Colorado Rockies news and links for Friday, July 25, 2025
It’s no surprise that during a historically bad season in which the Colorado Rockies have netted a 26-76 record that their starting rotation has had its share of struggles. When team wins are in short supply, of course, wins for starting pitchers will be, too.
Of Colorado’s 26 wins, only 14 have been credited to a starting pitcher (53.8%). For perspective, the Milwaukee Brewers’ Freddy Peralta leads MLB with 12 wins. Granted, wins don’t mean everything since the offense’s production, the defense’s capabilities, and the bullpen’s effectiveness are all out of the starter’s control.
At the same time, a lack of them can say a lot.
The core three since 2017 – Germán Márquez, Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela — have started 57 games, or 55.9% of the Rockies first 102 games. Seven other starters have made at least one start. The core trio has accounted for nine of the starting rotation’s 14 wins (64.3%), which is at least what a team has to expect out of its veteran starters.
Before the All-Star break, in 96 games, the Rockies starters notched 10 wins. In six games since, which includes four wins, four starting pitchers have earned a tally in their win columns. A starter victory went from happening 10.4% of the time before the All-Star break to 66.7% after, bumping up the season percentage to 13.7%.
This season, the Rockies have won consecutive games (at least two in a row) only five times. Starting pitchers have earned back-to-back wins in three of those winning streaks: Senzatela and Márquez on July 17-18 against the Nationals, Freeland and Senzatela on July 18-19 against the Twins, and Tuesday and Wednesday when Bradley Blalock and Tanner Gordon did it against St. Louis.
Senzatela leads the team as the only pitcher with four wins (in 19 starts/20 appearances), but also leads MLB with 13 losses.
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Márquez is second in the rotation with three wins (in 20 starts), and Chase Dollander, Freeland and Gordon are all tied with two wins. Freeland has 18 starts on the season, Dollander has 15, and Gordon has four. Blalock has one more win (in five starts) that Austin Gomber and Ryan Feltner have combined in 13 starts, as they are each still waiting to earn their first Ws of the season.
Gomber started the season on the IL and has struggled since his return on June 15, going 0-4 with a 6.03 ERA. Feltner (0-2, 4.75 ERA) has only started six games and spent most of the season battling a back injury that landed him on the IL on April 29. He’s still working through rehab starts in Triple-A Albuquerque.
In Gomber and Feltner’s absences, high hopes were thrust upon Chase Dollander and Carson Palmquist, who both flashed promise, especially Dollander, but neither seemed quite ready for the Big Leagues. They are both back in Triple-A to work out the kinks. The injuries, challenges and inevitable roller coasters that all pitchers ride, especially younger ones, always create openings for players to seize the day each season.
Carpe Diem
While their sample sizes are still small, Gordon, 27, and Blalock, 24, so far are the starters taking the advantage of their opportunities. Blalock was on the Opening Day roster, but the Rockies have sent him down to Triple-A Albuquerque and back three times with the latest recall coming on July 7 when Dollander was sent down.
Gordon started the season with the Isotopes before being called up for one appearance on May 7 and returning to Albuquerque. Gordon was recalled by the Rockies on May 23 and made two starts before a left oblique strain sidelined him for about a month. After rehabbing with the Isotopes, Gordon was once again recalled on July 23, this time to replace Márquez, who went on the 15-day IL with right biceps tendinitis.
Gordon has gone six innings in three of his four starts, which have all come against teams with winning records. He’s 2-2 with a 3.13 ERA, and his victories came over the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals. The Rockies have 23 quality starts this season: Freeland has nine (proving his lack of offensive support), Márquez has five, Dollander has three, and Feltner, Senzatela and Gordon each have two.
Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images
After making his first two appearances out of the bullpen, Blalock has started in his last five appearances.
Having given up only three runs on two hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 5 1/3 innings in his first start against the Giants on May 3, Blalock got smashed by the San Diego Padres when he gave up 12 runs on 13 hits in 3 2/3 innings when the Rockies forced him to eat innings despite his ineffectiveness.
Since then, he’s posted a 2.45 ERA and gone 1-1 in 11 innings (5 1/3 and 5 2/3) against the Reds and Cardinals.
Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images
July Arrivals
One of the most interesting things about Gordon and Blaloch is that they each arrived in Colorado via trade during the last two Julys. Gordon came on July 24, 2023 from Atlanta with Victor Vodnik for Pierce Johnson. He made his MLB debut July 7, 2024. He made eight starts, going 0-6 with an 8.65 ERA. This season, even in his stints in Triple-A Albuquerque, he’s been a much-improved pitcher.
Blalock came to the Rockies from the Brewers in a trade for Nick Mears on July 27, 2024. Blalock made his MLB debut on June 20, 2024 with Milwaukee before going 1-3 with a 6.07 ERA in six starts for the Rockies last season.
In an article by MLB.com’s Thomas Harding after Wednesday’s win, Gordon commented on the effect the trade had on him last season.
“Definitely, when I got traded, it almost felt like a fresh start — new faces, new environment,” Gordon told Harding. “I think it’s what I needed, almost — my second wind to my career.”
While it’s too soon to tell if Gordon and Blalock could be solutions to the Rockies struggling rotation, or even long relief, they are showing promise. That’s more than the Rockies can say about many of their starters.
Their recent success should also give the Rockies front office evidence that making moves at the trade deadline can help the roster in the future.
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On the farm
Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 8, Salt Lake Bees 2
Ryan Feltner struggled in another start for the Isotopes and it started when he walked three, threw a wild pitch and gave up a double in the first inning. Luckily, the Bees only managed one run, but things didn’t get better for Feltner. He surrendered two more walks in each of the next three innings, but somehow didn’t give up any more runs. Feltner was pulled after 3 2⁄3 innings, having given up nine walks and three hits with one strikeout and one run.
Fortunately, the Isotopes offense stepped up to score seven runs in the final five innings of the game to win. Aaron Schunk tripled, scored a run, and hit an RBI single, Kyle Karros went 2-for-4 with an RBI, Drew Romo singled and scored two runs, Braiden Ward doubled, scored two runs and drove in another. Sam Hilliard tripled, scored a run and drove in a run.
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 6, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 3
Bryant Betancourt hit a pair of RBI doubles, Zach Kokoska hit his 11th homer of the year, Jared Thomas hit his first home run as a Yard Goat (he was called up on July 1) to help Hartford beat New Hampshire on Thursday. In the first inning, Charlie Condon hit a double, Thomas singled and Benny Montgomery singled to put Hartford up 1-0. Betancourt then hit his first RBI double and Braylen Wimmer singled to bring home Montgomery to help the Yard Goats go up 3-0 in the first frame. The Fisher Cats rallied back with three runs in the second, but Hartford regained the lead in the third and never lost it. Connor Staine got the win after giving up three runs on three hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Thomas went 4-for-5 on the night.
High-A: Everett AquaSox 3, Spokane Indians 2
GJ Hill doubled and later stole home and Cole Messina hit an RBI sacrifice grounder in the eighth inning, but it wasn’t enough for Spokane to come back on Thursday. Konner Eaton had a solid start, but gave up a three-run homer in the sixth to ruin an otherwise scoreless seven innings. He struck out nine and walked one in a losing effort.
Single-A: Fresno Grizzlies 6, Modesto Nuts 5
With the game tied 5-5 in the eighth inning, Jimmy Obertop hit an RBI double to score Robert Calaz and help the Grizzlies win on Thursday. Obertop went 3-for-4 on the night, scoring two runs and driving in two more. Six different pitchers contributed to the win for Fresno. Felix Tena added a run-scoring double and Alan Espinal drove in two runs.
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Troy Renck wrote a lovely tribute to not only Larry Walker, but Ozzy Osbourne as well. The Hall of Fame rocker passed away earlier this week, which made Renck, me and many in Rockies country think of Walker’s walk up song. Renck connected to Walker, an Ozzy and Black Sabbath fan, about why he picked why he picked “Crazy Train”: “I hope the pitchers were scared,” Walker told Renck, “that when they were messing with their rosin bag and heard Ozzy come on, they had that feeling of, ‘Oh (crap)!’”
MLB Trade Deadline Predictions 2025: Who’s Buying, Who’s Selling, Who’s Moving | Just Baseball
Ryan McMahon and Jake Bird make the list of movers. With the trade deadline hitting in six days, we’ll know if this prediction will come true or not.
Futility Tracker: Rockies in dead heat for modern loss record with ’24 White Sox | Denver Post ($)
Despite winning four out of six since the All-Star break, the Rockies are still on track to be the worst team in MLB history, and they could break some other “worsts” along the way.
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