Benintendi's power was much better last year. 

I suppose there's a chance things pick up eventually for the Rockies, but honestly it's just not gonna be pretty for a couple years. This is the deal, sadly. Lots of years like this where nobody shows up until they agree upon a formula that avoids it. 

Coming Tomorrow- At last, his team has enough pitching to outlast the Yankees. It's just a shame it took them this long.

Tovar-ish

 

Here is how disastrous the Rockies' 2025 season has been for the development of this team. Going into this season, there were immediate next steps of who'd be leading this team soon. Ezequiel Tovar was coming off a gold glove season where he got MVP votes, Jordan Beck was looking like the next everyday catcher, and Zac Veen was next down the pipe to take over the offensive end.

And now...what the hell do we even know? Tovar was hurt half the year, and while he's been here he's a slightly above-average bat, hitting .265 with 8 homers and 23 RBIs in 63 games. Is he THE guy for this team anymore? It's been called into question. He's still very good but he's not as reliable as he was last year. Meanwhile, Romo has yet to see the majors this year, and while he's been above average in Albuquerque, Hunter Goodman's rendered him obsolete at the moment. Veen was here for a sec, but Jordan Beck and Mickey Moniak have just done his job better this year. So...even the stuff that was being set up last year seems to have been rolled back.

So now the question is 'well what's being set up for next year, and is it gonna actually mean anything?'

The most impressive thing about this season for the Rockies is you can actually see a young rotation taking shape. Chase Dollander, Tanner Gordon, Carson Palmquist and McCade Brown are all up in the majors and have contributed to this team's success. Because they have to play in Coors Field, they don't have ERAs lower than 5, but they're at the very least being relied upon more and more. Marquez-Freeland-Senzatela worked well when they were all healthy, but really only Freeland's any good anymore. And with Ryan Feltner still hurt, you need guys like that. Gordon, on paper, is the most successful one so far, with a 6.07 ERA but 41 Ks in 11 starts. Gordon seems the most like a durable, respected starting option, and of these guys I see him sliding into an open 2026 spot the most. Dollander's been alright as well, he's got 75 Ks in 19 starts, despite 11 losses. Given a better team this could be a better rotation. It's just...I dunno how long until this will be a better team.

You've also seen Kyle Karros, Warming Bernabel and Ryan Ritter take to this team pretty smoothly, and that certainly helps considering how relying on replacement level guys like Jacob Stallings, Thairo Estrada, Kyle Farmer and Tyler Freeman has worked so far. If they can develop a base of young, talented guys to run this team so they don't have to sign cheap free agents, that'll be a step up. At the very least the farm system is working some magic, and getting Roc Riggio from New York at the deadline was a sneaky move that might have ramifications on the lineup as soon as next year.

This is what this season's events are telling me. But like last year I could be way off.

Coming Tonight: Most likely an Orioles pitcher, but I may have to slide in a riper subject if I want a good starter for a reflection post.

Two Minute Warming

 

Since trading a handful of vets at the deadline, the Colorado Rockies have shifted to defcon 'Oops! All Rookies'. Seeing as the team is already going to be hitting 100 losses this month, and potentially chasing last years' White Sox for the benchmark of modern ineptitude, it makes more sense to just fill as many roster spots as possible with guys who have no business wasting their time overperforming in the minors. So lots of guys are up. People like Jaden Hill, Yanquiel Fernandez, Braxton Fulford, Chase Dollander and Tanner Gordon are all giving it their best despite the complete futility in playing for the Rockies in August. If your first exposure to MLB play is trying to pitch, or play the outfield, in Coors, you're gonna learn a lot, quickly.

The Rox have let up some prized organizational guys recently, and they've been welcome presences. Warming Bernabel is a well-liked corner infield prospect, and so far in the majors he has a .294 average, 3 homers and 11 RBIs. He's the kind of consistent thumper this team has needed for a while, and he's already evoking memories of Andres Galarraga or somebody like that. Bernabel's cooled down a bit since his first week, but he's 23 in Denver, so he'll be fine. It's also cool to see Kyle Karros, a first baseman who's the son of another NL West 1st baseman, in the majors at 22, he's a well-regarded prospect as well. Karros the 2nd already has 7 hits and 3 RBIs in his first 6 games. It is...very odd that we have another Karros running around the NL, as we already have another Conine, another Tatis and the promise of another Holliday on the way.

