Colorado Rockies Might Challenge White Sox For Worst Record Ever

The Colorado Rockies beat the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday at Coors Field, 2-1. An otherwise unremarkable result for a late-April game, seemingly.

Except for the 2025 Rockies, every single win is a remarkable achievement. Wednesday's win was just the fifth for the Rockies all season. Five wins, in over a months-worth of games. 5-26. That's the Rockies record at the end of April, an incredible .167 winning percentage. 

And the win masks what was the worst 29-game start to a season in baseball history. Literally the worst.

Even more embarrassing than the 2024 Chicago White Sox, a team that finished 41-121, the second most losses ever, and the most since the start of the 1900's.

How bad will things get in Denver?

Colorado Rockies first baseman Kris Bryant against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on Feb. 26, 2024. Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Colorado Rockies Futility Hits Incredible New Low

The Rockies' run differential entering Wednesday was -78, meaning they'd been outscored by their opponents by 78 runs. The second worst? The Baltimore Orioles at -50. They're nearly a run per game worse than the second-worst team in MLB.

Colorado's pitching staff has given up an incredible 172 runs entering Wednesday, nearly six runs per game, despite being in an era where offense has declined significantly.

This is a bad, bad team. And it's a bad team with a payroll approaching $130 million.

So how did we get here? Well, the Rockies have spent money as poorly as it's possible to spend. Kris Bryant joined in 2022 and is set to make $27 million per year through the 2028 season. Bryant's actually cost the Rockies 2.5 wins above replacement in the past three seasons. When he's even healthy.

Kyle Freeland is making $16 million this year and hasn't had an ERA under 5 since 2022. Ryan McMahon is barely a league-average player and he's also making $16 million. Antonio Senzatela has a five-year, $50.5 million contract for some inexplicable reason. 

It's bizarre roster construction, a woeful farm system and a player development program that's yet to develop a true star level player, and misplaced spending. All combining to make a difficult situation, winning in Denver, that much harder. 

The Rockies have never been able to find consistently good pitching, for obvious reasons. But they could, in theory, field an elite offense. Except they're nowhere close to doing that either, thanks to spending money on players like Kris Bryant. 

Colorado's farm system is in the bottom half of the league too, according to virtually every evaluator. 

This isn't getting any better, anytime soon. It's a good thing Coors Field is a great place to grab a beer.