Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I very much enjoyed the brief battle between Cubs and White Sox fans over which side could claim the allegiance of the new pope.
In today’s SI:AM:
⛰️ Rockies’ awful start
🐅 Tigers’ great start
🏈 Best CFB transfer classes
The Colorado Rockies might be the most depressing franchise in MLB.
After getting swept by the Detroit Tigers in a doubleheader on Thursday (10–2 in the first game and 11–1 in the nightcap), the Rockies are now an atrocious 6–31. That’s not just the worst record in the majors this season (four fewer wins than any other team), it’s also tied for the worst record in MLB history through a team’s first 37 games. Only the 1904 Washington Senators and ’88 Baltimore Orioles have been this terrible at this point in the season.
There are a hundred ways to illustrate just how bad the Rockies have been this season, but the most glaring is their horrendous run differential. Colorado has been outscored by its opponents by a total of 109 runs, 40 runs worse than any other team in the majors this season. Only five other teams in MLB history, and just one in the past 37 years, have had a run differential that bad in their first 37 games.
Colorado has been terrible in every facet of the game. Not surprisingly, its pitching staff has been among the worst in MLB, ranking third-worst in team ERA. That’s to be expected, given the extreme offensive environment at altitude in Denver, but the Rockies also rank near the bottom of the majors with a ballpark-adjusted ERA+ of 86, good for fifth-worst.
Throughout their history, the Rockies have usually been able to balance out their pitching struggles with a potent offense. They’ve scored the fourth most runs in the majors since their inaugural season in 1993, even though they rank 25th in wins over that period. But Colorado has been uncharacteristically anemic at the plate this season, scoring a paltry 3.11 runs per game. That’s tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the lowest in the majors. It’s also the worst in franchise history.
The Rockies averaged 4.96 runs per game in their first 31 seasons as a franchise and have never averaged fewer than 4.21 runs per game in a season. That low water mark was set last season. In fact, Colorado’s last three full seasons are three of the franchise’s four lowest-scoring seasons.
This year’s offense has been far worse by several measures. Despite playing half their games on the moon, the Rockies rank second from the bottom in team OPS (.623) and dead last in batting average (.211). They’ve hit the fifth-fewest home runs in the majors and struck out more often than anyone else. And those struggles persist even in the offense-friendly environment of Coors Field, where the Rockies have an unusually pedestrian .711 OPS. For context, Rockies opponents have a .788 OPS in Colorado this season.
The Rockies have been on a downswing for years now. The franchise has never been all that great. They’ve never won their division (although they did reach the 2007 World Series as a wild-card team), but they’d also never lost 100 games in a season until they did so in 2023 … and again in ’24. Now they’re in danger of having not just their worst season in franchise history, but perhaps even the worst season in baseball history. Last year’s Chicago White Sox, who set an MLB record for losses in a season, still got off to a better start than the Rockies, going 9–28 in their first 37 games. There’s no reason to believe that the Rockies, who rank last in the majors in both pitching and position player bWAR, won’t make a run at the White Sox’ ignominious record. If the Sox were that terrible last season, even with the new pope rooting for them, what hope is there for the Rockies?
• The Tigers have continued to roll early this season after their red-hot finish last year. Nick Selbe breaks down how Detroit has prepared for years to get back on top.
• Bryan Fischer compiled a list of the eight most compelling college football transfer classes, headlined by Texas Tech’s big additions.
• Kevin Sweeney looks at the 15 college basketball players facing the most difficult decisions on whether to stay in the NBA draft or return to school.
• Jimmy Traina spoke with John Tesh about NBC’s decision to use his iconic “Roundball Rock” theme when the network regains NBA broadcast rights next season.
• Our NFL offseason report card series rolls on with Gilberto Manzano grading the NFC West and Matt Verderame grading the AFC North.
• Draymond Green said he was “sick of” being portrayed as “an angry Black man” after his latest technical foul. He now has five techs this postseason and will be suspended if he gets two more.
• A fan in Minnesota was ejected from Game 2 after directing a racial slur at Green.
• Hornets star Brandon Miller testified Thursday that he was nearly shot in the 2023 shooting that killed a woman named Jamea Harris.