What's odd is that, with all the rookies that have factored into the season, and with all the young guys like Jordan Beck, Hunter Goodman, and Ezequiel Tovar leading this team, I still think about the fact that two of the biggest prospects in this organization, Drew Romo and Zac Veen, are just chilling in the minors for another year. Both had MLB stints, neither went well. Veen's been a ton better in Albuquerque this year, but now he's blocked by Moniak and Fernandez. Romo was lapped by Fulford, and Goodman might be the guy at catcher for a little while longer. I don't want it to be like the Pirates where so many rookies miss their window and just pile up in AAA. 

At the very least, this Rockies year will finish with a 25-homer year from Hunter Goodman, and a lot of potential answers to how not to lose 120+ games in 2026. It's a start. It ain't pretty, but it's a start.

Coming Tonight: For him, the Marlins got Kyle Stowers. Yet let the record show that he's probably been the best starter in Baltimore this year. 

Outclassed, Even Now

 

Here is a fact: in the last month, the Colorado Rockies have won more games than the New York Yankees have. Real fact there.

I'm not sure if the Rockies are still on the road to beating the 2024 White Sox's record of ineptitude, but they've evened out slightly since June began. They will likely still cross the 100-loss mark, probably in August, but even since the ASG break ended they've been more consistent and more of a normal bad team. They won two games against the Twins and Cardinals, two decent middle-of-the-pack teams, and won a close one against Baltimore the other night. Even with the loss of Ryan McMahon, they've figured out a decent enough lineup formula, and guys like Jordan Beck, Mickey Moniak, Hunter Goodman and surprisingly Thairo Estrada. Last night they brought up Warming Bernabel to fill the roster vacancy, he looks pretty good. Tanner Gordon's been back up for 4 games and is already one of the best starters in town. And somehow Seth Halvorsen's gotten 10 saves in a season where there's only been 27 wins. Despite the pure trainwreck quality, the Rockies are doing their best to get by, and trying to salvage things enough to at least have some starting points next season.

However. Last night, even away from Coors Field, the Rockies still lost a game 18-0. To another last place team.

Now, to be fair, the Orioles this year are still better than most last place teams. In fact, once again it speaks to the quality of the AL East that they're in last to begin with. The Rays would be a second place team in any other division, and the Sox would be a first place team in any other division. The O's have a better record than the 4th place Braves, have more immediate assets than the 4th place Angels, and have more of a future than the 4th place Twins. But they're an AL East team in a decade where the AL East is competitive, and they have like 10 injured pitchers, so they're in last. 

Yet last night's game was a mix of two elements that were sure to be troublesome when combined: the Orioles' lineup and the Rockies' pitching staff. After a while it was getting ridiculous. The whole Orioles team got hits, and every starter but Holliday, Laureano and Cowser had RBIs. There were home runs from Tyler O'Neill, Cedric Mullins and somehow Alex Jackson. NINE RUNS were scored in the 7th, off a combination of Zach Agnos, completely destroying his April start, and Nick Anderson, in his first appearance as a Rockie. It takes a lot to erase Antonio Senzatela's patheticness but those two succeeded. And ultimately the Rockies were powerless against Trevor Rogers, in a comeback season attempting to vindicate the Orioles' move in trading away Kyle Stowers. 

A game like this proves that, regardless of recent trends, the Orioles are still inherently a good team, and the Rockies are still awful. If the O's had healthy seasons from Grayson Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish, Zach Eflin and Tyler Wells, they wouldn't have to keep trotting Brandon Young or whoever out there, or chancing whether this Charlie Morton or Dean Kremer start will be one of the good ones. And even if the O's continue to deal, as O'Hearn and Mullins are likely gonna go, they will still have enough young talent to rebound next year. Full seasons from Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser, Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle could bring this team back.

As for the Rockies...maybe invest in a dome.

Coming Tonight: A guy who's been having a hot weekend against a completely depleted Yankees team.

