Colorado Rockies news and links for Friday, May 9. 2025
Ouch. After the Colorado Rockies got pummeled 29-9 in three games in two days, the Detroit Tigers can’t leave soon enough.
Bring on the … oh, wait, not the San Diego Padres. It just doesn’t get any easier for the Rockies. Over the next seven series, which includes 22 games stretching into early June, the worst team the Rockies play are the 18-20 Texas Rangers. Everyone else is .500 or better, including three division-leading squads (Cubs, Mets, and Yankees).
The Rockies are bad. This 6-31 start is tied with the 1988 Orioles for the worst start through 37 games in MLB history. The Rockies are bad for baseball, and it’s breaking the fans. It’s breaking Kyle Freeland.
#Rockies have lost five games in a row and have dropped to 6-30 (.167), a 135-loss pace.
Kyle Freeland’s message to Denver sports fans:
“Keep believing in us. Keep riding.” pic.twitter.com/OdxlPQvopz
— Patrick Lyons (@PatrickDLyons) May 8, 2025
Freeland — the ride-or-die, high-energy hype man whose heart is breaking as a fan and a player — didn’t pitch well in Thursday’s Game 1, 10-2 loss to Detroit. He also wasn’t helped by his offense or his defense, which committed three errors and accounted for four unearned runs.
It’s hard to “keep believing” when the signs of hope are so few and far between. The Rockies have the hardest remaining schedule in Major League Baseball. The winning percentage of the teams for the 125 games left is .526. Ten games apiece against the Dodgers and Padres, nine more against the Giants and six against the Mets top the list.
In that light, and considering the Rockies six fielding errors, even if one was due to Ryan McMahon’s busted glove, in the three-game Detroit series, it’s clear that the Rockies are going to need to beg, borrow, steal, and do anything they can to eke out a win here and there to avoid the 136 losses they are headed for.
Outside of massive rebuilding tasks like have a better roster, hit better and pitch better, let’s start small with better fielding. Back in April, Purple Row’s Evan Lang wrote about how injuries and shallow depth have made the Rockies problems seem even worse, including bad defense.
Flashforward to now and the Rockies have committed 31 errors in 37 games this season, equaling 0.84 errors per game. Ezequiel Tovar, even though he’s only played 16 games, is tied with five other Rockies with three errors coming off winning a Gold Glove in 2024. McMahon also has three, as do Hunter Goodman, Jacob Stallings, and Braxton Fullford, giving the Rockies nine errors from the catcher position. The Rockies have had seven multi-error games, including a four-error game and two more with three errors.
The fielding has improved since April 27, when the Rockies were ranked No. 28 with -15 defensive runs saved, but just to -8, which is tied for No. 25 in MLB. Of course, that was after a four-game stretch against the Giants in the first four days of May when they managed to go four games without an error. After three sloppy games vs. Detroit, the rankings will drop the Rockies back down.
Since this blooper-reel start to the season isn’t just because Ezequiel Tovar has been hurt and Brenton Doyle has only played in 28 of the Rockies 37 games, let’s break that down and see how a better defense might help the Rockies scratch up a few more wins. Disclaimer: While the Rockies have had numerous mental errors or near-collisions that were frustrating, unless they were scored as errors, they aren’t included in the following calculations.
The Rockies have committed at least one error in 21 of their 37 games, which is 57%. The Rockies are 5-11 in games when they don’t commit an error, a .313 winning percentage compared to their season mark of .162. On the other hand, the Rockies are 1-16 when they commit at least one error, for a dismal winning percentage of .063.
Games the Rockies Could Have Won
While it wouldn’t be a lot, if you look at the games where at least one error accounted for one or more earned runs that ended up being the difference between winning and losing, the Rockies could have three more wins. Of course, 9-28 isn’t much better than 6-31, but increasing the win total by 33% sounds pretty nice.
The first win would have come on March 30 when the Rockies lost 6-4 to the Rays in the second game of the season. A Jacob Stallings throwing error led to two runs, which was the difference in the game. Sure, the Rockies could have lost in extra innings, but at least it wouldn’t be because of an error.
The second win could have been on April 19 when the Rockies fell to the Nationals 12-11. In making his second error of the season, Chase Dollander’s errant throwing error, Dollander put two runners on instead of just one with one out. Three unearned runs later, the Rockies were down 7-1, and not even an eight-run seventh was enough to come back.
The third win came the next day when Fullford committed all three of his errors in the first game of a doubleheader against Washington, leading to two unearned runs in the Rockies 3-2 loss.
