The Colorado Rockies dropped their 2026 pre-season hype video on Monday morning.
Take a look:
I know it’s only 30 seconds, but there’s a lot going on here (in addition to the gorgeous shots of the Colorado mountains), and it’s worthwhile to sort through what the Rockies are telling fans about the coming season.
(Look, I’m an English major who really enjoys textual analysis.)
But before going into where the Rockies are now, think back to their last attempt to brand a rebuild, “Generation R.”
Here’s how
Eddie Pells described it back in 2005: “If things go as planned this season, ‘Gen R’ as the new group of Rockies is being touted on billboards and newspaper ads around Denver will be scrappy, exciting and fun. And as most baseball fans know, ‘scrappy, exciting and fun’ is often the nice way of saying ‘not very good.’”
The advertising campaign met with some skepticism, even though the Rockies would be in the World Series two years later. But that initial resistance contributed to Dick Monfort’s unwillingness to call the last five years a rebuild.
But it’s a new day at 20th and Blake, and this front office is centering it.
The words
Here’s a transcript of Mike Casey’s narration:
Every climb has a beginning, a commitment to the hard work ahead and a belief that every step matters.
Success doesn’t happen overnight, but progress happens every day.
This is the start of our climb with our team, baseball at altitude here for the climb.
Begin by considering the central metaphor: a climb, which is a fitting image for a number of reasons.
First, it’s appropriate because this video promotes a team called “The Rockies,” which has mountains in its logo, and the mountains are a great place for a climb. Second, the outdoors is central to Colorado’s identity, and if you’ve ever taken a hike, you know it requires work, preparation, and determination. Third, a climb ties in to the mythic symbolism of a journey. This is the beginning of getting to another place — and learning some things along the way.
The words also urge fans to be patient: “Success doesn’t happen over night, but progress happens every day.” Plus, it’s a theme consistent with pretty much every interview we’ve conducted with the Rockies coaching and front office staff. All of them stress the need for players to put in the work and keep improving.
Now look at the third line: It’s our team and our journey.
In other words, the players and front office aren’t the only ones on this journey. Fans are participants, too, and part of the team. Plus, “our team” differentiates the 2026 Rockies from the ones that have gone before (and all that losing). As fans, you and I are participants in what’s next.
And then there’s the reference to “baseball at altitude,” which calls attention to the real challenge that has attracted president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta and general manager Josh Byrnes to Colorado: They want to see if they can figure out baseball at altitude.1
The narrator then returns to the central metaphor of the climb/journey.
It works.
I don’t know much about music theory, but I know someone who does: Sam Bradfield, who was a music teacher in a former life. Here’s her analysis:
The music begins with a lone guitar, but the score gains intensity as the clip moves on and more instruments are added the mix. It uses the same three notes as a repeating ostinato, but the second time the first note is used, there is added emphasis (think: 1-4-5-1). Additionally, the notes they use are “perfect” intervals (fourths and fifths in music), which just means they would stay the same whether the score was in a major or minor key — nothing will change as long as you stay the course.
The ostinato sequences up in pitch briefly in the middle, but returns to “home base” one repetition later. Additionally — and most interestingly — the final repetition builds but doesn’t resolve (1-4-5-1-4-5) before the final beat cuts it off. To me, that signifies that the journey isn’t over, it’s just starting.
And finally, the orchestration is simple: guitar, percussion, and some light strings. While this is a “climbing” metaphor, it doesn’t feature soaring horns and sweeping strings. It keeps to its western roots, while still pushing us to start “the climb.”
The best music always reinforces the theme of a text, and you see that at work here.
The images
The graphics are very Colorado-centric, and they harken back not only to the Colorado outdoors but also to the Rockies City Connect uniforms, which symbolize Colorado sunsets.
Initially, the screen shows someone reading a map (just as DePodesta et al have begun mapping out how to build a winning team in Denver). Then there are shots of trees and snow and the trail. The climber laces up their shoes and pulls on a backpack over a black Colorado Rockies jersey.
They’re getting ready.
After that, the camera intersperses clips of Rockies players: Hunter Goodman holds a bat and wears purple pinstripes; Kyle Freeland looks up at the camera; and Ezequiel Tovar strikes a pose in his City Connects.
These are the three faces of the franchise the Rockies plan to promote at the beginning of the 2026 campaign: An All-Star catcher who just won a Silver Slugger; their hometown pitcher and 2018 Cy Young finalist, a bridge between that Rockies team and this one; and their Gold Glove-winning shortstop.
Clips are also inserted of unidentified players wearing Rockies gear.
And the video closes with this:
The trail is in the background, waiting for the viewer (and the team) to take the next steps and enter the scene while the purple logo appears on the screen: BASEBALL AT ALTITUDE: HERE FOR THE CLIMB.
The Colorado Rockies logo, which, of course, includes mountains, is superimposed on CLIMB linking the two ideas together: the team and the journey. It’s not just about rebuilding; it’s about rebuilding and solving the puzzle that is baseball at elevation.
Too, it’s an invitation for fans: Come with us. This journey won’t be for everyone because it’s going to be hard work, and it’s going to take time.
But we think you — like the team the Rockies are building — are up for the task.
Well done, atRockies.
I’m in.
1 The correct term would be “elevation,” not altitude. I suspect the Rockies went with “altitude” because it’s closer to “attitude,” and it’s a common usage error.
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