The novelty of a new season and a new front office has long since worn off. The most consequential opportunities for the team to build its future roster have come and gone with the draft and trade deadline. Barring a miraculous run over the next six weeks, the Rockies are in the final third of another losing season.
Now is the time of year when it would be very easy to let the duldrums of watching a losing team set in.
This is a pattern I have found myself falling into at the end of recent seasons.
A couple weeks into the offseason, however, I always find myself wishing there was more baseball to watch after the loss of the daily routine starts to settle in.
To avoid having regrets in January, here are some rest-of-season Rockies storylines to make us anticipate first pitch every night while the season winds down.
Breaking the streak
The Rockies first winning season since 2018 is clearly out of reach, but that’s not the only wins benchmark that is relevant to this franchise. The more immediate specter looming over the Rockies is the active streak of three 100+ loss seasons.
Avoiding continuing that streak won’t change anything about the organization or its direction, but it would mean quite a bit narratively. It would be a tangible sign of progress under the new leadership, a signal that the least-successful era of Rockies baseball is, mercifully, starting to end and that “The Climb” the club’s pre-season marketing kept mentioning was well and truly underway.
If the team is able to avoid it, they can go into the offseason having put that reputation of organizational malaise to bed. They would be able to move forward like a normal rebuilding club instead of simply being the laughingstock of the league.
At start of play Thursday, the Rockies are 48-73. To avoid triple digit losses, they would need to win at least 15 of their final 41 games. That’s just barely below their .397 winning percentage so far this season. This is all to say, it’s a tossup as to whether this team is going to be able to break its ignominious streak.
Every remaining game matters.
Chasing a National League record
One of the brightest spots all season has been Hunter Goodman continuing to cement himself as the best hitting catcher in Rockies history. Goodman has already set the Rockies record for home runs by a catcher when he passed the mark of 31 that he himself set last year. As the season winds down, Goodman is chasing numbers that would be notable regardless of the franchise he happened to play for.
Just last year, Seattle Mariners’ catcher Cal Raleigh set the Major League record for home runs hit by a catcher in a single season. That high mark of 60 is likely out of reach for Goodman, who entered Thursday with 34 homers on the season, but the National League record is much more plausible for him to reach.
In 1970, Johnny Bench hit 45 home runs for the Cincinnati Reds while playing the majority of his games behind the plate. That remained the Major League record until Salvador Perez hit 48 in 2021, but it still remains the NL record. Not only is 45 within reach for Goodman, he’s actually currently on pace to best it with 46.
Considering that Goodman has already had six multi-homer games this season, even if he falls off his current home run pace, it will be hard to write off his chances until the final week or two of the year. Simply put, it will be worth watching every Goodman plate appearance for the remainder of the year as he hunts down a national league record set by a hall of famer half a century ago.
The future roster taking shape
While the team as a whole has still performed poorly this season (as evidenced by their quest to avoid 100 losses coming down to the wire) there have been some bright spots. The trio of TJ Rumfield, Kyle Karros, and Cole Carrigg have been making their case to be a part of the next good Rockies team all year. For each of them that case, so far, has been a compelling one.
Both Rumfield and Carrigg have pushed their way into the NL Rookie of the Year conversation behind the presumed frontrunner JJ Wetherholt of the St. Louis Cardinals. The way the two have entered those conversations, however, is very different. Rumfield has done so by being a picture of steadiness from Opening Day forward, whereas Carrigg has burst onto the scene with an explosive first two months since being called up in June.
The only reason Karros, who has the same fWAR as Rumfield, is not also in the Rookie of the Year conversation is that the 52 days of major league service time he earned last year just scraped over the 45 day limit for Rookie eligibility. Karros got off to a slow start in April and May, but made some adjustments and has gone on to have a scorching hot June and July.
What’s more, recent first-round draft picks Zac Veen and Gabriel Hughes have both leveraged strong bounce-back seasons at Triple-A Albuquerque into midseason call ups.
Hughes has struggled in his past two starts, but the 10th pick in the 2022 draft has shown an ability to induce soft contact with his new sweeper and not allow a rough inning to unravel an outing. Veen, in his second stint with the big league squad, should be appointment viewing as he attempts to establish himself as a big leaguer after having reinvented himself over the offseason.
