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New York Times
29-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Rockies by the numbers: 9 stats that tell the story of a historically woeful season
The Colorado Rockies lost again on Wednesday. It was their sixth straight loss, 2-1 on the road against the Chicago Cubs, and their 22nd loss since May 2. They've won only three times in that span, continuing a trajectory that has them on pace to far exceed last year's Chicago White Sox for the worst season in modern baseball history. Advertisement At 9-47, the Rockies are easily the worst team in baseball, and there's little to suggest it's a fluke. Based on their runs scored and allowed, Baseball-Reference calculates that they should be slightly better — 12 wins instead of nine — but the Rockies' league-worst run differential is twice as bad as the third-worst Athletics, and both their staff ERA (30th) and runs per game (29th) rank at or near the bottom of the league. Two months into the season, it's difficult to overstate just how awful the Rockies have been, but we've come up with nine numbers — one for each of their wins — that help tell the story of a historically bad team. The Rockies left spring training with some sense of optimism. Their clubhouse was loose and hopeful on Opening Day, and a narrow walk-off loss in the season opener was followed immediately by a good one-run win in Game 2. But those were the only two games in which the Rockies have used their preferred lineup. Brenton Doyle, Ezequiel Tovar, Ryan McMahon and Kris Bryant were the top four hitters on Opening Day, and those four have not played together in that order since April 8. Bryant and Tovar have missed considerable time due to injury, Jordan Beck has supplanted Doyle in the leadoff spot, and McMahon — despite below-average offensive numbers — has become the go-to cleanup hitter. Beck, Tovar and catcher/DH Hunter Goodman are the regular top three hitters these days. They're also the only Rockies hitters with an above-average OPS+. According to FanGraphs, four individual Rockies position players have a positive WAR this season, but the team as a whole has generated a positive WAR at only two positions: third base and left field. Third base has been driven by Rockies mainstay McMahon, who's been a below-average hitter (81 wRC+) but a strong defender. Left field is the product of Beck's second-year breakout (from a minus-1.0 fWAR last year to 0.9 this year). Otherwise, the Rockies are awash in performances that could, in theory, be replicated or even improved by calling up someone from Triple-A. (Though, the fact Tovar is healthy again should push shortstop into positive WAR territory in the relatively near future.) This is a low number by any standard — only the Pirates have scored fewer runs than the Rockies this season — but it's shockingly low for a team that plays half its games at notoriously hitter-friendly Coors Field. In their 33-year history, the Rockies have never scored fewer than 4.21 runs per game, and even that low-water mark is relatively new (set last season). Before 2023, the Rockies had only once averaged fewer than 4.54 runs per game, and in more than half of their seasons, the Rockies have averaged at least 4.8. In their first three decades (from 1993 to 2022), the Rockies scored the most runs in the National League (only the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox scored more in all of baseball), but in the past three seasons, only four teams have scored fewer runs than the Rockies. Advertisement The Rockies have two games remaining in the month of May. They're tough matchups — Friday and Saturday on the road against the New York Mets — but they represent two chances to push their season win total into double digits while accumulating five wins in May. So far, they've won only four in May after winning just four in April. The Rockies became only the third team since 2000 to win fewer than five games in April, and they're so far the only team in the 2000s to win only four games in May. Last year's White Sox set a modern record for losses in a season, but even they managed to win 15 games by the end of May and had at least six wins in four of six months. The Rockies are on pace to be substantially worse. The Rockies are largely homegrown. Their current 26-man roster includes 15 homegrown players — the most in baseball — and only five who came to the team via free agency (it was four before Wednesday's addition of Orlando Arcia, who was signed after being released by the Atlanta Braves earlier this month). It's not the fewest free agents in baseball — and two others, Bryant and reliever Scott Alexander, played for the Rockies earlier this season — but it's near the bottom of the league. The Rockies have been nearly as reliant on their own first-round draft picks (six) as all of free agency to come up with the 41 players they've used this season. They've built from within. They just haven't built enough to win. The Rockies have used eight starting pitchers this season. Six of them — including the four with the most innings on the