The MLB season is already halfway through. Here’s a look at how it is treating the Colorado Rockies so far.
Same Old Rockies
The Colorado Rockies have not finished within the top three of the NL West since 2018 where they finished second at 91-72.
For the past four years, it has been a shuffle between fourth and fifth place, never eclipsing a .500 record. The worst record in that stretch was in 2022, when the Rox only pulled off 68 wins.
With a .393 winning percentage at 33-51, they are on pace to finish with even fewer wins this year. Of course, in the tough NL West, it was hard to imagine the Rockies finishing anywhere but last place.
Colorado took a very different approach than many other teams this offseason by giving out almost no money. It would seem that the front office saw the writing on the walls and knew what was in store for them this season. Owner Dick Monfort, meanwhile, though the Rockies can “play .500 ball,” which sounded silly at the time.
With the trade deadline inching ever closer, the Rockies will be a team looking to sell and acquire young talent for the future.
At Least You Hit At Coors
The Rockies will almost never find themselves bottom of the league in offensive production. With a stadium sitting at an elevation of 5,200 feet, it’s a field all hitters enjoy playing on.
The Rockies’ offense sits in the middle of the pack in most statistics, including tied for 12th in runs, 13th in total bases, 12th in batting average, and 16th in OPS.
The most surprising and alarming statistic is that they’re 27th in home runs. In a stadium that provides a large geographical advantage, it seems like the Rockies should be hitting home runs at a much higher rate. The problem is that there aren’t many power hitters in the lineup. 3B Ryan McMahon is the only player with double-digit homers.
They have a higher team OPS than some notable franchises like the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Cleveland Guardians, and Seattle Mariners. Many believed that these teams had higher playoff aspirations coming into the season. That is still the case, but each could turn to Colorado as a trade partner.
Unfortunately, as it seems every year the Rockies’ top-paid player is hurt again.
Before being sent to the IL this season, OF Kris Bryant played in just 50 games. In 2022, on the first year of his 7-year, $182 million deal, he played in only 42 games.
With a career .870 OPS and 177 home runs, a healthy Bryant is no doubt the best offensive weapon the Rockies have to offer. Unfortunately, we will again not see a full year of Kris in Colorado. He did return Friday night after miss one month.
One of the better offensive players for the Rockies has been McMahon, with a slash line of .268/.350/.478, leading to an OPS of .828. He also leads the team in home runs with just 12, which ties him for 54th in the league. That is extremely disappointing for a team playing at Coors Field.
The Pitching Is Just Bad
Coors Field giveth and Coors Field taketh. The flip side of better offensive production due to elevation is what seems like never-ending poor pitching.
To put it simply, the Rockies are extremely bad at pitching.
As a team, they’re 29th in MLB with a 5.76 ERA, 30th in average against, 29th in OBP, and 30th in OPS. Also add to that allowing the most hits, second-most runs, a tie for second-most walks, and having the second-lowest number of strikeouts.
It’s just all-around bad news when it comes to pitching for the Rockies.
Their most used pitcher is Kyle Freeland with 90.1 innings pitched. In those innings, he’s amassed a 4.88 ERA, allowing a .281 BA and carrying a 1.417 WHIP.
Because of their playing conditions, we almost never see bigger-name pitchers choose Colorado after hitting free agency. That is especially concerning for the Rockies because only two of their top 10 prospects are pitchers. After 30 years, the team has not figured out how to pitch effectively at elevation.
The Future
This year the Rockies don’t have much going for them. They’re a team that will most likely look to the draft and to keep developing young talent.
This year, they had the 23rd-ranked prospect on the Opening Day roster in SS Ezequiel Tovar, who has put up respectable numbers. He sits with a slash line of .269/.303/.441 with eight home runs, 39 RBIs, and 40 runs scored.
In the most recent prospect rankings from MLB Pipeline, the Rockies have three top 100 prospects.
Those include #25 SS Adael Amador with an ETA of 2025, #72 OF Zac Veen (ETA 2024), and #95 OF Yanquiel Fernandez (ETA 2025).