There are simply many more players on this squad that could plausibly be a part of the next winning Rockies team than there have been at any other point for the past three seasons. Taking the time to watch as they try to cement themselves as foundational pieces for this franchise will make seeing them eventually trying to propel the Rox to the playoffs again all the more sweet.
Conclusions
Given that we may be in for a longer-than-usual offseason due to the impending CBA negotiations, it’s worth savoring the baseball we have right here and now.
Look, I get it. It’s been another long season. The Rockies still lose most days, and that begins to wear down the enthusiasm of even the most-ardent supporters.
Unlike recent years around this time, though, there are many things that are genuinely exciting to be watching on this team. Whether you are more motivated by the organization trying to avoid extending it’s run of extreme losses, a Rockie chasing an individual record, or players trying to establish themselves as building blocks this team has something for you.
We’re past all the milestones in the season about franchise direction decision making. There’s far less to second guess the front office about. It’s time to just sit back and enjoy some baseball while it’s still here.
On the Farm
Triple-A: Oklahoma City Comets 6, Albuquerque Isotopes 0
The Comets Emmet Sheehan — who made six appearances for the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 2025 Postseason — tossed 5.2 shutout frames while the Isotopes went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base in a 6-0 loss. The loss snaps Albuquerque’s three-game win streak and the club’s seven-game road win streak, which was tied for the second-longest road winning streak in franchise history.
For the sixth time in 2026 and third on the road, the Isotopes were shutout (last: July 10 at Sugar Land, 10-0). The six shutouts are the most in a season since also being blanked six times in 2021.
The Isotopes went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, the 16th time this season the team has been held hitless with runners in scoring position. Over the club’s last eight games, they are 19-for-96 (.197). In addition, the Isotopes struck out 10 times, just the second contest in the club’s last 20 games tallying double-digit strikeouts.
Nic Kent went 1-for-4 with a double, his second-straight game with a double and third in his last four contests. Over his last nine games, is 12-for-30 with four doubles, one triple, two homers, 10 RBI and three multi-hit games. Meanwhile, Parker Coddou made his Triple-A debut and went 1-for-4 with a single to left. It was just the 16th game of his professional career and first contest above the ACL.
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 4, Erie SeaWolves 3
If you thought yesterday’s Rockies game was stressful, the Hartford Yard Goats sure gave them a run for their money! The Goats jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third inning against the SeaWolves (Tigers) and scored again in the sixth and seventh to go up 3-0.
GJ Hill singled to start off the third inning, and then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Two batters later, Dyan Jorge singled to score Hill. In the sixth, Jorge led off the inning with a walk and then was scored when Andy Perez smacked a triple to right center. And in the seventh, Jorge doubled with two outs and was scored once again by Perez.
But the wheels fell off in the later innings, as the Wolves scored one in the eighth and two in the ninth to tie it up. In the eighth, Peyton Graham smacked a homer to left center to lead off the inning. But then the next three Wolves struck out swinging, so the damage wasn’t all bad. But in the ninth, E.J. Exposito singled with one out and then Luke Shliger homered to tie the game.
But luckily for the Goats, they got back-to-back hits — a double by Hill and a single from Jared Thomas — to walk things off and escape unscathed. It was a shame, though, because starter Konner Eaton pitched five solid innings of shutout baseball with just two hits, two walks and six strikeouts. Carlos Torres was credited with a hold after only giving up one run — the homer to Graham — over three innings with one walk and six strikeouts of his own. Fidel Ulloa was credited with both the blown save and the win, as he allowed the two runs in his inning of work.
On the offensive side, Jorge went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored, one RBI, one walk and a stolen base. Perez went 3-for-4 with a triple, two RBI, one strikeout and a stolen base. Braylen Wimmer went 1-for-3 with a double and a stolen base, and Hill went 2-for-4 with a double two runs scored, a strikeout and a stolen base.
