5 Things We Learned During Opening Week

Apparently, the Colorado Rockies are picking up where they left off.

Renee Dechert

04 Apr 2025 — 5 min read

Hunter Goodman

So far, 2025 has not been a promising season for the Rockies. Currently, they have a 1-5 record after losing their opening series to the Tampa Bay Rays before being swept by the Philadelphia Phillies. In addition, injuries continue to hobble the team with second baseman Thairo Estrada unavailable for another six weeks with a fractured wrist while Austin Gomber continues to deal with shoulder soreness.

Obviously, we’re still in small-sample-size territory, which means the data we have so far is of marginal worth given than an MLB season is 162 games. But there’s also a tendency to examine what we’ve got in hopes it may provide a sense of direction.

So with that in mind, let’s consider what we’ve learned about the Rockies during the first week.

The offense is not good — A 1-5 record is a pretty clear indicator that an offense is not working. Now consider some specifics. Currently, the Rockies strikeout woes continue. They’ve struck out 68 times (tied with Atlanta for fourth most in MLB) in 197 at-bats. Leading in the category are the Chicago Cubs with 79 strikeouts. However, consider that they’ve played three more games (329 at-bats) than the Rockies have. (Read more about the Rockies strikeout woes here.)

Michael Toglia leads the Rockies in this category with 14 Ks, ranking him third in MLB, while Ryan McMahon has 11, which ties him with a number of players for sixth most. Interesting note: Ezequiel Tovar has struck out four times in 24 at-bats (but he also hasn’t been effective offensively).

In addition, they’re not taking walks. The Rockies have only walked 11 times, which puts them last in MLB. (The Chicago Cubs have 43walks.) Leading the team in this category are Jordan Beck, Kris Bryant, and Brenton Doyle, each with two.

Then there is the lack of home runs. The Rockies have only hit three with two of them coming from Hunter Goodman. (In fairness, the Houston Astros have only hit two, so there’s that.)

So far, this is not a good offensive team, a reflected in their 1-5 record and the fact that they’ve scored the fewest runs in baseball with 10.

They’re not stealing bases — Bill Schmidt said during the offseason the Rockies would try to do more damage on the base paths, but that has not yet happened. Currently, the Rockies have stolen two bases, both my Jordan Beck.

To be fair, there are worse base-stealing teams. (The Cleveland Guardians and The Athletics have yet to steal a base.) And in case you’re interested, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 19 bases lead all MLB teams.

Antonio Senzatela is a wonder — If you watched the Rockies game with the Phillies yesterday, you would have seen awe and wonder on baseball social media as Senzatela continues to allow hits, but not runs. As Sarah Langs noted:

Clearly, this is unsustainable, but right now, he is a pitching unicorn — or a throwback to 1970s pitching, as Mario Delgado Genzor pointed out before most anyone else noticed. Before his outing on Thursday, Senzatela has an ERA of 0.00, a K% of 6.5, and a WHIP of 2.172.

(Thomas Harding has more about his Phillies outing here, including this line: “Senzatela logged 5 1/3 innings, yielded 10 hits and struck out three, yet he didn’t give up an earned run. That puts him in the baseball history statistical database for the second straight start. He has yielded 19 hits, yet no earned runs, over two starts totaling 9 1/3 innings to start the season. It’s the first time such a combination of innings with so many hits and no earned runs has happened since ERA became an official stat in 1913.”)

The starting rotation is good — The Rockies currently have best ERA in baseball (1.35). In short, the starters have been getting it done. Kyle Freeland is off to the best start he’s had in some time, and Germán Márquez looks to have put Tommy John surgery behind him. Plus, there’s whatever weirdness Senzatela’s got going on.

The Rockies announced today that Chase Dollander will make his MLB debut on Sunday, so stay tuned for that.

The bullpen is not — Last season, the bullpen finished strong, but that has not been the case so far this season. Currently, its 9.77 ERA is the worst in baseball.

This could be the result of a number of factors, Bullpens, by their very nature, are unstable, and right now, some of the young relievers may be readjusting to facing MLB hitters.

But a topic worth considering as well that doesn’t get much attention is manager Bud Black’s bullpen management. Too often, he will call in a reliever who is successful in getting the team out of a jam only to send him out for the next inning, when the reliever gets blown up. That’s on Black, not the pitcher. In addition, he has a tendency to overuse relievers (e.g., Jake Bird in 2023 and Victor Vodnik and 2024). It’s something to watch as the season progresses.

This is surely not the start the Rockies had hoped for.

Bill Schmidt and Bud Black have reassured fans that just because prospects did not break camp with the team does not mean they won’t be in Denver soon – case in point, Chase Dollander.

If this is going to be another losing season, the Rockies may turn to their prospects, both to give them experience and to keep fans engaged.

Share Rockies Pitch

New City Connect Uniforms?

Recently, Blake Street Banter shared a post of what looks to be a leak of the Rockies new City Connect uniforms.

Just to be clear, no one knows if this is actually the new Rockies City Connect. However, if it is, I am not wild about this. Presumably, this is an allusion to Colorado sunsets? It just seems like they could have done better given Colorado’s rich history.

(Then again, I never cared for the green license plate uniforms, so perhaps I’m just being cranky.)

Subscribe to Rockies Pitch

What I’m Reading

• Patrick Saunders’ “Is Kris Bryant Done and What Does Colorado Do with Him?” (Denver Post) — I always enjoy Saunders’ mailbags because that’s when he shares his opinions of what’s happening with the Rockies. His answer to a question about Kris Bryant seemed pretty standard until he added this: “The Rockies will give him a long leash before they say that enough is enough. I don’t know how long that leash is, but if Bryant isn’t producing by the end of April, they have cut him loose.” I think they’ll wait until the end of the season, but who knows?

• Josh Levin’s “The Rookie” (Slate) — This is an important article on Mary Shane, who, in 1977, became the first woman to be hired as a major-league announcer.

Share Rockies Pitch