If the Rockies win those two games vs. the Nationals, maybe they build momentum and get more.
Six More Maybes
While not directly impacting the run differential, there are also six more games where errant fielding led to monster innings by opposing teams. The error, or errors, may not have accounted for the majority of the problems, but they exacerbated them. If the Rockies win the three due to errors and these six, that’s 15-22. A .405 winning percentage never sounded so good. Even if it was just half for 12-25 (.324) sounds decent.
The most notable is the four-error, 17-2 loss to Milwaukee on April 9. The Brewers bashed their way to that victory with a pair of five-run innings and a seven-spot. The Rockies had one error in each of the five-run innings and two in the seven-run debacle. Taking away the errors may not have earned a win, but it could have prevented a soul-crushing blowout.
It was similar on April 11 against the Padres when Hunter Goodman committed two errors in the sixth-run fifth inning, fueling San Diego to an 8-0 victory. When the Rockies fell 8-7 to the Reds on April 25, the Rockies recorded two errors, including one on a McMahon throw that was part of a two-run sixth that broke open a tie and put the Reds up 8-6. None of the runs were unearned, but an out and momentum can change everything.
Wednesday night’s 8-6 loss to the Tigers was mostly because of the offense’s inability to score, but Detroit put up two runs in the 10th inning, one of which was due to Jordan Beck taking his eye off the ball when Alan Trejo drifted too deep and communication call-off efforts failed until it was too late. A double had already put the Tigers ahead and one run could have been plenty for the Rockies, but the error still really hurt.
On Thursday, the four earned runs from three errors were spread out between a two-run first inning and a five-run second to put the Tigers up 7-0 after two. Even a semi-productive offense would struggle to bounce back from that. Perhaps with a different start and clean fielding, the Rockies at least make a game of it.
For the remainder of May and for the remainder of 2025, the Rockies can’t afford to lose more games due to bad defense. For the fans, for Freeland, for baseball, please Rockies, do better.
★ ★ ★
On the farm
Triple-A: Oklahoma City Comets 6, Albuquerque Isotopes 5
The Isotopes drew five straight walks to start the game, and even added another late in the first inning, and Ronaiker Palma hit a two-run single to help Albuquerque jump out to a 5-0 lead on Thursday. It wasn’t enough as the Comets rallied back, including with two runs in the bottom of the ninth from a walk-off double, to win the game. The Isotopes committed three errors and were held to two hits in the contest with Yanquiel Fernandez connecting for the lone other hit.
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats at New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Postponed
Rain scratched Thursday night’s game, which was rescheduled to be Game 2 of a doubleheader on Saturday.
High-A: Vancouver Canadians 5, Spokane Indians 1
Spokane was held to five hits and Vancouver scored one run in each of the last four innings for the shutout win. Michael Prosecky had an impressive start, giving up only two runs on four hits and one walk with seven strikeouts. Braxton Hyde entered in the seventh and gave up two runs on four hits with one walk and no strikeouts. Two of the Indians five hits came from singles by Jesus Bugarin and Jared Thomas. Skyler Messinger and Jesus Ordonez started off the fifth with back-to- back singles to put runners at the corners with no outs. Tevin Tucker then hit a sac fly for Spokane’s lone run.
Single-A: Fresno Grizzlies 12, Modesto Nuts 2
Robert Calaz hit a two-run homer, totaled two hits and three RBIs to lead the Grizzlies to victory. Calaz got Fresno on the board in the first inning when he hit an RBI single, Kevin Fitzer added a run-scoring double and Francisco Garcia followed with an RBI single to help the Grizzlies go up 4-0. Calaz homered in the second inning to pile on before Blake Right hit a two-run double as part of a six-run fourth inning and Fresno never looked back. Sean Sullivan threw four scoreless innings, giving up three runs and striking out two in a solid start
★ ★ ★
Tough luck in twin bill extends to McMahon’s glove | MLB.com
Thursday’s “glove malfunction” isn’t the first in McMahon’s career. It also happened in 2022, as Thomas Harding painfully recounts.
Larry Holder dives into the value of Charlie Condon’s Topps Prospect card, despite his being drafted by the worst team in baseball. Colorado’s first-round MLB Draft pick in 2024, and the No. 3 pick overall, is even on one of two covers of the Topps boxes.
Some of the hottest competition at Isotopes Park is on the pingpong table | Albuquerque Journal
Check out this dive inside the Isotopes clubhouse with quotes from Sam Hilliard about how things “get heated” when Albuquerque players get serious when the paddles are out.
★ ★ ★
Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!