High-A: Everett AquaSox 6, Spokane Indians 5
All six of the AquaSox’ runs were allowed by Indians starter Yujanyer Herrera who, despite the damage, managed to gut it out through five innings. Taking over for Herrera in the sixth inning was Justin Loer who would go on to throw two scoreless before Seth Clausen took over and threw a scoreless inning of his own.
At the plate the standouts included a three hit/two steal night for Roldy Brito and a home run from Tanner Thach. The most exciting offensive display, however, came from Wilder Dalis. In his second game since being promoted from Low-A Fresno, Dalis achieved both his first home run and stolen base at High-A.
Spokane collected more hits (eleven), walks (six), and steals (five) than Everett and yet were outscored 6-5 in the end.
It wasn’t a matter of not hitting the ball as hard, both teams hit two homers. It wasn’t just that AquaSox pitching was able to miss more bats as both teams struck out sox times. It wasn’t even poor fielding as neither team was charged with an error.
In the end, the difference was purely sequencing. Despite all the opportunities Spokane managed they rarely found the ability to drive in runners. They ended the game 3-13 with runners in scoring position while trailing by only a single run.
This loss dropped Spokane to a 50-59 record on the season.
Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies 5, San Jose Giants 4
The Fresno Grizzlies held off a late Giants rally to win 5-4 on Wednesday afternoon, taking the first two games of the series
Bryson Van Sickle stayed unbeaten on the mound, working five innings and improving to 5-0 on the season despite some traffic on the bases. He struck out seven and walked four, allowing just one run before turning things over to the bullpen.
The Grizzlies offense continued its momentum with clutch, two-out hitting to build its lead. Fresno scratched out the game’s first run in the fourth. Carlos Renzullo singled and worked his way to third on a pair of groundouts, and Ronny Ugarte’s two-out single brought him home to make it 1-0.
San Jose tied it right back in the bottom of the fourth on Tanner Mally’s leadoff triple, which scored on a Van Sickle wild pitch two batters later.
The Grizzlies took control in the fifth. Sebastian Blanco singled, and Ashly Andujar tripled him home before Renzullo doubled in Andujar, putting Fresno up 3-1. Fresno tacked on two more in the sixth against reliever Chen-Hsun Lee.
Ugarte and Juan Martinez both walked, and a throwing error on a sacrifice-bunt attempt by Jack Natili let Ugarte score. A wild pitch later in the inning brought home Martinez as well, pushing the lead to 5-1.
The Giants chipped away from there. San Jose scored twice in the seventh on a Dario Reynoso single and a Jeremiah Jenkins double, then added another run in the eighth on an Andy Polanco double and an Angel Guzman single to cut the deficit to 5-4 and put the tying run in scoring position.
Yanzel Correa came on to close it out and did just that, working the final two innings for his first save of the season and stranding the Giants’ last threat in the eighth before setting them down in order in the ninth.
Renzullo led the Fresno offense, going 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI, while Natili added two hits of his own in a reserve role behind the plate.
Andujar’s triple and Ugarte’s RBI single were key blows in the middle innings that kept the Grizzlies ahead for good.
Fresno improved to 61-49 overall and in first place in the 2nd half at 25-19.
Karros enters concussion protocol after collision with Tovar | MLB.com
In case you missed Tuesday night’s game, Steve Stockmar provides a rundown of the collision that forced Karros to leave the game. After the game Warren Schaeffer announced that Karros was under concussion protocol and on Wednesday Karros was placed on the 7-day concussion injured list.
Greg Penner, In his first time speaking to reporters since purchasing a 40% stake in the Rockies in April, briefly touches on his own future with the organization and his relationship with Rockies majority owner Dick Monfort. There’s not much Rockies related here, most of his time was spent addressing Bronco’s related questions, but when asked about the possibility of eventually becoming majority owner his answer was less than absolute: “Right now we’re just focused on being supportive minority partners”.
The Data-Driven Rockies Lineup: Optimizing Lineups vs. Righties and Lefties | Blake Street Banter
If you are someone that often finds yourself annoyed at lineup choices this piece over at Blake Street Banter is for you. Shawn Trewartha runs the numbers and dissects the mathematically optimal Rockies lineup to either vindicate or befuddle your own thoughts about lineup construction.
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