At long last, Rockies fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief. The 162-game war of attrition throughout the MLB has finally ended, meaning Colorado’s season has mercifully come to a close. For the Colorado Rockies, the 2024 season was painful at times. Of course, there were never any aspirations of a World Series, or the Postseason, or a chance at the NL West title, or even the opportunity to be relatively competitive within the National League. To many, the lone accomplishment of 2024 was that the Rockies managed to avoid a worse record than they had in 2023, improving from 59-103 to 61-101.
Reflecting on the season that was, would it be crazy to say that a team that finished with more than 100 losses for the second consecutive season somehow found success—albeit not directly on the field—during 2024?
Certainly any fan who would even entertain the idea of watching six months worth of losing baseball would not consider the Rockies season to be a success, but when there wasn’t much hope to begin with, it would seem that success has a different meaning than what the word literally defines. For the Rockies, success may amount to nothing more than avoiding the title as the worst team in baseball, which was an easy accomplishment given what the Chicago White Sox managed to do this season.
The Rockies weren’t historically bad, but they were still the second-to-worst team in the entire league, which might mean success to the wrought eyes of Dick Monfort and the rest of the front-office staff. On-field performance is what defines success in a league based on wins and losses, one that’s dependent on statistical output and consistent value. In 2024, the Rockies weren’t the worst. They continued to cultivate the talent in their lineup while ushering in the next generation that will hopefully unearth this franchise from the depths of the National League. They collapsed a record-setting number of times. They continued to battle even when the season amounted to nothing more than pride. They said goodbye to a living-legend who spent his entire career with the organization and paid Kris Bryant $27 million dollars for 37 games worth of baseball.
Success may have a literal and statistical definition in baseball, but for the Rockies—for their 2024 season—it’s a word that defines the struggles a franchise has endured for over three decades and their continued perseverance to overcome a losing culture.
The Beginning
The Rockies certainly weren’t successful at the start of the season, or anything relatively close to competitive. Opening Day gave the Rockies a trepid warning of what was in store for the rest of 2024 when they lost 16-1 and subsequently fell to a record of 8-28 by May 8th, the franchise’s worst record through 36 games to start a season. During this time the Rockies were the worst team in the MLB (the White Sox had played, and won, one more game than the Rockies had), but this 41-day stretch proved embarrassing.
Remember when Rockies hitting coach Hensley Meulens posted a video of himself in the cockpit on the team’s charter flight on April 18th? The public embarrassment culminated with a disastrous ninth inning meltdown against the Marlins on April 30th, as the Rockies were swept in three games by the only team in the National League that was worse than them.
The season had gone from bad, to worse, to a level of mistreatment that was clearly in violation of the Geneva Convention. A historically bad start began to hint at a season worse than 2023.
And then the unthinkable happened: the Rockies started winning games, seven games in a row to be exact. Queue the Moneyball soundtrack as the scrappy underdog rattles off a series of unprecedented wins thanks to the wizardry of GM Bill Schmidt, rectifying the season and banishing the Rockies from baseball hell. Rockies fans never gave up hope and they were being rewarded for it. The streets of Denver hummed with the excited rumors of just what the Rockies were capable of pulling off. All signs pointed to the Rockies catapulting themselves back into the pennant race.
That seven-game winning streak between May 9th and May 16th was the largest winning streak of the season for the Rockies and the longest winning streak in the franchise since they won eight-straight games during the 2019 season. However, the winning streaks ended there. While those seven games didn’t give the Rockies a better chance at being considered a contender, the streak may or may not have saved the season, while giving fans a new banner to cling to.
The Middle
After the Rockies were promoted from the ranking of terrible to mediocre with their seven-game win streak, the team continued to battle valiantly, but they still weren’t finding much in terms of success. Their record in the month of June was an abysmal 7-20, which was tied with the Oakland Athletics (RIP) for the worst in the MLB. The pitching struggles worsened and Rockies fans were left wondering just how many more games they were going to have to suffer through and what record-setting number of losses would be established this season. While the wins may have been sparse, what proved to be the silver lining throughout the middle portion of the 2024 season was the prominent rise to stardom for Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar.
The Rockies faithful knew what kind of players Doyle and Tovar were when the duo became full-time major-leaguers in the 2023 season. Throughout 2024, the secrets surrounding both Doyle and Tovar that had been absconded from the rest of the MLB (because who besides Rockies fans would watch enough Rockies games to notice) regarding what they could do on both sides of the ball were finally revealed to the rest of the league.
After Ryan McMahon’s meteoric rise as the team’s batting leader and his subsequent fall from grace after the All-Star break, Ezequiel Tovar took on the title as the most reliable Rockies hitter, leading the team among qualified hitters with a .264 BA during June. Tovar finished the season as the team leader in PA, H, HR, RBI, all career-highs for the 23-year-old, and was tied with Brenton Doyle for the team-lead in WAR with 3.7.
Defensively, Tovar totalled the highest number of innings played on the team with 1375.2 while only being charged with eight errors, good enough for third best among qualified players at the shortstop position throughout 2024.
Then there was Brenton Doyle’s ownership over the month of July. The attention of the baseball world descended upon Coors Field and the Rockies because of Doyle’s dominant month which saw him be named the National League’s Player Of The Month, a feat that no Rockies hitter had achieved since CJ Cron did so in August of 2021.
