Colorado Rockies news and links for Wednesday, October 2, 2024
It’s safe to say that the Colorado Rockies had a historical season in 2024. Sure it was mostly bad history, but it’s history nonetheless that speaks quite a bit to the status of the organization. Over the course of the season, I did my best, along with help from fellow Purple Row writers, to keep track of the unfortunate pieces of history the Rockies experienced in 2024. Special thanks to OptaSTATS, Sarah Langs, Elias Sports, and numerous beat writers on X who helped bring these stats to light. So, without further ado, let’s look back at how the Rockies fell on the wrong side of history. Gear up, this one is a little longer.
Opening Day fiasco
It didn’t take long for the Rockies to hit the history books. On Opening Day in Arizona, the Diamondbacks exploded for 14 runs in the third inning. That total was tied for the fourth-most by a team in an inning since 1900 and served as the most in an Opening Day frame in that span. Additionally, the 14 runs allowed, 13 hits and 18 batters faced in the third inning all represent the most in all categories by Rockies pitching in a single inning in franchise history.
Not exactly the way you want to set the tone for a new season.
Freeland’s troubled beginning
Kyle Freeland ended the season much stronger in the second half, but he got off to a historically rough start in his first two outings of the year. After the Opening Day fiasco, Freeland was tagged for seven more runs in his second start. The 17 earned runs allowed in his first two starts were the most surrendered by a left-handed pitcher since 1913.
Trailing behind
The first month of the season was rough for the Rockies, particularly in the fact that they struggled to maintain leads. They struggled so much that they set a modern-era record by trailing in 31 consecutive games, surpassing the previous record of 28 consecutive games set by the 1910 St. Louis Browns.
Ninth inning woes
A factor that didn’t help was the Rockies struggles in the ninth inning. Things got better in the final month of the season but on August 27, the Rockies held a 7.44 ERA in the ninth inning which was the highest among MLB teams over the last 50 years (excluding the shortened 2020 season). They finished the year with a 7.10 ERA which still led the league by quite a bit. The next closest was Toronto with a 5.88 ERA in the ninth.
Inflating that ERA was the number of colossal implosions at the end of the game. The Rockies became the first team in the modern era to lose five or more games after allowing five-plus runs and surrendering the lead in the ninth inning or later after entering the inning with the lead. They led the league in losses after leading in the eighth inning and also had the most losses in the last at-bat of a game this season. If not for the failures of the backend of the bullpen, the Rockies likely could have avoided 100 losses.
One of the most painful losses came at the hands of the Dodgers on June 18 when they won a game for the first time since 1957 trailing by five or more runs entering the ninth inning. Adding insult to injury, they became the first team in MLB history to hit both a grand slam and a three-run home run while trailing in the 9th inning or later in the same game.
Swing and a miss
Strikeouts were a huge problem for the Rockies in 2024. They tied with the Seattle Mariners for the highest strikeout rate in baseball (26.8%) while finishing eight strikeouts behind the Mariners for total strikeouts (1617).
For the Rockies, both marks represent franchise records since 1993. Ezequiel Tovar, as good as his season was overall, set a franchise record for most strikeouts in a season by a hitter with an even 200, surpassing Ryan McMahon’s 198 in 2023.
Nothing encapsulates the Rockies’ struggles than the fact that they set a modern-era record for most games with ten or more strikeouts offensively, doing so in 88 games to surpass the 2019 San Diego Padres. Additionally, the Rockies struck out 15 or more times in five games in September, the most in any month in franchise history.
The Rockies struggled mightily against starting pitchers, striking out 10 or more times against a starting pitcher 17 times this season, a franchise record. This was best personified by the San Francisco Giants in July. Blake Snell cruised through six innings in his start of a doubleheader, recording 15 of his 18 via strikeout (83.3%) which is the highest percentage by any pitcher in a game in MLB history (min. six innings). Between the two games that day, the Rockies struck out 30 times, the most by a team in a doubleheader since 2015, while they swung and missed on 64 pitches the most whiffs by a team in a single day since pitches were first tracked in 1988.
Let’s not forget that the Rockies also somehow managed to win a game against the Chicago White Sox after striking out 20 times and having six or fewer hits in the game, which is only the second instance in the modern era that has happened with the previous being the Rockies win against the Boston Red Sox in 2019.
In early September, over the course of five games, the Rockies struck out 75 times. That was the second-most strikeouts by a team over any five-game span in the modern era, trailing only the Milwaukee Brewers’ 77 in the 2017 season. I don’t have the full proof but it feels like the Rockies could have broken that at some point before the end of the season.
Miscellaneous dubiousness
There were plenty of other notable events throughout the year that came at the expense of the Rockies.
2024 was the sixth-straight losing season in which the Rockies finished with a .460 winning percentage or worse, all under manager Bud Black. The last team to have six-plus straight such seasons under the same manager was the Athletics from 1934-1943 under Connie Mack (10 straight).
During a three-game sweep in early May, the Miami Marlins had a record of 6-24 (.200) prior to their three-game sweep of the Rockies. That was the worst record entering a series of three-plus games that a team swept (30-plus games into the season) since the Washington Nationals (17-80, .175) swept the Boston Beaneaters in September 1886.
The Rockies also experienced a game in that Marlins series to have five runs in the top of the first and five runs scored in the bottom of the ninth, and nothing else in between.
The Giants’ Kyle Harrison became the first visitor with multiple scoreless starts of five or more innings in a season at Coors Field. For context, he is the 333rd individual season with two-plus starts as a visitor at Coors Field.
In July against the Los Angeles Angels, Matt Thaiss became the first position player in Angels history with five RBI and two stolen bases in the same game. He also became the second AL/NL catcher to do so joining Hall of Famer Mickey Cochrane in 1934 with the Tigers.
Speaking of Tigers, Keider Montero became the only MLB rookie to throw a Maddux (nine-plus inning complete game shutout on under 100 pitches) while facing the minimum number of batters on September 10. It was also the first time the Rockies had sent the minimum of batters to the plate in franchise history.
Kyle Hendricks became the first pitcher in Cubs history to pitch at least six innings while allowing two or fewer hits and one or fewer runs in a start at Coors. While Frankie Montas became the first visiting pitcher to ever to throw at least seven shutout innings with nine-plus strikeouts and no more than one hit allowed at Coors Field.
In July, Reds rookie Rece Hinds became the fastest player to six or more extra-base hits and two or more stolen bases in the modern era, doing so against the Rockies in his first MLB series.
In May, Giants rookie Luis Matos became the youngest player since the invention of the RBI to have consecutive five-plus RBI games when he faced the Rockies.
Beyond the box score
There are plenty of other records and notable stats the Rockies experienced in 2024. Some were positive but the majority were negative. 2024 will go down as one of the worst seasons overall in franchise history and we will wait with anticipation hoping they can make necessary improvements to get on the right side of history.
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Here’s the ‘24 All-MiLB Prospect Team | MLB.com
Minor league awards were handed out last night, including the All-MiLB Prospect Teams. Surprisingly the Rockies didn’t have a Chase Dollander make the list, but Luis Peralta did make the Second Team. On the MLB end, Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar are both nominees for the All-MLB team.
Affected by Altitude Episode 132: We Finally Lost Your Love Tonight | Rocky Mountain Rooftop
In this week’s episode, Evan Lang and I bid farewell to Charlie Blackmon and explore some questions about what happens next for the Rockies in the offseason.
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