Colorado Rockies news and links for Monday, March 10th, 2025
The Colorado Rockies are fifteen games into spring training and the results have been better than expected.
With a record of 10-5, the Rockies are hanging around the middle of the pack when it comes to most offensive statistics. They even find themselves in the top ten across the league in hits, doubles, RBIs, batting average, and on-base percentage. It’s a nice change of pace after back-to-back 100 loss campaigns. With another losing season on the horizon as the team goes through growing pains, spring training is also providing Rockies fans with some short-lived winning baseball.
The overall numbers don’t necessarily matter in spring training. The wins and losses are meaningless in the grand scheme of things and the numbers all reset to zero once Opening Day arrives. The purpose of spring training is for making roster decisions and for the players to find their rhythm before a grueling 162-game regular season.
However, spring training is also important when it comes to identifying trends for the upcoming season. These trends could be overall team composition or strategy as pitchers stretch out and develop their arsenals, and hitters apply the team’s hitting philosophy to their plate approach.
Unfortunately, when it comes to Rockies hitters we are seeing the the continuation of an all too familiar trend: a lack of power at the plate and an exceedingly high strikeout rate.
The Rockies have had one of the highest strikeout rates in baseball over the last two seasons. In 2023 they had the third most strikeouts, and in 2024 they missed having the most strikeouts in baseball by just eight total whiffs.
15 games into spring training and the strikeouts continue. The Rockies have struck out a fourth-most 159 times so far and are striking out roughly 10.6 times per game with a team strikeout percentage of over 29%.
Leading the pack is Sam Hilliard. After decreasing his strikeout rate both during spring training and the regular season in 2024, Hilliard has seen his progress—and potentially a spot on the Opening Day roster—evaporate. He is tied for the third most strikeouts in the league this spring with 12 and is currently striking out in half of his at-bats.
Behind Hilliard are two of the usual suspects. Jordan Beck has struck out ten times in 26 at-bats for a 38.5% strikeout rate. In 2024 he struck out 35.3% of the time. Michael Toglia sits in third place with nine strikeouts and a roughly 32% strikeout rate.
Ezequiel Tovar, Ryan McMahon, and Nolan Jones—all of whom struggled with strikeouts in 2024—are tied at eight each. McMahon in particular—always a high strikeout batter—stands out with a miserable 42% strikeout rate in just 19 at-bats.
While spring training stats should always be taken with a grain of salt, striking out this much represents a continuation of a trend for the Rockies. They struggle with pitch recognition and plate discipline. This could potentially be hand-waived away if they were doing more damage to the ball, but unfortunately we are seeing another trend continue this spring: a lack of power at the plate.
Since the COVID-shortened 2020 season the Rockies have seen the power drain from their once thunderous bats. As a team they haven’t been above league average in home runs since 2018. They bottomed out in 2022 with the fourth fewest home runs in franchise history—behind the two shortened seasons of 2020 and 1994, and the expansion year in 19930—and in 2023 with the fourth fewest home runs in the league.
Thus far in spring training the Rockies are tied for the fewest home runs in the league with the San Diego Padres at just 11.
Just eight Rockies hitters have launched a home run so far, and only three have two home runs: Brenton Doyle, Michael Toglia… and Nick Martini, a non-roster invitee who might not make the Opening Day roster.
For the Rockies, the combination of too many strikeouts and not enough home runs is a the continuation of a trend. They struggle to find a hitting philosophy that works for them under this current coaching staff.
At this time last year, hitting coach Hensley Meulens was frustrated.
“I was embarrassed to be part of leading the league in strikeouts,” Meulens told Thomas Harding of MLB.com. “We didn’t hit homers. If you don’t hit homers, it’s something different. When you don’t hit homers, and you compound it by striking out, something’s got to change.”
The problem is that it doesn’t appear anything has changed with another full season having passed.
Hopefully these spring training numbers are just that: spring training numbers. However, if they continue into the regular season for yet another year, Rockies fans will be challenged to sit through another long campaign of losing Rockies baseball.
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Kinley ahead of curve against spring hitters with diverse pitch mix | MLB.com
Rockies reliever Tyler Kinley struggled in the first half of 2024, but rounded into form nicely by the end of the season. Now he’s looking sharp in spring training with a new weapon in his arsenal: a curveball.
“It’s so refreshing,” Kinley said. “You feel empowered. You feel like this is new. They haven’t seen this yet, so you’re eager to use it, put it to the test. So far it’s been good.”
Dollander getting plenty of homework from tough ST outings | MLB.com
Chase Dollander felt like a lock for the Opening Day roster after a fantastic first outing of the spring. However, the last two times out on the mound he has seen himself roughed up in a variety of ways by opposing batters. Dollander is handling the adversity with confidence, taking the difficulties as an opportunity to study and improve.
“I love being able to face the best competition,” Dollander said. “Obviously, that’s the only way you’re going to get better — we face good hitters. And I’m very excited to be able to keep going to the next one.”
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