Bird Watching

 

Something that's very surprising about the Colorado Rockies, even as they continue to tank in their quest for a twentieth win before July 1st, is that as awful as both their starting pitching and hitting is...the bullpen's honestly pretty good. The majority of top of the leaderboard is just relievers right now. Hunter Goodman, Ryan McMahon, Jordan Beck and some relievers. And that may be the reason the Rockies might not be a lock for the 'worst ever' status anymore, because as bad as they are, for like 3 or 4 innings per game they're not bleeding as badly.

Like, my guess is the Rockies' ASG nod will be Jake Bird this year, because statistically he's the best player on the team. Highest WAR, 2nd-lowest ERA--Bird may be the only person in Denver who's actually doing his job correctly. In 47 innings, Bird has a 2.68 ERA, 57 Ks [third-most on the Rockies], and a 1.8 WAR. This would be a good relief season for, like, the Dodgers. For anybody. Bird, like Daniel Bard and Carlos Estevez before him, has taken the thankless job of relieving games in Denver and actually succeeded at it. Victor Vodnik is also having a really nice year, with a 2.66 ERA and a 1.225 WHIP. Vodnik, unlike Bird, is a young, homegrown piece that the Rockies can really develop. Zach Agnos is like that too, though Agnos has fallen off a bit since his strong April. 

And even guys who got a roster spot over shoveling shit in Durham or something are actually helping this team. Jimmy Herget, who's played everywhere, has a 3.02 ERA in 41.2 innings. Seth Halvorsen seems to be the go-to guy for the ninth inning, and while 6 saves is nothing to scratch at, it's more than anybody has for the White Sox. It's a decent enough unit that can mop up the messes made by guys like Kyle Freeland, Carson Palmquist and Antonio Senzatela. My big takeaway is that, god forbid if the bullpen was really a nightmare, the Rockies would have brought up Jefry Yan by now. Jefry Yan was the relief guy they had in Spring Training who'd do these big leaps when he got an out, and was this ridiculously wild character that just couldn't make the team on account of his inconsistency. Yan, for the record, currently has a 6 ERA in Albuquerque. But you know that if the Rocks were dying and needed to fill seats, they'd bring him up. 

That should say something. As bad as the Rockies are, they have yet to resort to gimmicks.

Anyhow, the rest of the team is miserable, as you'd expect. Beck, Goodman and Moniak are hitting but it's not pretty. Tovar's hurt and Ryan Ritter is doing his best filling SS. I reckon Zac Veen will get another shot once the herd is thinned in a month or so, and hopefully it'll go a little better. They play the Astros two more excruciating games, and then Rox-White Sox, the series of the year, is this weekend. Can't you feel the excitement??

Coming Tomorrow- One of the guys whose return has fueled a surprise resurgence in Baltimore.

McMahon Overboard

 

What's very funny is that, in the argument that people like Mike Elias and Bob Nutting are in, where there's hesitance to extend players even if it means ensuring the team goes nowhere, they do have a valid point in their own favor, which is that sometimes, even if you do lock down a bunch of players to multi-year deals, it doesn't do anything because either the player themselves doesn't hold up their end off the bargain or those players alone aren't enough to lift the team.

Basically what they're saying is 'if we extend Oneil Cruz, Paul Skenes and Bryan Reynolds, they could become Charlie Blackmon, Ryan McMahon and Kyle Freeland.' And...I don't know if the threat of becoming the Rockies is an accurate fear, considering that the Pirates or the Orioles don't play in a park designed solely to torture pitchers.

It's really wild that no Denver-area scientists have tried to figure out a way of leveling the air quality at Coors Field. Would a domed stadium do something? Would there need to be a depressurization? There's got to be some way, short of moving this team from Denver, which actually has a nice market for them, of evening things up, because if not we're just gonna keep being here, in this basement hell, with this team of people trying their absolute best. It genuinely feels Sisyphean at this point. Anytime someone starts doing well for the Rockies, usually a pitcher, it's only a matter of time before the Coors Field starts catch up to them. It happened with Zach Agnos, the rookie reliever, who had a terrific start and now has a 4.43 ERA because he's had to play half his games in Denver. Even some of the decent rookies, like Carson Palmquist, Chase Dollander and Tanner Gordon, have high ERAs because they just can't keep runs down at home. And any attempt to solve the problem with better rookies and better players is going to keep the team here. Remember, bringing Kris Bryant to Colorado didn't work, and hasn't. 

