How low can the Rockies go? After historically bad start, ‘spectacular failure’ is on the table

For one afternoon, the Rockies clubhouse went from funereal to celebratory.

“Believe,” Cher’s electropop hit, blared from the speakers. Laughter replaced despair. Smiles reappeared.

“You guys can probably hear it now, we’re in pretty good spirits,” rookie Chase Dollander said after pitching the Rockies to a 2-1 victory over Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon before 29,661 at Coors Field. The victory snapped an eight-game losing streak.

“Obviously, losing is not fun,” Dollander continued. “But at the same time, we know that we’re capable of winning, and we haven’t put a winning product on the field. So that’s exactly what we did today.”

Such moments have been few and far between for the Rockies so far this spring. So much so that the franchise is now chasing baseball infamy.

Colorado went 5-25 in its first 30 games, tying with five other teams — the 1904 Phillies, 1932 Red Sox, 1952 Pirates, 1981 Cubs, and 2003 Tigers — for the second-worst 30-game start in Major League Baseball’s modern era (since 1901). Only the 1988 Orioles, who opened the season with 21 consecutive losses, started worse (4-26).

Even the 2024 White Sox, who set the major league record with 121 losses last season, bettered the Rockies’ start, opening the year 6-24.

Dollander, only 23 and with just five starts on his big-league resume, doesn’t feel the weight of the losses. But veteran left-hander Kyle Freeland sure does. The Denver native, who grew up dreaming about pitching for his hometown team, signed a five-year, $64.5 million contract in April 2022, believing the Rockies would eventually be winners. But they are hurtling toward their seventh consecutive losing season.

A third straight 100-loss campaign appears possible, too. And perhaps even the worst season in Rockies history, with the club already “ahead” of the 2023 club’s 103-loss pace.

“I take it very personally, as I assume anyone in my situation would,” Freeland said. “This is the team I want to win with. I signed up for five more years to be a part of this. I want to win here and be a part of this, but we are going in the wrong direction.”

Statistics illustrate Freeland’s point. Entering Thursday night’s game at San Francisco, the Rockies had not only the worst record in the majors but also the worst run differential (minus-77), lowest batting average (.211) and most strikeouts (312). Colorado’s 5.30 team ERA was the third-highest, trailing only Miami (5.89) and Baltimore (5.47).

Fielding, touted by owner Dick Monfort before the start of the season as having a chance to be the best “in the history of the game,” has been spotty. Colorado’s 25 errors were the third-most behind only the Red Sox (28) and Athletics (26).

As legendary manager Casey Stengel said about the 1962 Mets team, which famously lost 120 games, “Can’t anybody here play this game?”

And it doesn’t get any easier. Over their next 27 games, through June 1, the Rockies will not face an opponent with a current record below .500. Plus, the Rockies reside in the National League West, the toughest division in baseball, where only the Rockies own a losing record.

Hall of Fame baseball writer Tim Kurkjian knows about a team going south in a hurry. In 1988, Kurkjian was a young beat writer covering the Orioles for the Baltimore Sun. Those O’s opened the season with 21 straight losses en route to a 54-107 campaign.

“I’m at least in the discussion for most losing game stories written by anyone in the ’80s,” joked Kurkjian, now a senior writer at ESPN.com and analyst for ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight” broadcasts. “I have experience with this, unfortunately. It was the biggest challenge of my beat writing career, and I tried to do it properly. I knew a lot of people were reading about the Orioles.”

The ’88 O’s attracted national attention and became the butt of jokes. In Game 15, as Milwaukee beat Baltimore, 7-1, Brewers announcer Bob Uecker quipped: “The President will call when the Orioles finally win a game. Unfortunately, it will be someone like President (Manuel) Noriega (of Panama).”

During the Orioles’ losing streak, Kurkjian said it was challenging to come up with fresh questions after every game.

“What made it hard was that this was a veteran team,” he said. “They had Cal Ripken Jr., Eddie Murray (both Hall of Famers) and Fred Lynn on that team. These guys had been used to winning, had been to the World Series, so that made it so much harder.”

On April 29, when the Orioles finally broke the losing streak by blanking the White Sox, 9-0, there was a mock celebration after the game, with several O’s pouring cranberry juice on each other.

Kurkjian, however, didn’t sense any joy.

“There was no elation after that game because while they were relieved it was over, they were embarrassed by it,” he said.

Kurkjian doesn’t pretend to be an expert on the Rockies. However, he senses that most baseball pundits and executives are not shocked by the club’s current state.

“I think the average person in the business looks at this and sees, on many levels, a spectacular failure,” he said. “I just don’t see any other way to see this. But for what it’s worth, I also don’t sense that anyone is taking great joy in watching this.”

