Starting pitching is always paramount to a team’s success. It is arguably the most important position in Major League Baseball. They lead the defense and often set the tone for the ballgame. Starting pitching has always been especially important in Colorado. Obviously, you aren’t expecting starting pitchers to have an ERA below 4.00 when playing their home games at Coors Field.
Rather, a good Colorado Rockies rotation consistently keeps the club in ballgames, even if that means allowing five runs in a start at times. A more than manageable number for a solid offense to overcome when playing at Coors Field. The Rockies go as their rotation goes, and their rotation has significantly struggled this season, playing a large part in the club’s current record of 24-38.
How the Rockies Rotation Has Fared This Year
Paul DePodesta and the Rockies front office had a herculean task in front of them when it came to the starting rotation. The Rockies had a league-worst starting rotation last year, with two of the league’s worst starting pitchers in Austin Gomber and Antonio Senzatela. Leading to a complete overhaul of the rotation this offseason.
To rebuild it, the Rockies signed three veterans in free agency: Michael Lorenzen, Tomoyuki Sugano, and Jose Quintana. At the start of the season, the new trio looked very impressive. But as it usually goes at Coors, as the weather got warmer and the season went on, the rotation started to crack. Leading to a chasm in May in which the Rockies went 8-20 and likely put the club in a hole they will not be able to dig out of.
The Rockies are currently last in the league with just eight quality starts. Sugano has three of those and has been by far the most consistent pitcher in the rotation, earning his fifth win of the season in a dominant 8-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.
However, only one of those quality starts by Sugano came in May in a 3-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 22, in which Sugano went 6 2/3, allowing two earned runs with three Ks to one BB. But was still serviceable in his five May starts. Quintana was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL with a left elbow strain on May 28. Lorenzen, meanwhile, had a disastrous May.
Michael Lorenzen Struggling
Outside of a start on April 3, when Lorenzen allowed nine earned runs on 12 hits in just three innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, Lorenzen had a solid month. Then May happened. In five May starts, covering 23 1/3 innings pitched, Lorenzen posted an 8.87 ERA with 38 hits allowed. He was the losing pitcher in his first four starts of May, dropping his record to 2-7. In two of those starts, Lorenzen allowed seven earned runs in five innings in a 10-3 loss to the Mets and six earned runs in an 8-6 loss to the Diamondbacks.
Both of those starts came at Coors Field, which is the root of his struggles. He currently has a 9.67 ERA in six home starts, allowing five home runs and an opponent batting average of .408. Compared to just a 5.04 ERA in seven games on the road. The 34-year-old right-hander has also really struggled against left-handed hitters. In 120 at-bats, left-handed hitters are hitting .425/.481/.758 with an insane 1.240 OPS. Including eight home runs, 27 RBI, and one triple allowed.
Compared to just a .288 average and .700 OPS in 132 at-bats against right-handed hitters. Per Statcast, Lorenzen’s four-seamer and changeup run values are among the worst in baseball at -8 and -6, respectively. His current 7.22 ERA is far and away a career-worst. He will look to improve it in his next start on Wednesday, June 3, against the Angels in Anaheim.
Offense Has Made Impressive Progress
The Rockies’ offense still has its warts. But it feels in a much better place than last season. Two quiet newcomers brought in during the offseason, Troy Johnston and TJ Rumfield (NL Rookie of the Month for May), have been two of the biggest producers offensively.
Additionally, Jake McCarthy leads the Rockies by a significant margin with 10 stolen bases and has really come on offensively. The two biggest producers from last season are still playing great as well. Hunter Goodman has been scorching lately and leads the Rockies with 15 home runs, building on his first career all-star season last year. Mickey Moniak leads the Rockies by a mile with a stellar 145 WRC+ and has 12 home runs of his own as he’s well on pace for another career season in Colorado.
The Rockies have gone 4-1 in their last five games with 39 runs scored vs the San Francisco Giants and Angels. The most impressive part of this recent stretch? The Rockies have scored that many runs without Moniak, who has been on the 10-day IL since May 22 with right ankle tendonitis.
The Rockies are also still waiting for star shortstop Ezequiel Tovar to return to form. He has been in an extended slump since dealing with injuries last season. He has shown glimpses recently, hitting two homers with four RBI in an 8-6 win over the Giants on Friday, May 29. But followed that up by going 0-9 in two games vs the Angels with six Ks. But that is also encouraging in its own way concerning the Rockies.
More Firepower
Last season, with Tovar out and Brenton Doyle inconsistent, the Rockies did not have enough firepower behind Moniak and Goodman. This season, the trio of newcomers brought in by DePodesta in an impressive offseason has provided crucial reinforcements to the Rockies’ lineup. Doyle is currently on the 10-day IL with a left oblique contusion.
The value Doyle and Tovar bring as Gold Glove defenders makes them mainstays in the Rockies lineup. But if Doyle and Tovar can somehow find their form offensively, this lineup starts to really come together. Which feels foreign to say about a Rockies offense. But in just one offseason with the new front office, a Rockies lineup that hasn’t even been at full strength is in a much better spot. With the inconsistencies of the current starting rotation, this season is still likely headed for north of 90 losses. But there is still potential with some of the younger members of the Rockies’ rotation.
There Is Potential
Altogether, the rotation’s results to this point are not surprising. No one expected the Rockies’ rotation, comprised of four pitchers 33 or older, to lead the team into contention. This was going to be a band-aid during another rebuild season following a rotation left in tatters last season. But the intrigue with the Rockies’ younger starting pitchers is certainly there. Chase Dollander was playing the best baseball of his young career and looked borderline unstoppable before the unfortunate timing of his right elbow strain, resulting in his being placed on the 10-day IL on May 15.
Ryan Feltner has shown plenty of promise but has struggled to stay healthy, being limited to just six games in 2025 and dealing with an extended IL stint already this season due to right ulnar nerve inflammation. Finally, Tanner Gordon has not been as sharp this season, working mostly out of the pen, but was the Rockies’ most consistent starting pitcher for an extended stretch last season.
The bones of a solid starting rotation in Colorado are there. Provided the Rockies catch a few injury breaks, and their young starting pitchers can find consistency. Both Feltner and Dollander have persevered through Coors Field demons of their own early in their careers. Last season, Dollander went 2-6 with an unsightly 9.98 ERA over 11 home starts in a trying rookie campaign. This season, he has posted a much-improved 4.60 ERA in three games at home.
Additionally, Dollander’s 9.6 K/9 leads Colorado’s rotation by a significant margin. When the Rockies last made the postseason in 2018, German Marquez and Kyle Freeland were leading the Rockies as a very solid duo atop the Rockies’ rotation. You can see the vision of Dollander and Feltner being that duo in the near future, provided they remain healthy. For now, the rebuilding Rockies will continue to march on during their extended rebuild with a patchwork rotation.
Main Photo Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