And so what they have at the moment is Ryan McMahon, who's still contracted for another few years and I'm not certain it would make sense to trade at this juncture. McMahon, as he's prone to, is producing. He has 8 homers and 19 RBIs, which is Judge numbers for the Rockies, and continues to be an excellent defender at third. Between McMahon, Jordan Beck and Hunter Goodman, this team has some nice power pieces, and a good amount can be built on. I'm not sure what Goodman's strong start behind the plate means for Drew Romo, nor do I know what the set-in-stone OF of Beck, Doyle and Moniak means for Zac Veen, but at the very least a lot of the people starting for this team feel like they deserve to, even with Adael Amador, Nick Martini and Michael Toglia not doing much at all. 

The Rockies are likely going to keep grasping along at this pace, and might even chase last year's White Sox for the record. The problem is evident, and there doesn't seem to be any way to solve it, so they've figured that the better idea is to keep getting the shit kicked out of them. Maybe it's because I'm not an owner but that doesn't make any sense to me.

Coming Tomorrow- I still think the Mariners were really silly to give this guy up, and with all the bases he's stealing it's kind of confirming that. 

Meanwhile, In The Basement

 

The Phillies, in Denver this week, feel like they've won the lottery. They already made quick work of the Pirates, they regained first place, and now they get to play the worst team in the majors. Only 8 wins to their name at the moment. Virtually no pitching, a handful of decent power hitters and a lot of mediocrity. The Rockies are already one manager down, and seeing as the new guy, Warren Schaeffer, is 1-6 at the moment, they may be going through more.

Here is how I best sum up the Rockies at the moment. Hunter Goodman is the team's best hitter. He's 25, and he's having a breakout year, hitting .292 with 7 homers, 29 RBIs and 11 doubles. I knew he'd factor into this season, as he got a lot of play last year off the bench. What I did not know was that he's a catcher. I assumed he was a corner infielder. No, his primary position is catcher. Meaning he made the team as starting catcher, Jacob Stallings made the team as backup, and Drew Romo, who many people consider to be the future of the team, is stuck in the minors rehabbing from an injury. Even when he does return to playing shape, which should be soon, he will be confined to Albuquerque. The Colorado Rockies, where literally the only person doing well is stopping the team from progressing. 

And look, you can say, truthfully, that big prospects like Romo, Zac Veen and Adael Amador haven't done shit in the majors. They really haven't. Veen got his shot in April, didn't do a thing and then Jordan Beck took his roster spot and hasn't looked back. Amador has been filling 2nd and is hitting .145 with a -1.0 WAR. Romo is trying, certainly, and if it weren't for that finger thing he'd accumulated after the team foolishly kept him back from the Opening Day roster he'd be factoring into things right now. But instead, in need of an extra catcher for a spell, the Rockies had to call up Braxton Fulford for a series or so, which must have been infuriating for Romo. 

At the very least the rotation has no shortage of starting opportunities, but it's guys like Chase Dollander, Bradley Blalock, Tanner Gordon and Carson Palmquist just thrust right into the ringer. Of course it's not gonna go well, you're not developing them properly, you're just trying to plug holes while the boat's missing a half. Dollander, through 8 starts, is 2-5 with a 6.28 ERA, and he's considered one of the team's better starters. Palmquist gave up 5 runs in his first start. Until the Rockies find a way of leveling their stadium and doing something with the air quality that prevents this sort of thing, these young pitchers are gonna keep getting killed like this. And this isn't a team that can just outhit the competition. These guys aren't exactly Bichette, Walker and Castilla.

The misery will likely keep going at this pace. The Rockies may challenge the White Sox' record they just set last year. Rob Manfred will once again ignore calls to do something to prevent against 110+ loss teams. And Drew Romo won't be the only person in Colorado with an overextended finger.

Coming Tonight: That's odd, usually the breakout hard-hitting infielders in Tampa aren't homegrown..