team — have ERAs higher than 6.00. Kyle Freeland, Anthony Senzatela, and Germán Márquez have been on the Rockies for nearly a decade. All three made their Rockies debuts in either 2016 or 2017, and all three remain in the rotation all these years later. Freeland finished fourth in Cy Young Award voting in 2018, and Márquez was an All-Star in 2021, but the trio are now in the bottom 12 in ERA among the 125 pitchers who have thrown at least 40 innings this season. Touted rookie Chase Dollander was showing signs of turning his season around (4.66 ERA in his last four starts; 2.53 in just the last two) before landing on the IL on May 22 with right forearm inflammation. It's all relative, of course, but the bullpen has been kind of a strength for the Rockies. Almost all of their wins have been close enough to record a save, and four different relievers have at least one (including rookie Zach Agnos, who was called up in late April and has a 1.20 ERA as the primary closer). Setup man Jake Bird has pitched well, hard-throwing Seth Halvorsen has been solid outside of two brutal outings, and Victor Vodnik, coming off a decent rookie season, returned from the IL this week to further fortify the bullpen. The Rockies rank 20th in bullpen ERA, which isn't necessarily good, but on this team, that's considered a bright spot. The shocking thing is not so much that the Rockies have lost eight games in a row — the Athletics lost 11 straight at one point — but that the Rockies have lost eight in a row, three times! They opened the season 3-9, which was bad, but basically on pace to match last year's White Sox or the 1962 Mets. Historically awful, but not unprecedented. Then, from April 11 to the first game of an April 20 doubleheader, the Rockies lost eight straight. They won the second game of the doubleheader, followed by another eight-game losing streak through April 29 (meaning, the Rockies took a loss every game day for two and a half weeks). They finally won two in a row April 30 and May 1, then they lost eight in a row again! Advertisement The Rockies have played 18 series. They've lost all of them and been swept in half of them (including, most recently, a three-game sweep by the Cubs that ended on Wednesday). The Phillies swept the Rockies twice, seven games in all. The first-place Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers have swept the Rockies, but so have the underperforming Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds. The Rockies have yet to beat any team more than once. Their only back-to-back wins came in separate series and even separate months (against the Braves on April 30, then the San Francisco Giants on May 1). They've lost by five or more runs 15 times, and even when scoring seven or more runs, they have only a .500 record (4-4). Their most lopsided win (a 12-5 thrashing of the A's on April 6) was followed two days later by a 17-2 blowout loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, which was dwarfed a month later by a 21-0 humiliation at the hands of the San Diego Padres. (Top photo of CF Brenton Doyle after his team gave up a go-ahead home run: Justin Edmonds / Getty Images)
Chicago Tribune
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Has the Wrigley Field video board enhanced the ballpark experience for Chicago Cubs fans?
Scoreboard watching at Wrigley Field in late May is not at all practical with two-thirds of the season remaining, despite growing optimism in the Chicago Cubs. But now more than ever, Cubs fans seem to be video board watching, giving their undivided attention to the left field video board erected 10 years ago during the Project 1060 renovation. The video-free era ended at a perfect time for the Cubs' rebuild, which began to turn the corner in May 2015 thanks to the arrivals of free agent starter Jon Lester, the promotion of rookie Kris Bryant, the emergence of Jake Arrieta and the 'Try Not to Suck' mantra of new manager Joe Maddon. Now the video board has become an integral part of Wrigley, like the bleachers, the ivy and its older, technologically averse relative, the 88-year-old center field scoreboard built by Bill Veeck. It's hard for some to remember what Wrigley Field was like before the major cultural change of 10 years ago. Looking up between innings is now a force of habit. The Wendella boat race ad, a virtual copy of the Donut Race at the United Center, drew a huge roar from the crowd of 40,171 on hand for the Memorial Day game against the Colorado Rockies. Many fans stopped and watched Pete Crow-Armstrong's 'diamond moment' ad in which the Cubs center fielder reminisced about his first game at Wrigley as a 13-year-old, when he looked in admiration at the old scoreboard. A sighting of actor Jason Bateman in the stands drew applause, and even the hokey Cubs' cap dance, where fans guess which rotating cap the ball is under, got a nice response. Has the video board enhanced the Wrigley Field experience? Were the traditionalists wrong all along? Remember, the Cubs rejected the idea of adding a video board for decades as a nod to the ballpark's storied history. As every season went by and new stadiums emerged, Wrigley's aura became more pronounced, even as the occupants never won. The first serious conversations about change came in 2008 after real estate mogul Sam Zell took over the team, which was part of Tribune Co., and looked into the possibility of adding video. 