The same guys, a completely different nightmare
German Marquez still remembers the roar at Coors Field when the Rockies made the playoffs. Kyle Freeland recalls fans going crazy as they ran around the bases. Ryan McMahon was there when everything clicked in 2017 and 2018.
Now these same players are living through baseball hell. The Rockies have won just eight games in their first 50—a modern record for futility. They lost 22 straight series before finally beating Miami this week. They’re on pace for 130 losses, which would shatter even the White Sox’s awful 121-loss season last year.
“You ask me back in 2017 or 2018, I would have said there is no chance that is happening,” Freeland said. “You realize how special those seasons are.”
They won’t quit, even when they should
Walk into Colorado’s clubhouse and you’d never guess you’re seeing the Rockies worst season in history. Guys are still cracking jokes. They still believe they can turn it around. It sounds crazy, but they mean it.
The turnaround started when they fired 67-year-old manager Bud Black and brought in 40-year-old Warren Schaeffer. The wins haven’t come, but players swear they’re competing again.
“The start of the year was tough, if we’re being honest about it,” injured reliever Austin Gomber said. “We weren’t very competitive. Since Warren has taken over we’re pretty much in every game. But it’s not going our way.”
The numbers barely budged. Their run differential improved from minus 3.2 under Black to minus 2.41 under Schaeffer. Their winning percentage went from .175 to .227. Not exactly a miracle, but these guys are desperate for any sign of hope.
Can’t hit, can’t pitch, can’t catch a break
Here’s what makes the Rockies worst season so brutal: They’re giving up the most runs in baseball while scoring the fewest. At Coors Field. The place where baseballs are supposed to fly out of the park.
For 30 years, Colorado has lived off offense at altitude. The worst they’d ever ranked in scoring was 22nd. This year? Dead last. Meanwhile, they’re bleeding runs on defense like a team that’s never played before.
The result is ugly math: 16 losses by five runs or more, plus heartbreaking defeats in close games where they’re 6-11 in one-run contests.
“Some stick with you,” McMahon said. “We have guys that care and when you care, you carry it longer. But if you keep holding on to the night before, it’s not going to help today and it’s going to be a long season. You have to flush it.”
“Flush it” might be their motto. Because with 100 games left, they need to forget about yesterday and focus on today, even when today usually ends in another loss.
Veterans keep young guys from giving up
The scary part? Colorado has young players trying to learn baseball while everything around them is falling apart. Imagine being 26 years old, trying to make it in the majors, and your team is historically awful.
That’s where guys like Freeland and McMahon step in. They’ve been through good times, so they know this isn’t normal. They’re trying to keep the kids from thinking losing is just how baseball works.
“You can’t be mailing it in right now or closing up shop,” Freeland said. “We have a lot of learning to do as a team, with a lot of young guys doing that learning. Us veterans have to keep the attitude of the team in the right spot.”
Tyler Freeman, 26, represents the next generation getting a brutal education. “We treat every day as a new day,” he said. “It’s tough to look at the record right now. But everyone is working hard.”
The vets remember when things were different. That’s what’s keeping this team from completely falling apart—guys who know what winning feels like and refuse to let the young players think this is normal.
Fans keep showing up to watch history
Here’s the craziest part: More than 26,000 people still show up to watch the Rockies worst season unfold. They know what they’re getting—historically bad baseball—but they come anyway.
General manager Bill Schmidt knows how this looks. “I’m embarrassed by what’s transpired,” he said. But he still thinks they’ll turn it around, somehow.
The players feel terrible about letting down fans who deserve better. These are people who lived through the playoff runs, who remember when Coors Field was electric. Now they’re watching their team chase the record for most losses ever.
What happens in September? If Colorado is still chasing 130 losses when the season winds down, will those 26,000 fans still show up? The players are unified on one thing: they’ve let their supporters down badly.
“A lot of things have happened since then,” pitcher Antonio Senzatela said, shaking his head about those playoff years. “We have to stick together. Hopefully we’ll get back there.”
Still dreaming of a miracle
With about 100 games left, the Rockies players insist they can still avoid the record books. Austin Gomber genuinely believes a good two-week stretch could change everything.
“We can throw that record off by just a good two-week stretch,” he said. “I’m confident that we’ll turn it around from that standpoint because just watching, I’ve seen us much more competitive every night.”
The math suggests otherwise. They’re on pace for 130 losses—nine more than Chicago’s record 121 last year. They’re 3-13 against their own division with 36 games left against those teams. The schedule isn’t getting easier.
But Freeland has the right approach, even if it sounds impossible: “If not being the worst team in baseball is our main focus, then we’re going to be the worst team in baseball. Our focus is ‘Let’s get better every day.'”
Maybe that’s all they have left. Focus on today, forget about yesterday’s loss, and hope tomorrow brings something better. Because in the Rockies worst season ever, hope might be the only thing keeping them sane.