Rockies manager Bud Black, who remained remarkably upbeat during the 30-game swoon, acknowledges that his team is wearing it.

“There is frustration, sure,” Black. “Guys are angry. Guys are (ticked off). All of the adjectives you want to throw out there. These guys are competitors, regardless of the group we have. These guys are professional baseball players who want to do well. It just hasn’t happened, as a group. We just don’t have enough guys playing well.”

Colorado is in a semi-youth movement, and the win-loss record reflects the inexperience. The Rockies had five players make their debut in April: right-handed pitchers Zach Agnos and Juan Mejia, catcher Braxton Fulford, outfielder Zac Veen and Dollander.

There have been injuries, too. Gold Glove shortstop Ezequiel Tovar has missed more than a dozen games with a bruised hip. His return is pending. Two-time Gold Glove center fielder Brenton Doyle missed 11 games because of a quad strain and time on the bereavement list to deal with family matters.

Thairo Estrada, signed to be the starting second baseman, has yet to play a game as he recovers from a right wrist fracture suffered in spring training. Lefty starter Austin Gomber has missed 12 games as he deals with a shoulder injury and is not close to returning.

Then there is Kris Bryant, the hard-luck designated hitter lavished with a seven-year, $182 million contract three seasons ago. The 2016 NL MVP has played just 170 of 516 games (32.9%) since signing that deal, and is once again on the injured list due to chronic low-back issues with no timetable for a return.

“I’m going to remain optimistic that K.B. is going to return and come back healthy and ready to contribute,” Black said, for the umpteenth time, after Bryant went on the IL on April 13. “I still think there’s a hitter in there; a hit tool and an on-base component.”

Until Bryant actually produces, he’ll be the symbol of Colorado’s current failures. The two worst seasons in Rockies’ history — going on three — have come since Monfort gave Bryant the biggest free-agent contract for a position player in franchise history.

But the Rockies’ woes are not solely the result of injuries — or Bryant’s inability to deliver on his big deal. Veterans such as third baseman Ryan McMahon and starting pitcher German Marquez are off to the worst starts of their careers.

McMahon entered the San Francisco series with a hitless streak of 34 at-bats, the longest such streak by a position player in franchise history, surpassing Desi Relaford’s 33 at-bat streak in July of 2005.

Marquez, an All-Star in 2021, went into San Francisco carrying the baggage of a career-worst five-game losing streak during which he had a 12.81 ERA, the most runs he has allowed in a five-start span in his career.

The fans have noticed. After their first 15 home games, the Rockies are averaging 25,142 fans per game at Coors Field, ranking 18th in the majors. The Rockies have not finished in the bottom half of MLB attendance since 2007, the club’s only World Series season. However, the ’07 season followed the terrible seasons of ’05 and ’06, and it took time for the Rockies to regain their fan base.

“It’s terrible and frustrating, but I will still take my kids to a few games,” said Centennial’s Peter Harris. “I should be able to get good seats for cheap, which is a plus! I remember going to lots of games in ‘05 when they were terrible, and, honestly, it built my fandom ahead of the World Series run two years later.”

Other fans have thrown in the towel.

“Honestly, it breaks my heart for our city and the players,” said Miguel Breceda of Aurora. “I haven’t felt motivated to go back to the stadium since the Nolan Arenado trade (in February 2021).

“Even watching games on TV isn’t the same. I used to make sure I didn’t miss a single (Charlie) Blackmon walk-up. I never used to miss a game. Now, I might check the score, but I’m usually checked out by the fifth inning.”

But it’s the players who live with the losses.

During the Tigers’ miserable 2003 season, in which they lost 119 games, catcher Brandon Inge told the Detroit Free Press, “It’s like that dream you had as a kid when you’re walking down the school hall naked and there is no place to go.”

The fiercely competitive Freeland can relate.

He made his big-league debut in 2017, when the Rockies made the playoffs for the first time since 2009. In ’18, they came one victory away from claiming their first NL West title but still made the playoffs. That’s the only time the Rockies made the postseason in back-to-back years.

Now, they’re in the lowest place in franchise history.

“Obviously, it’s not been easy at all,” Freeland said. “We understand what we are going through right now, and we are doing everything in our power to get ourselves out of this and moving in the right direction.

“But it’s become tough for us to complete a baseball game — a well-rounded baseball game. We are struggling to find our image and struggling to find our identity. Right now, we are just kind of going out there trying to play baseball.”

Infamous Beginnings

The Rockies opened the season with a 5-25 record, becoming one of seven teams since 1901 to post five or fewer wins in their first 30 games. The 2024 White Sox, who set the major league record with 121 losses last year, opened the season 6-24. Here’s a look at how the other teams finished their seasons (click here to view chart in mobile):

* Season interrupted by 50-day strike

— Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post

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