'We are not going to touch the existing scoreboard,' Cubs business operations president Crane Kenney declared at the time. 'Somewhere else in the ballpark? That's an idea people talk about, but it would have to fit … People are jumping off bridges over worries about Wrigley Field. I'd like to think we'd get a little bit of credit, and I know Sam is a new owner, but give him a little bit of credit. We haven't done anything not in keeping with the character of the park.' But Zell was a short-timer who didn't even like baseball. The Ricketts family agreed to buy the Cubs in 2009, and the idea resurfaced at the 2010 Cubs Convention, where fans were asked at a seminar if they wanted a video board. About half raised their hands. It was still controversial at the time, but an informal Tribune poll of Cubs players that spring in Mesa, Ariz., found that the vast majority were in favor of a video board. The most passionate objector was infielder Ryan Theriot, who feared it would ruin the ambience of the ballpark. 'If you're going to do that, you might as well change the whole park and modernize everything,' Theriot said. 'The way it is now is the way it's been for years, and the way it's meant to be, so you might as well leave it the way it is. I know things change and times change, but from a historical standpoint, that Wrigley vibe, that feel … a Jumbotron would change everything.' The Cubs would eventually do just that and modernize Wrigley, including adding the video board. They've had many critical successes like Gallagher Way, and added patio sections for mingling, bigger bathrooms and improved lighting. The many exclusive clubs built at Wrigley have been a financial success, though most casual fans can't get into one. The neighborhood has also changed immensely, with expensive dining options and dive bars co-existing within walking distance. But the video board is the one renovation everyone in the ballpark experiences. Whether it has 'changed everything,' as Theriot feared, is in the eyes and ears of the beholder. In essence, it's not all that different from other video boards around the sports world with its interactive ads and infomercials touting the team and its history, along with the replays, highlights and stats. Fans can now see the replays of video challenges instead of looking at their phones, as they did in the early 2010s. One of the more popular staples has been the 'Legends of the Game' video, with the orchestra music swelling over highlights of a former Cubs star, who sometimes is at the game and receives a standing ovation afterward. It'd be nice to see a few different legends other than the ones in the current rotation, but that's a minor quibble. The main reason the Cubs wanted a video board, of course, was to make money. They promised it would be tasteful with no airing of TV commercials. Former senior marketing director Alison Miller said in 2015: 'You're never going to see a 30-second auto commercial. That's us not doing our job if we just resort to showing commercials.' Instead, the video board features advertising vignettes between innings with players like Crow-Armstrong trying to locate Cincinnati on a map for an airline sponsor, or 'Guess which pitch Colin Rea is throwing?' for a paint manufacturer, or 'Pick the Song of the Game' for a Japanese candy company. The Cubs, fortunately, have not resorted to using emcees or DJs on the video boards and have not featured an animal like the Los Angeles Angels' 'Rally Monkey' screaming at fans. More importantly, they have eschewed two particularly annoying video board tropes aimed at getting fans' attention — kissing fans and 'make some noise' graphics. 'We believe there is a way to entertain fans and keep them engaged without going the way of Kiss Cam or noise meter,' a spokesperson said in 2014. The spokesperson said Chairman Tom Ricketts personally banned the so-called 'Kiss Cam' and graphics exhorting fans when to cheer or get louder. Ricketts has kept that vow. It's a little more high-brow video board presentation than what you might experience in some ballparks, much like the Fenway Park video board in Boston. Red Sox fans consider themselves above such diversions, and ditto Cubs fans. Fears that the Wrigley video board would overwhelm the senses and make the center field scoreboard seem obsolete have mostly been allayed over the last decade. It's not perfect, but it does its job without stealing attention from the game. The Cubs even repainted the old scoreboard over the winter and it looks as good as new. And many fans still pose with the old scoreboard in the background of their Instagram photos because it represents old Wrigley, even as they prefer having a real video board to watch. There's room for both the old and the new at Wrigley, as long as it's done right.