Beck Before Dawn

 

The 2025 Colorado Rockies. Hitting .212 as a team, a 5.22 team ERA, calling up their biggest prospects and getting next to nothing from them, the team captain's hitting .150 and leading the team in strikeouts [illuminating the fact that he really should have been traded by now], the rotation is catastrophic, the biggest star keeps getting injured every year, and the player with the highest WAR is a 29-year-old middle reliever. I know the White Sox just set the new bar for ineptitude, but they didn't have a stadium that made it impossible to keep runs down. 

Look, the fact that it's already looking this rough after just a month isn't a great sign. And it's not like they have that many replacement options either. There's so many proven successes in position to do well, and they're just not. German Marquez, Antonio Senzatela and Kyle Freeland all have ERAs over 5. Poor Chase Dollander has been thrown right into the fire, and has a 6.48 ERA in his first 5 starts. And because this is Colorado, that's not enough to cost him the job. Ryan Feltner and his 4.75 ERA, by comparison, are Cy Young caliber. The guys who are doing the most work in the pitching unit are relief guys, like Jake Bird and Victor Vodnik. They also found this rookie relief specialist named Zach Agnos, who's been nothing but a control artist so far and has essentially been their main closing option. Look, whatever they can get to work. 

The lineup seems to indicate that everything that was being set up in 2024 doesn't seem to be the answer. McMahon's been terrible at the plate. Tovar is hitting .212, Toglia .211. Statistically the team's best hitter is Hunter Goodman, who's a decent enough catcher to keep Drew Romo from getting any MLB time lately. The most prominent hitting Rockie at the moment is Jordan Beck, who had a brief run last season without being too exciting. Beck, despite a trip back to the minors, has accumulated 5 homers, 11 RBIs and 4 steals, which for this team puts him in line for the papacy essentially. He's got a .948 OPS at the moment, which is good even for teams that aren't the rockies. It'd really help if he continued at this pace, and perhaps taught Zac Veen a thing or two about hitting in the majors.

The issue with the Rockies is not just that they're really struggling, but they're struggling in a division where they were already kind of guaranteed last place. The top three teams are terrific, and their nearest competitor is 11 games ahead and still above .500. All they needed to do to stay dignified was finish better than they did in 2024, even if it was in last. They're not exactly on target to accomplish that. A lot of people need to turn their seasons around to get anything close to dignity out of this Rockies team.

Coming Tonight: Remember the Austin Meadows deal that the Pirates seemed to regret the moment they made it? This guy also snuck out of there too, and he's finally come into his own.

Rock Bottom

 

In a year where the A's have more young talent, the White Sox at the very least have better pitching, the Pirates have Paul Skenes and the Nationals are in fourth, the Colorado Rockies have found themselves looking at the 'worst team in the bigs' designation, at least for a bit. And it's not like the Rockies haven't tried to elevate themselves from this. They currently have Ezequiel Tovar, Brenton Doyle, Adael Amador and Zac Veen up in the majors, and that's not working either.

The main issue with the Rockies, even if the organize great teams or bring the talent in the right places, is that it's very difficult to get all of them on the same page. Kris Bryant was not a good fit for this team when he signed, and he's not a good fit for it now. Once again he's struggling to hit for average, hitting .154 with 1 RBIs and 6 hits so far. As recently as 2022 this guy was a reliable, consistent hitter with amazing versatility and great production. Something about Denver just does not fit Bryant's sensibilities, and I don't know if there's going to be a moment where everything clicks. It's like Josh Hamilton in Anaheim or Anthony Rendon...in Anaheim. Or Justin Upton in...okay maybe Anaheim's the problem in those cases. Bryant's dragging the team down, cause I don't know how he and Zac Veen could even be on the same page, despite both not hitting for average right now.

Kyle Freeland, German Marquez, Antonio Senzatela and Ryan Feltner are all healthy, reliable...and have yet to record a win. The only starting pitcher to record a win thus far has been Chase Dollander, a rookie I have never heard of. All the veteran starters have ERAs of 4.50 or higher, just trying to at least get out there consistently and do their best. I hate that even Marquez looks like the best days are behind him. He's striking less people out, less wholly dominant. Kyle Freeland might be the closest to good, with a 1.208 WHIP, but even he's given up 13 earned runs thus far. The bullpen isn't much better, as only Jake Bird seems to be getting out unscathed at the moment. 