What Doyle did at the plate was also as impressive as what he did in the outfield. Aside from the highlight-reel, Superman-esque catches Doyle made on an almost weekly basis, the second-year center-fielder ranked third among the entire MLB in terms of fielding run value for his position with 15. Opposing teams around the MLB were warned of Doyle’s arm and his ability to cut down baserunners who dared try to test his strength. Doyle’s accolades and his value to the Rockies could be discussed at length, but he and Ezequiel Tovar’s impressive sophomore campaigns were a success as they developed into the echelon of MLB superstars, while also giving fans a glimpse of a future where their performances are accompanied by plenty of wins.
Amidst the pain, there was a moment of reflective happiness as Todd Helton was inducted into the National Baseball Hall-Of-Fame on July 21st. His speech at Cooperstown provided some much-needed levity as fans were able to celebrate the greatest player to ever put on a Rockies jersey and the representative of baseball in Colorado throughout the five-time All-Star’s 17-year career.
The middle of the season saw Rockies fandom reach new levels of frustration as the losses collected and the front-office remained stagnant at the deadline. But Rockies fans couldn’t place much blame on Bill Schmidt and company for not making more than the two trades that they did. The Rockies were bad, but the players who were at-risk of being moved didn’t hold the value that would induce a trade.
Bad teams aren’t necessarily made up entirely of bad players (as evidenced above), but the Rockies weren’t in a position to trade players like Ryan McMahon, Brendan Rodgers, or Elias Diaz, and usher in a total rebuild. Baseball still had to be played, and the Rockies—with as much pride as they could possibly uphold—continued to play competitive baseball, respecting those who had battled during the competitive years not long ago, while giving the next generation of players their opportunities.
The End
What’s more enjoyable than watching your team lose?
Watching your team lose while witnessing what the future—successful or not—could bring.
The Rockies limped into the final stretch of the season. They’d been abused and beaten and repeatedly bludgeoned by teams all around the MLB. The century-mark for losses could be clearly seen along the horizon, but then the youth movement that had been teased throughout the season finally happened.
Highly-touted prospects like catcher Drew Romo, relief pitchers Seth Halvorsen, Jaden Hill, and Luis Peralta all made their major league debuts. The Rockies said goodbye to Elias Diaz and welcomed back young guns like Jordan Beck and Hunter Goodman, who had been up and down all season, as well as Antonio Senzatela who returned from Tommy John surgery. Michael Toglia had already cemented himself as a full-time big-leaguer in June, and he amassed a team-leading 25 home runs by the end of the season.
Through August and September, there seemed to be a shift in the level of play from the Rockies. They’d been eliminated from postseason contention with 23 games remaining, but it seemed as if this sad reality that had been known all season only encouraged them to play better.
What surprised many wasn’t the fact that the Rockies began to win more than they had all season down the stretch, but that they were managing to do so against teams they had no right beating. They stole series from the Braves, Brewers, Cubs, Diamondbacks, and Padres, all teams that were in the postseason race. Their record against teams through the last two months of the season that had a winning percentage of .500 or better was 18-25, and their record through those final 23 games was 10-13. For the Colorado Rockies, a statistical category that is anywhere near .500 is amazing, and their competitiveness was a testament to the team’s desire to avoid the dreaded 100-loss mark.
In the midst of it all, the longest-tenured Rockies player, Charlie Blackmon, announced his retirement at the conclusion of the season. The man known as Chuck Nazty may not be a Hall-Of-Famer like Todd Helton, but the outfielder was the embodiment of a professional and one of—if not the most—beloved player in Rockies history. A four-time All-Star and a two-time Silver Slugger, Blackmon spent the entirety of his 14-year career with the Rockies. He and Kyle Freeland were the last remaining pieces of the 2018 Postseason club and watching Rockies games without seeing a homeless-looking man trotting around the bases won’t be the same.
In the end, the Rockies couldn’t stave off the inevitable hundredth loss for the second straight season. As fireworks cascaded over Coors Field and a chill crept in with the night sky, baseball in Colorado came to a close once again for the Rockies.
Always Next Year
In 2024, the Colorado Rockies were not good. This seems obvious as the team had their sixth-consecutive losing season and second-consecutive season of reaching the century-mark for losses.
They allowed an MLB-leading 929 runs, 28 less than in 2023, accompanied by a team-high ERA of 5.48 as compared to their 2023 ERA of 5.68 (for the record, the second-highest team ERA in 2024 was the Miami Marlins with 4.75). But enough about the numbers, because obviously the statistical rankings for a team with 100 losses won’t ever be decent.
So, were the 2024 Colorado Rockies successful?
What does success look like for a team that was expected to be one of the worst teams in the entire league? Does success amount to nothing more than not being the worst?
For the Rockies, 2024 was a step in the right direction. Those steps were not always in sync and the Rockies stumbled more often than they were able to walk coherently. Still, the Rockies persevered amidst the adversity that was consistently self-inflicted. Losses now will hopefully equal wins later. My hope for next season is that the discussion around what success looks like for the Rockies is less arbitrary, but definite, as the days of 100-loss seasons will be distant memories when we all return to Coors Field to root for the Rockies once again.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Baseball Savant
FanGraphs
Rockies 2024 Season In Review – Thomas Harding
Rockies Journal – The Denver Post – Patrick Saunders