I’ve spent a good deal of time this offseason pontificating about the prospects of how the Colorado Rockies can fill in a spot at first base. However, the idea of how in the world the Rockies fill in the gaps
of one of the worst starting rotations in baseball history has far eluded me. It’s hard to gauge exactly what the Rockies are looking for because while they have a handful of young, inexperienced starters who can fill out the rotation, the team has made it clear that they hope to add a couple of arms.
These arms aren’t exactly going to be the cream of the crop, however, since excellent starting pitching is hard to come by in free agency for Colorado. The front office is aware of this, and the new general manager, Josh Byrnes, gave some insight into how the Rockies could add some pitching.
“There are different tiers of free agency,” Byrnes said. “It’s kind of interesting, without naming names. But with guys on shorter deals, I think there’s some intrigue. Everyone around the game knows it’s harder to pitch in Colorado, but I think a couple of guys want to take on that challenge, and we’ve brought in a pitching group that will turn over every rock to get at it and solve this thing.”
So, what kind of additions fit the bill? Well, Byrnes also gave a little bit of insight into what they may be looking for in a type of candidate.
“We’ve played out scenarios where we would attempt to bring in two guys who can stabilize that area — who can not only pitch well but know how to give us some bulk innings, which any team needs,” Byrnes said. “That’s probably how we’re trying to map it out. There is a lot of unknown with what pops up in trades or free agency, but we need to add in that area.”
Pitching well is a subjective and elusive thing for the Rockies to hone in on. However, a pitcher capable of giving them some bulk innings is intriguing because a lack of length has been incredibly detrimental to the team. Only Kyle Freeland threw more than 150 innings among the starters in 2025 at 162 2/3 innings. Since 2019, the Rockies have had just one player throw more than 180 innings, with Germán Márquez doing it twice in 2021 and 2022. The team hasn’t had a pitcher reach 200 innings since Freeland threw 202 1/3 in 2018.
Getting starters who know how to pitch deeper into ballgames is an incredibly valuable trait for a baseball team. There is a reason a quality start is quantified by the starter managing to go at least six innings and allowing three runs or less. Typically, a pitcher working deeper into a game can often correlate with the quality of that pitcher, but not always.
In 2025, the Rockies averaged about 4 2/3 innings per start. Their 776 1/3 innings as a starting rotation were the fewest in the National League, with the Chicago White Sox rotation throwing the fewest innings in all of baseball (758 2/3). Oddly enough, the oft-injured Los Angeles Dodgers rotation had the third fewest starter innings last season with 783 1/3. The major difference, however, was that the Rockies’ rotation was not good, regardless of who they were deploying most of the time.
Sporting a 6.65 ERA, the Rockies snagged the record for the highest ERA in the modern era since the stat was first recorded, starting in 1912. So with fewer innings than most any other team, the Rockies were markedly worse in that shorter frame of work. It caused the bullpen to pick up the sixth-most innings in the league at 631. The Philadelphia Phillies, by contrast, had the most starter innings at 929 2/3 and the fewest bullpen innings with 510 2/3.
What hurt the Rockies was inefficiency on the mound. Rockies starters averaged 16.96 pitches per inning, a bit higher than the roughly 16.40 league average. As we know, the main troubles for the Rockies stemmed from stumbling out of the gate in the first inning, where pitch counts and ERAs tended to inflate.
A major challenge for the new pitching brain trust at 20th and Blake is figuring out how to get the most out of the pitchers they already have, because there is evidence of potential. Tanner Gordon’s hot stretch from August 15 to September 18 last season was aided by going at least six innings in six of those seven starts, helping the Rockies to a 5-2 record. Freeland had 16 starts in which he went six innings, with 14 being recorded as quality starts. His eight shutout innings on September 5 were by far one of the best starts in his career and were an easy highlight for last season. The Rockies won seven of those starts, but Freeland, throughout the year, even when he was going five innings and some change, gave the team a chance to win and saved the bullpen just a little bit.
Chase Dollander showed small glimpses of what he could do, but it was the laborious nature of his starts, like many of the other struggling starters, that cut his outings short. If the Rockies can improve the quality of their in-house options, the length will come.
The same will go for any outside addition. The players in the Rockies’ presumed price range aren’t exactly going to be quality starters that move the needle. The hope would be that a player akin to a Miles Mikolas could find some success in Colorado, while eating some innings and giving the team a chance to win a game. If the Rockies are going for a fourth or fifth starter type, then bulk innings is going to be the focus more than high quality. If they ventured to spend a little more on a short-term two-year deal, then perhaps they could find a way to lure Chris Bassitt to Colorado. Either way, whether through trade or free agency, the organization and coaching staff will have to be able to improve their pitchers to face the challenges ahead.
Once again, the 2026 season is going to live or die by the starting rotation. By helping their players address efficiency and pitching approach, length will be a natural byproduct. Even if a pitcher lasts 5 2/3 innings and allows four runs, that could be a noticeable improvement from years past. Having multiple pitchers toss more than 150 innings is a reasonable goal that will have beneficial ramifications moving forward.
How can Rockies jumpstart turnaround? New GM has a few ideas | MLB.com
The Byrnes quotes I cited earlier in the article stem from this excerpt by Thomas Harding. Byrnes expands a little more on the roster as a whole and some of their thinking about how to improve the roster and build around the core they seem to have.
Affected by Altitude Episode 194: New Year, New You | Rocky Mountain Rooftop
Evan Lang and I are back with the first new episode of 2026. We discuss some leftover news of the coaching staff and then talk about the Rockies’ need to start moving on some roster things. We also share some New Year’s Resolutions for the team.
We’re hiring! Be part of the Purple Row team! | Purple Row
In case you missed it yesterday, we are looking to add to the team here at Purple Row. If you’re feeling up to the challenge or know someone who has been itching to step into the world of Rockies coverage, check out this article for further details.
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