The big stat with this team belongs to Kyle Farmer, who is batting .333 with 17 hits, including 8 doubles...and only one run. 4 RBIs as well. Kyle Farmer gets on base a ton but there's nobody to bring him home. In Denver, land of a thousand power hitters. When the nearest power hitters are Michael Toglia, who's streaky as hell, Bryant, who's in his 'couldn't hit water if it fell out of a canoe' era, and Mickey Moniak...it's not great. McMahon and Doyle are more well rounded and they're being relied upon for power numbers. So's Hunter Goodman, who's basically being slotted in at catcher to control Drew Romo's service time. 

Nothing's working. It's a 3-14 team, just getting done playing the Dodgers. It's...bad. I don't think this team will be 2024 White Sox bad, but it might be similarly difficult to get through.

Coming Tomorrow- The longest tenured Tampa Bay Ray, which is a lot like being the oldest cast member on a Disney Channel Original Series. 

An Even Start

 

The way the schedule works now, with every team playing each other and less weight put on divisional matchups, there's far less that feels deliberate about matchups at certain points, but I found it fascinating that the Rockies and Rays got to play each other in the first series of the year. Two teams that did the least of anybody in their division, with huge battles towards the top of each. The way things are being projected, both of these guys are predicted to finish in last place. And here they are, playing each other to begin the season. Get a firm grip early on, cause you may lose it soon after.

Have we learned much about either team? Nothing foundational. I mean, personally, I learned that Rays home games do look a little more majestic without the ugly dome lighting of the Trop. Getting them in an open air stadium with stands that fans can reasonably fill does wonders for them, it actually feels like a normal MLB experience. I do think some of the jabs at this clearly being a Yankee park are funny, like the retired numbers outside the stadium being for clearly not Rays [wow, they retired B.J. Upton's #2??], but the Rays do feel at home there. It's still Tampa. It's still nice a lot of the time. 

The Rays themselves came off well during the opening season. Junior Caminero finally feels MLB-ready, with 5 hits in 10 at-ats. Kameron Misner looks to factor in well, hitting a walk-off home run in Game 1. Pepiot, Littell and Bradley can all hold down opposing teams and stay sharp, which is a nice feeling in a Rays year without McClanahan, Springs or Glasnow. Three guys that can go 6 and not worry people. Last couple years the rotation's been an issue, seems fine so far. Even with Lowe ailing and Kim and Lowe out, you're seeing definite answers in multiple positions. Danny Jansen works as an everyday catcher. Jonathan Aranda could be an answer at a corner spot. Jonny DeLuca's certainly stealing enough bases to qualify for an everyday job. 

Logically, a team that is simply 'efficient' and 'good' isn't going to do much when compared to the top 3 teams in the division, but the Rays could still surprise people and be ahead of where they were last year.

As for the Rockies...there are answers, but they may not be the ones the Rockies are looking for. Their sole win thus far, they started Antonio Senzatela, who's been out for a year or so. Senza went four and a third, gave up 9 hits, but no runs. Struck out no one. Senza, if his first start is to be believed, is now a conservative, keep-it-in-the-infield type pitcher, who's aided by the team's defense [Tovar, McMahon, Farmer and Doyle help this] but can't really show off as much. Kyle Freeland, meanwhile, can still strike people out and keep runs down but gets let down by the bullpen, even away from home. 

Zac Veen, Adael Amador and Drew Romo, the three biggest foundational position players, did not make the team out of camp. In a surprise move, the Rockies went with Hunter Goodman as starting catcher, a position I literally had no idea he even played. I was thinking Stallings would start, but they apparently have faith in Goodman, and so far he has 4 hits and an RBI. Amador's position is currently being filled by Kyle Farmer, who's actually been responsible for 2 RBIs thus far. And Veen's RF is being filled by Nick Martini, who miraculously has 4 hits and an RBI. So this ploy to control service time worked out for the Rockies after all, just...not really in the wins column. 

The Rox do have Ezequiel Tovar, Ryan McMahon and Brenton Doyle to anchor the lineup, but Doyle is the one who 2025 could make or break. McMahon is a veteran standout, Tovar's for real, and Doyle's coming off a great season. So was Nolan Jones, and now he's back in Cleveland. Doyle so far only has a couple hits and hasn't been responsible for much, but it's early. Something could happen. 