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
'Where did it start?': A Tigers coach inspires players by charting their baseball beginnings
Anthony Iapoce loves to read biographies, at least for a while. 'After the beginning or middle of the book, I'm good because I already know the rest of the story,' said Iapoce, the first-base coach for the Detroit Tigers. 'I want to know where did it start and how did they get there?' Iapoce, a former minor-league outfielder, has spent two decades coaching, including stints in the majors with the Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and Tigers. Players, he finds, can always pinpoint the start: the precise location where they fell in love with baseball. Advertisement All you need to do is ask — with help from Google Earth — and the stories flow. Players develop a better sense of self and teams grow closer. 'We all felt like the history of the player was a really important piece of it,' said Derek Johnson, the Cincinnati Reds pitching coach and a former colleague with the Cubs. 'You know what he does on a baseball field. But how did he get there? You try to get to know them as people, understand who taught them baseball, who was important to them in their life, what were their experiences that led them to this place? It's an attempt to figure out who this guy is — and to get the player to identify who he was as well.' Iapoce joined the Cubs' organization in 2013, the year they drafted Kris Bryant second overall to be a pillar of their reconstruction. Bryant was an instant success: a Rookie of the Year, a Most Valuable Player, a World Series champion, a four-time All-Star, all by age 29. Now 33, Bryant is on the 60-day injured list with a lumbar degenerative disc disease, meaning that the spinal discs in his lower back are deteriorating. His team, the Colorado Rockies, is the worst in the majors. His contract — he is approaching the halfway point of a seven-year, $182 million deal — is an albatross. His path to Cooperstown is now all nails and glass. Fans, owners and historians could view Bryant with frustration, resignation or disappointment. But only Bryant himself can appreciate the full arc of his story, and how it felt at the very beginning, the way Iapoce, one of his favorite coaches, always told him to do. 'At times it's really hard, because I've built up a career and a lot of successes, but a lot of failures, too,' Bryant said back in March, at spring training in Scottsdale, Ariz. 'You kind of have to think back to when you were a kid playing in the cul-de-sac. If you told yourself you're gonna be in this position — 10 years in the big leagues, tons of awards, a lot of good times — it's gonna be OK. Your struggles, your injuries, your expectations, your failures, all that's part of the journey, and it's all worth it in the end.' Advertisement Bryant continued. He would begin the season on the active roster, but the trend lines were already pointing to his start: 6-for-39 (.154) before going on the injured list. The days of launching Wiffle balls with his buddies in the cul-de-sac in Las Vegas — with the big tree in right field, a water meter, drainage cover and power box for bases — that's what Bryant tries to remember. 'Back then, there wasn't a care in the world,' he said. 'You're playing baseball with your friends, you get orange slices and Capri Sun after the game. It brings back that carefree feeling, like, 'Man, this is a pretty cool game we get to do.' It kind of helps shift the (mindset) from 'I'm such a loser, I'm the worst player in the world' to, like, 5 percent better. 'Because we all have those thoughts. And it's good to be thankful and laugh at yourself a little bit and realize, 'Yeah, I suck right now. And I am a little bit of a loser. But, hey, it's OK, because if you told me I was gonna be in this position 25 years ago when I was hitting balls in the street, I'll take that.'' It won't fix a degenerative spinal condition. But 5 percent better can be powerful. That's how Iapoce sees it, and that's what he tries to convey to the players he coaches. A generation ago, teams hired coaches based partly, if not largely, on their playing background. The essential skill has shifted from what you did to what you can do. Can you make players better? If you can't earn their trust, you will fail. 'The only way you can reach into a player's heart to capture his mind is to know where he stands,' said Arizona Diamondbacks bench coach Jeff Banister, who managed the Rangers when Iapoce was their hitting coach from 2016-18. 'We don't always know the pathway they've been on. But if we can trace it back, they become vulnerable and allow you the trust that's necessary to connect.' Advertisement Banister played one game in the major leagues. Iapoce played none. A 33rd-round draft pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1994, he spent nine seasons in the minors, stalling out in Triple A, where he hit .210. His struggles at that level drove him from the game in 2001. He was tired of fighting with himself, searching for the right swing, wondering what it was all for if he wasn't ever going to find it. After a year giving lessons, Iapoce played four more seasons, two for an independent team, shifting his attitude. He'd seen the other side — life as a non-player — and realized he could be OK. Several years into his coaching career, when Iapoce was coordinating the Cubs' minor-league hitting program, the Queens native took an offseason run through his old neighborhood in Astoria. He stopped at 42nd Street and 25th Avenue and drifted back in time to all-day stickball games: parked cars for first and third base, a marker in the middle of the asphalt for second. The trees were in play, the buildings were foul. Smash the tennis ball past the light pole, and you could trot around the bases to the manhole cover where you started. 