Did the Rockies Improve More Than Their Record Suggests?
The Rockies' win-loss record in 2024 wasn't pretty, but there were some encouraging storylines along the way. Were they able to improve more than those numbers suggest?
The Colorado Rockies entered the 2024 season with largely the same roster of players as 2023 when they lost 103 games.
While the farm system was already projected to be intriguing for the future of the franchise, only a handful of veteran players — Cal Quantrill, Dakota Hudson, Jalen Beeks and Jacob Stallings — from outside the organization were deemed the big offseason acquisitions.
It’s for that reason and more it was another challenging chapter in the franchise’s history. At 61-101, Colorado finished dead last in the National League for the second year in a row. (Raise your hand if you knew that had never happened before the prior season.)
Does a two-win improvement, not to mention more victories than many projection systems predicted in 2024, signal a coming rise for 2025 and beyond?
Predictables
The Rockies finished in the basement of a talented NL West as expected. Many prognosticators thought the division could be home to four playoff teams. Though only two played into October, the Diamondbacks finished with the same record as the fifth and sixth NL Wild Card teams while the Giants, besieged by injuries all season long, fell shy of .500 by one game.
Colorado lost twice as many games on the road than at home; par for the course when you play under one condition at altitude and another for 81 games. Their 24-57 record away from Coors Field made for the third-lowest winning percentage (.296) in franchise history behind the 2014 (21-60, .259) and 2023 (22-59, .272).
Despite being more of an outside-looking-in kind of club throughout the majority of their existence when it comes to trade deadline activity, the Rockies actually did the thing in 2023 when it came to dealing away expiring contracts and improving the depth of their farm system.
While the team received criticism for not being more aggressive with acquiring future pieces for some of its assets at this year’s July 30 deadline, they were still able to swing two deals. GM Bill Schmidt swapped two relievers — Beeks and Nick Mears — for three pitching prospects. RHP Bradley Blalock and LHP Luis Peralta were even able to debut and contribute over a combined 22 appearances.
Heartbreakers
Opening Day started in the worst possible fashion anyone could have drawn up. A 16-1 drubbing by the Dbacks that was sparked by a 14-run inning that contributed to the worst start of Kyle Freeland’s career.
The loss on April 30 in Miami was even more disheartening. Up 5-0 for the entirety of the game, Ryan Feltner’s shutout was squandered with a five-run ninth inning by the last-place Marlins, who eventually won via walk-off in the 10th. Before reaching the All-Star break, the Rockies had given up five or more runs in the ninth inning or later six different times, losing all six. The previous record was four over an entire season.
They were the last team in MLB to win a series and didn’t win consecutive games until their 37th and 38th contest of the year, a franchise record. They trailed in every one of their first 40 games, a modern day MLB record previously held by the 1910 St. Louis Browns.
There were countless moments where simply putting the ball in play would have benefited Bud Black’s squad. Alas, Colorado’s 1,617 strikeouts were most in the NL and tops in franchise history.
Unsuccessful returns from injury by Daniel Bard, Germán Márquez and Lucas Gilbreath further dashed hopes that 2024 was going to be a season of resurgence. Back injuries for Kris Bryant and Nolan Jones bring into question what their contributions to the club will be going forward.
Less of a question and more of a disappointment was the second-half by Ryan McMahon. After breaking through over the first three months of the season to earn his first selection to the All-Star Game, McMahon’s .274/.349/.457 slash line dropped to .193/.290/.307 between July 9 and the end of the regular season.
The Three Amigos
Colorado did find something that was much needed. They found cornerstones.
Brenton Doyle emerged as a potential superstar following a breakout sophomore campaign that put him in elite company in terms of power and speed. With 22 home runs and 30 stolen bases, he joined Dante Bichette (1996), Ellis Burks (1996) and Larry Walker (1997) as the only Rockies in the 20/30 club. His play in the outfield over two seasons has already earned him the moniker as the best center field defender in franchise history.
Ezequiel Tovar took another step forward as one of the best young shortstops in the game. He led the team in home runs and became just the sixth at the position (min. 90% of games at shortstop) to reach 26 homers during his age-22 season.
Tovar led the NL in doubles with 45 and trailed only Shohei Ohtani for most extra-base hits (75) in the Senior Circuit. He became the seventh player in a group that includes Rafael Devers, Albert Pujols, Álex Rodríguez and Cal Ripken Jr. to record at least 175 hits, 45 doubles, and 25 homers during their age-22 or younger season.
The biggest surprise was the rise of Michael Toglia as an everyday first baseman. Limited to playing time because of the presence of C.J. Cron, Bryant and Elehuris Montero in previous seasons, Toglia had spent more time in right field than at the position he’s best at defensively.
After getting promoted on June 6, Toglia was written on the lineup card every day, 101 games consecutively, including the final 90 games of the season at first base. In the process, Toglia set a new mark for the team with 25 home runs by a switch-hitter.
The Final 40
Mark down August 16 as the date the Rockies started their youth movement. Elias Díaz was released and 22-year-old Drew Romo was promoted for the first time. In the coming days, Peralta and a slew of other prospects were called up to cut their teeth in hopes of ushering better days for the club.
The Rockies had 12 players make their big league debut this year, matching a team record with 2014 and 2016. Colorado totaled 198 appearances by rookie pitchers, third-most in a single season in franchise history trailing only the 2015 (216) club and the original expansion club of 1993 (232).
The 17-23 (.425) record following the start of the youth movement on Aug. 16 was still tied for eighth-worst in the Majors. Considering Colorado hasn’t won at that rate for an entire season since 2021, it was a promising step in the right direction.
A Rotation Revelation
The pitching was healthier in 2024 than 2023 when Márquez and Antonio Senzatela both went down with UCL injuries that required season-ending Tommy John surgery.
Austin Gomber, Cal Quantrill and Feltner each took the ball regularly and finished with an ERA under 5.00, no easy feat for a Rockies starter. Together they are the first trio to make 29 or more starts for Colorado since 2018.
Feltner was special. The 28-year-old posted a 2.98 ERA from June 26 to the end of the season, becoming the first Rockies starter with a sub-3.00 ERA through 15 starts since Márquez during his All-Star campaign in 2021. When you include his remarkably low walk-rate — for a Rockies — of 2.88 BB/9 and four more years of club control, Feltner’s triumphant second half gives Colorado another player to feel good about.
Mission Accomplished?
Did they really improve more than their record would suggest? Not really.
But much like 2023 when there was more to entice the diehard fans than in 2022 despite losing more games and reaching the dreaded 100-loss mark, there were enough sparks in 2024 to suggest the team might be able to roll out of the garage soon and get their franchise back onto the road to Rocktober.