Also, the team's only home run so far has come from Mickey Moniak, who was a late roster addition. Yes, they're on the road, but they have Michael Toglia and Kris Bryant. Oh, by the way, Bryant's yet to get a hit. Thrilling.

Both of these teams have a lot to prove, and at the moment one seems more determined to prove it than the other. But it's a long season, and a lot could happen. 

Coming Tonight: He's big, strong, and hits home runs. And that seems to be enough for some fans around here.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2024: Rockies

 

From May 9th until May 15th, the Colorado Rockies had an impressive seven-game winning streak. During this weeklong period, they scored nine runs against the San Francisco Giants, then swept the Texas Rangers by scoring 15 runs against them, and then swept the San Diego Padres with 19 runs scored against them. 

Those 7 wins make up 11% of the wins the Colorado Rockies had in 2024. And those 19 runs make up 3% of the runs scored by the Colorado Rockies this season. 

What else can one say but 'oof'?

The Rockies were the sole NL West team to not compete in 2024, and thus their 100 loss status came as a shock to no one. While they are slowly building something, and with both Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle having great seasons they're closer than they were previously, a lot of this season was a wash because of the number of below-average, replacement and inexperienced performers that still populated the team. Many players were great for a two month stretch and unhelpful otherwise. Both Marquez and Senzatela made brief appearances but were of no overall help.

And speaking of being no help, former NL MVP Kris Bryant, three years into a long and fruitful deal with the Rockies, had yet another disappointing, limited season. In 37 games, he hit .218 with 2 home runs and 15 RBIs, what the hell can anyone say about that? D'you think Rendon, Bryant, Baez and Strasburg all go out for drinks?

2025 Prediction: Bryant will be 33 and probably healthier than ever. I say his numbers improve and he actually plays a decent role in this team. Maybe it's wishful thinking but I'd love for something to happen.

This sums up the Rockies' season perfectly for me: Ryan Feltner was one of the Rockies' most utilized starters this year, appearing in 30 games, and pitching in 162 innings. He went 3-10 with a 4.50 ERA and a team-leading 138 strikeouts. This was Feltner's best season to date. Something I do want to point out that's always tickled me is his ERA against the Phillies is 6.75, higher than his ERA against division rivals the Padres, Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Giants. The Phils have a way of completely annihilating this guy, as I saw a couple years ago in a start he had against us at CBP. 

2025 Prediction: An improvement. A 4 ERA against the rest of the league and a 10 ERA if he pitches in Philly.

Speaking of Philadelphia, Jake Cave, a crucial bench bat for the 2023 Phils, was cut at the end of Spring Training and quickly brought over to the Rockies, who could use an extra OF bat. Cave's big claim to fame might be that the Yankees traded him to the Twins for a young fireballer named Luis Gil. In Colorado, Cave had his highest RBI total since his rookie year, with 37, along with 7 homers and a .251 average. He wasn't terribly useful otherwise, he was a pretty standard replacement guy for this team, but I think the fans enjoyed having him around.

2025 Prediction: Does something moderately amusing in the Korean Leagues.

Sam Hilliard came up with the Rockies as an extra outfielder, spent a season with the Braves as a pretty nice bench bat, then came back to Colorado. In 58 games, Hilliard hit .239 with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs. He was also a slight upgrade in the outfield from Jones and Cave.

2025 Prediction: Does a lot during the first half but is phased out a bit once the Rockies actually answer some questions at key OF positions.

And finally, longtime catching prospect Drew Romo made his long awaited debut in August, and hoped to be a trusted answer to the team's future catching questions. It was also a big deal that Romo's promotion came in the wake of the Rockies releasing longtime catcher Elias Diaz. Romo's early numbers didn't do a ton to justify that, as he hit .176 with 6 RBIs in 16 games. Defensively, though, Romo seems to be exactly as advertised.

2025 Prediction: It's not gonna be immediate success, as Tovar was, but slowly Romo's gonna get more and more playing time, and by the end of the season he'll be an integral part of the lineup.

Coming Tomorrow- I thought I'd have more Royals left, but I really did knock out a lot of them during the season. Still, quite a few to show for their first competitive playoff year in about a decade.