'That was home plate,' Iapoce said. 'Bam! You touched that, you were free.' Iapoce snapped a photo that day and keeps it with him at all times. He tucks it in the journal he takes to the ballpark, folded with notes from his wife and a poem from his daughter. It is also on his phone, the device with all the answers. Players know that all of their moves are measured, every hitch and twitch a data point they can study whenever they want. They can readily access a theory for every flaw, and ever-expanding coaching staffs are always poised to help. It's progress, and Iapoce doesn't wish it away. Analytics are here to stay. 'He can go as deep as you want on the coach's side,' said Tim Cousins, the Baltimore Orioles' field coordinator, who worked with Iapoce in Chicago. 'He can go toe-to-toe with anybody who's current with hitting, but he chooses not to. He pulls back and lets it breathe and finds the right windows.' Advertisement For Iapoce, those windows open up to each player's past. In hitters' meetings with the Rangers and Cubs, he would ask players to go to Google Earth and find the precise spot where they first embraced the game. Once a week, before the daily hitters' meeting, the player would make a presentation for his teammates, detailing their childhood field of dreams. 'Sometimes you were shocked, sometimes it fit the person, but it was always really cool to hear their thought process, see their imaginations get going,' said Kyle Schwarber, now with the Philadelphia Phillies. 'Some people had to get really creative.' Schwarber's spot was his backyard in Middletown, Ohio, somewhere between the two ballparks he pretended to be playing. The above-ground pool in right field? That was McCovey Cove in San Francisco. The short wall in the left field corner was the Pesky Pole. The siding of the house was another Boston landmark, the Green Monster. In 2016, Schwarber helped the Cubs win a long-awaited championship. He and his teammates were the toast of the sport the next season, when Ian Happ joined the team. Happ looked up to them and could have been intimidated. Sharing his background, showing the field in the Pittsburgh suburb where he'd take bad hops off his nose trying to make plays like Omar Vizquel, put Happ at ease. Origin stories, he found, are the great leveler. In baseball, they document the moment you fell in love with a sport designed not to love you back. 'Every day you're going to go to work ready to fail,' Happ said. 'You have to be pretty committed to be willing to make that a lifestyle choice, where you're going to give yourself failure on a daily basis and be happy with it. The longevity of the season, the everyday-ness, the constant failure — if you don't love it, it's going to really eat you alive.' When Iapoce joined the Tigers' organization in 2023, as manager at Triple-A Toledo, he would meet players in his office for their where-did-it-start talks. At some point later, maybe while the team was stretching — a captive audience — he would call on the player and ask aloud about a background detail. Advertisement Conversations and connections would spread from there, even among younger players who started early on the showcase circuit, the antithesis of stickball in the street with your buddies. 'I started probably super young, age 10, playing on an 11-U team,' said Justyn-Henry Malloy, 25, a Tigers outfielder who played for Iapoce in Toledo. 'Things obviously got hectic there, but even with the team that I was on, we still were able to have those fun games and play wall ball. But nothing was as genuine and pure as the backyard, because there was zero structure. There were no rules. It was just legit having fun.' There's so much at stake in the majors, so many barriers to fun. When you care a lot, how can you be carefree? Iapoce said that a struggling hitter always wants to go back — to what he did in Triple A, to a hot stretch in the majors, to some point when he was great. Invariably, he said, they are not far off in their mechanics. But the way they feel about themselves, that expectation of dominance, is gone. Work ethic is rarely the problem, or the solution. 'It's hard for players to not self-sabotage, because you worked so hard to get there, you outworked everybody,' Iapoce said. 'So when you struggle, you want to fix everything and overwork and it becomes a snowball. Maybe take them to that place mentally and then let's add the stuff we need to work on.' Every major leaguer is absurdly talented, a feeling that crystallizes for those whose climb stopped one rung short. Iapoce likes to remind players of their number, the one on Baseball Reference that signifies their entry into the MLB brotherhood: Bryant was the 20,829th big leaguer, for example, and Malloy was No. 23,218. The best coaches help maximize what players do after they earn their number. One simple fact would make their younger selves overjoyed, and the perspective that comes from it could go a long way. 'It's like, 'You made it, man,'' Iapoce said. 'Let's keep going forward, keep working on things, but don't lose your strengths. Don't lose your 'where did it start?'' (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Junfu Han / USA Today Network)
