I’m tired of writing this article.
And now I’m writing it again.
I could be writing about literally anything else, like some of my favorite prospects or the pickle lemonade I had with my lunch yesterday. (It was surprisingly good!) I could be voicing my opinion and exploring the opinions of others when it comes to our divisive new City Connect uniforms. The words “Taco Bell” have come up more than once. I could be discussing how encouraged I am by Chase Dollander’s second start in a big league uniform.
Instead, I am compelled to once again address the completely broken offense of the Colorado Rockies.
The Rockies are off to a rough start in 2025. That much isn’t a surprise. At 3-12, they are tied for their worst start over 15 games in franchise history. After a strong start, their pitching rotation’s performance has fallen off a cliff. The Rockies’ starter ERA went from one of the best in baseball through their first three series to eighth-worst in the league at 4.48 after six series.
The Rockies bullpen is also about as bad as expected. At 5.92, the bullpen’s ERA is fourth-worst in the league and they have given up at least one run in 14 of 15 games played.
However, if I’m being honest I don’t think it would make a difference if the Rockies had a rotation full of Cy Young winners and a bullpen of Trevor Hoffman and Billy Wagner clones. In order to win baseball games, you need a functional offense.
The Colorado Rockies do not have that.
After years of diminishing returns, the Rockies’ offense is perhaps the worst it has ever been. The team has a league-worst -41 run differential—significantly lower than any other team in baseball—and is plagued by a failure to launch at the plate in almost every game.
The Rockies have scored three or fewer runs in 11 of their first 15 games this season and are averaging well under three runs per game. In nine road games to start the season, they have scored just 11 total runs.
Outside of two home game outliers—a 12-5 victory over the Athletics and a 7-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers—this team simply cannot score runs.
The Rockies have scored the fewest runs in baseball with 40, have the fewest RBIs at 39, and are bottom-ten in the league for hits, stolen bases, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. Meanwhile, they have the second-fewest home runs, walks, and strikeouts of any major league team.
The strikeouts are the key to the Rockies’ suffering offense. The Rockies have struck out at a high clip over the last seven full seasons—excluding the shortened 2020 campaign—while setting franchise records for strikeouts in both 2023 and 2024.
When it comes to plate discipline and pitch recognition… the Rockies don’t really have any.
Rockies Plate Discipline – 2025
| Statistic | Percentage | Rank (MLB) |
|---|---|---|
| Statistic | Percentage | Rank (MLB) |
| Zone Swing | 69.0 | 5th Highest |
| Zone Contact | 78.9 | 2nd Worst |
| Chase Swing | 31.7 | 2nd Worst |
| Chase Contact | 43.8 | Worst |
| Swing Rate | 50.0 | T-2nd Highest |
| Whiff Rate | 32.2 | Worst |
| Batted Balls | 320 | Fewest |
The Rockies are a free-swinging organization, yet they put the ball in play less than any other club. They swing at pitches in the zone and don’t make contact. They swing at pitches out of the zone and don’t make contact. You wouldn’t be surprised if you found out they didn’t do any advanced scouting or film review prior to their games because it looks like they just flail wildly at any pitch coming their way.
The offensive woes came to a head over the weekend, as the Rockies once again made ignominious franchise history. They were shut out in three straight games—for the first time ever—against the surging San Diego Padres. They had just nine hits and struck out a whopping 32 times with only three walks. The Rockies had only 12 total baserunners, six of which were by veteran second baseman Kyle Farmer.
This degree of poor offense is simply unsustainable, and there has been little in terms of accountability from the coaching staff. As we have become used to, the players are simply expected to play better.
“I mean, we’ve got to get on track with this group of players offensively,” manager Bud Black said during the Rockies’ home opener against the Athletics. “We didn’t swing the bats great this first week. We’ve got to get there, but in time, I think we will. Guys have to stop pressing a little bit, trying to hard. We’ve heard a lot in professional sports, but our guys will bounce back. They’ll relax once they get a couple hits, hit a couple balls out of the park, hear the crowd noise behind them… you’ll see that mashing hopefully come back.”
After blowing out the Athletics in the series finale, the offense once again vanished when the Brewers came to town.
“We have a number of guys not swinging the bat,” Black said as quoted by the Denver Post. “Collectively, it’s not a good thing going on right now. Hopefully, we snap out of it at some point.”
“The big hit has been eluding us, with the exception of Sunday,” Black continued in the same article. “Runners in scoring position, these first 10 games, is where the issues are. Strikeouts are part of it. To get RBIs, you have to put the ball in play.”
