Colorado Rockies news and links for Friday, May 2, 2025
Just over a month into the season, things have been worse than imagined for the Colorado Rockies. Blame the youth, blame the injuries, blame the really good pitcher the Rockies seem to face daily, blame the veterans for not playing better, blame Bud Black, blame Bill Schmidt, or blame Dick Monfort. Maybe it’s all to blame.
However, blame doesn’t do anything. Change is the only answer. As Greek philosopher Plutarch said, “To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.”
Entering Thursday’s game against the Giants, FanGraphs projects the Rockies to finish the season 58-104, but that seems pretty optimistic at this point. After all, even after Colorado’s two-game winning streak, their .194 winning percentage (6-25) would translate to 32-131. Through that lens, things will have to get significantly better to break the 50-win mark. The Rockies four-win April made national news for their historic inability to win.
The Colorado Rockies are so bad they’re becoming a legitimate national story. pic.twitter.com/CurRcA5agu
— Zach Bye (@byesline) April 30, 2025
So why not make some changes? Could it really get worse?
In this light, it might be time to move on from Ryan McMahon. Purple Row certainly wrote plenty of articles about the value of trading McMahon last year during his lone All-Star campaign, but the Rockies missed the window of opportunity like they did with Elías Díaz, Brendan Rodgers and many others before him, at his peak value.
The nine-year veteran, who’s been the starting third baseman since the 2019 season when Nolan Arenado left town, is leading MLB in strikeouts (44) and his .147 average is the third worst in the league among qualified players. He was hitless in 10-plus games from April 19-30, stuck in a 0-for-34 slump that’s been painful to watch. During the stretch, he’s struck out 14 times, but thankfully walked nine times and at least scored three runs.
Going back even further, McMahon had as many hits as the Rockies have wins, which is two, in his last 17 games in April. In 58 at-bats, McMahon had one single, one double, 13 walks, and 28 strikeouts. That equated to slashing .034/.211/.052.
Since jettisoning a home-grown player is unlikely with the Rockies front office being infamous for clinging to players long past their peaks, a more realistic change would be to at least drop McMahon in the lineup.
The 2024 All-Star has hit third in the lineup in 23 games this season and in the cleanup spot six times. Through April, his only day out of either spot was when he rested, aka was benched, on Sunday against the Reds.
McMahon was bumped to fifth Thursday night against the Giants, and he broke his hitless streak by hitting a solo homer, his third of the season. While the move took longer than it should have, at least it was a good move, and it produced results.
It’s great to see McMahon break his 0-for streak, but he still doesn’t deserve to be in the top seven in the lineup. He can’t be there because he was an All-Star last year, or because Bud Black likes him or because he deserves it. No one deserves their spot. They have to earn it continuously. Until he can earn it back, which takes more than a homer, McMahon should drop down even more.
The third through fifth spots in the batting order are not where the worst average in the lineup should be. The third spot in the lineup traditionally goes to a team’s most productive hitter, the leader in RBI (Brenton Doyle or Hunter Goodman, who are tied for 15 each) or average (Goodman at .267) or homers (Jordan Beck or Goodman, who are tied at five), who can drive in the guys ahead of him and be the motor to rallies.
Of course, McMahon could snap out of this slump, build off the momentum from Thursday’s homer and still salvage the season. But he’s proven to have a lower ceiling than Rockies fans hoped. The decline from last year to this year is notable.
Baseball Savant
His increasing strikeouts and diminished production could call for a speedier call-up for third basemen prospects Kyle Karros, who is currently hitting .329/.446/.513 with two homers in 76 at-bats in 21 games with Double-A Hartford, or Charlie Condon, who was just drafted third overall in 2024 and is currently recovering from a wrist fracture in his left hand.
Outside of not being likely to part with McMahon, due to historical precedent, it would be hard to find a willing trade partner because the Rockies signed McMahon to a 6-year, $70 million deal in 2022. He’s making $12 million this year and he’s slated to take home $16 million in 2026 and 2027 before the contract is up. His lack of production as the second-highest paid position player on the payroll behind only Kris Bryant, is just another example of the Rockies spending money, but not in a way that realistically evaluates talent and market value. They often overpay players who are past their prime and prize homegrown talent beyond what anyone else would pay, leaving an expensive, unproductive roster that can’t win.
McMahon is a wonderful fielder, a good dude in the clubhouse and a very likable person. The Rockies have to stop clinging to players because they like them as people, instead of operating like a business that expects to win and demands production. His time with the Rockies has been dominated by losing. It’s hard to imagine he’s part of the solution to move toward a winning future.
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On the Farm
Triple-A: Salt Lake Bees 8, Albuquerque Isotopes 3
The Isotopes fell behind 5-0 after five innings and couldn’t come back despite a two-run sixth inning highlighted by an RBI single from Sam Hilliard. Julio Carreras cut Salt Lake’s lead to 5-3 when Julio Carreras hit a sac fly to score Keston Hiura. Hilliard, Hiura and Trevor Boone led Albuquerque with two hits apiece. Andrew Quezada took the loss after a rough start where he gave up five runs on seven hits in 2 1⁄3 innings. Karl Kauffman threw 2 2⁄3 scoreless innings, while Jefry Yan added another to keep the Isotopes in it before the Bees busted out another three-run inning in the eighth off Evan Justice.
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 3, Chesapeake Baysox 2, 10
GJ Hill hit a walk-off sac fly to score Kyle Karros to help the Yard Goats win their seventh straight at home on Thursday night.
Kyle Karros crosses the plate on a sacrifice fly by GJ Hill bottom of the 10th and your Yard Goats win it again! pic.twitter.com/YzHVlObql7
— Hartford Yard Goats (@GoYardGoats) May 2, 2025
Karros went 2-for-5 with two runs scored, Hill also had an RBI sac grounder and Juan Guerrero went 2-for-3 with three walks and one run scored. Jose Torres also added an RBI single. Mason Albright pitched a solid six innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts and the bullpen locked it down in four scoreless innings where three pitchers combined two give up two hits and strike out six.
High-A: Spokane Indians 3, Tri-City Dust Devils 1
The Dust Devils took a 1-0 lead after five innings, but Jean Perez wasn’t going to let them win. Perez hit an RBI single in the seventh to tie the game before hitting another RBI single in the ninth to score the go-ahead run. The Indians got an insurance run on a passed ball to seal the win. Davison Palmero got his first win of the season after a scoreless eighth inning and Welinton Herrera struck out two in a perfect bottom of the fifth to earn his fifth save.
Single-A: Fresno Visalia Rawhide 3, Fresno Grizzlies 2
The Grizziles had their chance to take the lead in the top of the ninth, but they couldn’t pull it off. Robert Calaz got things going with a leadoff walk and Blake Wright followed with a single. Next, Jacob Hinderleider hit a fielder’s choice, but due to an error, it scored a run and runners were on first and second with no outs. That’s when Fresno hit into a double play and followed that with another ground out to end the game with the tying run on second. Lebarron Johnson Jr. took the loss, walking six and gave up two runs on two hits with five strikeouts in 4 2⁄3 innings.
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Thank goodness April is over. However, since it was “historically bad,” the Rockies have to look at the numbers, look at themselves in the mirror and decide how to move forward. R.J. Anderson looks at it through losses, team stats and historical perspective to break it all down.
Rockies Mailbag: One baseball person’s plan to turn things around in Colorado | Denver Post ($)
Denver Post readers send Patrick Saunders questions about what the Rockies really need in the front office, how fans can boycott with their dollars, why the Rockies strike out so much, and if there is any chance Bud Black’s job is in jeopardy.
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