Associated Press
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Rockies host the Phillies to open 4-game series
Philadelphia Phillies (28-18, second in the NL East) vs. Colorado Rockies (8-38, fifth in the NL West) Denver; Monday, 8:40 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Phillies: Cristopher Sanchez (4-1, 2.91 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 52 strikeouts); Rockies: Kyle Freeland (0-6, 6.15 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 35 strikeouts) BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Phillies -275, Rockies +223; over/under is 10 runs BOTTOM LINE: The Colorado Rockies host the Philadelphia Phillies to start a four-game series. Colorado has a 5-16 record at home and an 8-38 record overall. The Rockies are 5-14 in games when they record eight or more hits. Philadelphia has a 28-18 record overall and an 11-10 record in road games. Phillies hitters have a collective .335 on-base percentage, the fourth-best percentage in the majors. The teams square off Monday for the fourth time this season. TOP PERFORMERS: Jordan Beck ranks second on the Rockies with 17 extra base hits (five doubles, four triples and eight home runs). Hunter Goodman is 17 for 43 with six doubles, a triple, two home runs and 11 RBIs over the last 10 games. Kyle Schwarber has four doubles, a triple and 15 home runs while hitting .257 for the Phillies. Bryson Stott is 9 for 39 with a double and two home runs over the last 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Rockies: 2-8, .242 batting average, 7.31 ERA, outscored by 45 runs Phillies: 7-3, .248 batting average, 3.50 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs INJURIES: Rockies: Kris Bryant: 60-Day IL (lumbar), Ryan Feltner: 15-Day IL (back), Thairo Estrada: 60-Day IL (wrist), Victor Vodnik: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Austin Gomber: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jeff Criswell: 60-Day IL (elbow) Phillies: Aaron Nola: 15-Day IL (ankle) ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Time of India
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Colorado Rockies' nightmare season continues with record-setting losses since 1950
Colorado Rockies' nightmare season continues with record-setting losses since 1950 (Image Source: Getty) The Colorado Rockies are in a vicious season, suffering losses not experienced in Major League Baseball in more than 70 years. Their steady defeats have astonished fans and professionals, representing one of the worst periods in the team's history. With the losses continuing to mount, everyone wonders what will happen to the Rockies next. Rockies crushed by Padres in historic blowout loss The Rockies had a massive defeat against the San Diego Padres , one of their worst games this season. Operation Sindoor Amid flare-up hours after thaw, officials say things will settle down with time Ceasefire on, but pressure stays: Key decisions by India against Pak that still stand 'Will work with India & Pakistan to seek solution on Kashmir': Trump They were poor on offense and defense, failing to match the Padres' strong play. Fans at Coors Field watched in disappointment as the score showed a gap too wide to close. This massive loss returned memories of rare, one-sided games from decades ago. This wasn't just a bad game; it showed deeper issues for the Rockies. They're competing hard, with people questioning their strategy and player choices. Even with efforts to get better, they keep hitting walls. The Rockies face pressure to solve these problems and give fans hope as the season progresses. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Invest $200 in Amazon without buying stocks to earn a second salary Marketsall Sign Up Undo Injuries and roster issues make the season harder for the Rockies The Rockies' problems go beyond losing games. Injuries and roster troubles add to their struggles as well. Key player Kris Bryant is sidelined with back pain, leaving a big hole in the team's lineup. His absence means younger, less experienced players must step up, but they struggle in big games. The Rockies' minor-league system isn't helping much either, with few strong players ready to join the main team. This lack of talent makes it challenging to compete in crucial moments for the Rockies. The team's leaders now face the challenge of rebuilding a stronger roster while dealing with these setbacks. This season has been rough for each of the players, with every game highlighting new challenges. The Rockies' record-setting losses have sparked talks and debates among the fans about where the team is headed. Their supporters question whether the Rockies can turn it around or if things will keep getting tougher. Also Read: Chase Dollander all set to make his MLB debut with Colorado Rockies