The Rockies aren’t putting the ball in play, and strikeouts continue to be a part of it.
The Denver Nuggets made a difficult decision as they scuffled down the stretch by firing head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth with just three games left before the end of the regular season. Malone was fired despite being just two seasons removed from bringing the Nuggets to their first-ever NBA Championship in 2023. He was also the winningest—and some would argue the best—head coach in franchise history.
The move raised eyebrows across the sports world, but something had to change if the Nuggets wanted to salvage their season and enter the playoffs with a modicum of hope.
The Rockies have 147 games left to play. While we expected another losing season as the team looked to get younger and potentially rebuild, I don’t think anyone expected things to be this dire, this early.
If you ask me how to fix this Rockies offense, I would be honest with you: I have no idea.
However, something needs to change, and this team is in desperate need of a shakeup. The time has long since passed for a significant change in coaching staff.
Either Bud Black, hitting coach Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens, or both should be dismissed. Some kind of action needs to be taken by the organization to say, “This is unacceptable.”
The question now is whether the Rockies will choose to act or settle in for their third-consecutive 100 or more-loss season.
★ ★ ★
On the Farm
Triple-A: Sugar Land Space Cowboys 7, Albuquerque Isotopes 0
The Isotopes unfortunately fell flat in the finale of what was otherwise a pretty solid series against a strong Space Cowboys (Houston Astros) team. They managed just one hit—a single and then a stolen base by catcher Braxton Fulford—in the shutout loss. Jack O’Loughlin had another rough outing as he gave up seven earned runs on six hits—including two home runs—with four walks. The bullpen did their job. Ryan Rolison inherited a bases loaded situation and escaped with minimal damage despite walking in a run. Juan Mejia, Jefry Yan, and Zach Agnos worked a combined four scoreless, hitless innings to finish out the game.
Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies 2, Hartford Yard Goats 1
Both the Yard Goats and the Rumble Ponies (New York Mets) had six hits this afternoon and both were hitless with runners in scoring position. The Rumble Ponies came out on top despite a solid performance from the Hartford pitching staff, including a quality start from Mason Albright. Catcher Bryant Betancourt and shortstop Jose Torres both had two-hit games, while the lone run—scored by Dyan Jorge—was driven in by GJ Hill.
High-A: Vancouver Canadians 7, Spokane Indians 1
Everyone in the Indians lineup—save for Aidan Longwell and Tevin Tucker—had a hit in this one, and everyone in the Indians lineup save for Cole Messina had a strikeout. The Indians just couldn’t get runs across this afternoon, going 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Messina drove in the Indians’ lone run of the day. The Indians piggybacked starters and both struggled. Konnor Eaton worked 3 1⁄3 innings and gave up five earned runs on five hits with two walks. Stu Flesland III worked an additional 4 2⁄3 innings and gave up two runs on four hits and three walks.
Low-A: Inland Empire 66ers 9, Fresno Grizzlies 3
The Grizzlies drew four walks, but also managed only two hits and struck out 13 times against the 66ers (Los Angeles Angels) pitching staff. Thankfully those two hits were with runners in scoring position, or the Grizzlies would have likely been shut out. Starting pitcher Bryan Mena worked a solid five innings, giving up just one earned run despite yielding five hits and three walks. He struck out eight batters. Unfortunately, Everett Catlett gave up six earned runs over two innings in relief that put the game out of reach for Fresno.
★ ★ ★
Rox No. 7 prospect Amador back in bigs with renewed confidence | MLB.com
Top second base prospect Adael Amador returned to the big league team due to Tyler Freeman’s oblique injury. Off to a strong start with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes, Amador is feeling much more confident.
“I showed confidence — that was the major thing that was lacking last year,” Amador said. “That’s a big part of my game, having that confidence to show my abilities out there.”
Here is each team’s best promotional giveaway in 2025 | MLB.com
Let’s be honest, we all like free stuff. Sometimes free stuff even gets us out to the ballpark when our team is struggling. Each MLB team this season has plenty of giveaways, and I’ll let MLB.com’s Thomas Harding describe the appeal of this year’s Colorado Rockies Brenton Doyle bobblehead:
“Most bobbleheads just, well, bobble. Tap their little smiling heads and watch ‘em go. (Pretty cool, actually). But this one of Doyle, given out to the first 15,000 fans on June 7, is a highlight play on your desk. This one depicts Doyle leaping and reaching over the fence to rob some bobblehead hitter of a home run.”
★ ★ ★
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