With back-to-back wins against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Colorado Rockies inched closer to avoiding being the worst team in the modern history of Major League Baseball.
The Rockies are currently 32-89 through 121 games.
With 41 games left, I wanted to speculate: Can the Rockies win 10 and avoid the dreaded 41-121(.253) mark the Chicago White Sox set last year?
On the optimistic side, the Rockies’ winning percentage of .264 equates to one win for every 3.78 games. That would translate to 10.82 wins. If they can hold their current rate, after 41 more games, that would mean ending the season with a 43-119 record. Considering the Rockies only won eight games in April and May (make it nine if you throw in March) and had ten wins in June and nine in July, the Rockies are trending in the right direction.
Instead of being the worst team ever, they can be tied for second-worst with the 2003 Detroit Tigers.
Of course, anything can happen. That’s why you play the game, and that’s what makes sports great. Plus, no winning percentage can accurately predict the future. The Rockies could go on a run, or they could hit a massive slump. Anything is possible.
As part of the Rockies getting better as the season has gone on, it’s worth looking at an update on interim manager Warren Schaeffer’s record in charge of the team vs. Bud Black’s.
Black led the Rockies to a 7-33 start (.175 winning percentage). In the 81 games since with Schaeffer at the helm, the Rockies have gone 25-56 (.309). Applying Black’s winning percentage to the final 41 games, the Rockies would win seven more wins, compared to Schaeffer’s .313, which would round up to 12.7 wins. With Schaeffer in charge, it seems more likely that the Rockies can hit or pass the 42-win mark.
When looking at the home/away breakdown for the remaining 41 games, Colorado has 22 games left at Coors Field and 19 remaining on the road. The Rockies have gone 16-43 (.271) in the Mile High City and 16-46 (.258) away from Coors Field. It’s not much of a home-field advantage, but still notable. If we apply the winning percentage to the home/away games to the remaining calendar, it would mean the Rockies would win six more games at home and five on the road. That again brings the Rockies record after Sept. 28 to 43-119.
On the pessimistic side, the schedule is currently stacked against Colorado as it has the second-hardest strength of schedule remaining (a combined .524 winning percentage), only behind the Cincinnati Reds. If the season were to end after Thursday’s games, five of the 10 teams the Rockies have left to play would go to the playoffs. The Houston Astros and San Diego Padres would have division titles, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners would all go to the postseason as Wild Card entries.
Rockies Remaining Schedule OutlookOpponentCurrent RecordGames vs. Rockies LeftRecord vs. RockiesProjected Rockies winsDiamondbacks60-6238-21Dodgers68-5376-0Pirates51-7131-22Astros68-5332-11Cubs68-5233-0Giants59-6265-22Padres69-5275-11Marlins58-6330-33Angels59-623No games yet1Mariners67-553No games yet110 TeamsAvg: 64-584130-1212
Even with that challenging slate, the Rockies could still muster 12 wins. Considering all the perspectives, knowing that prognosticating is best left to groundhogs, all signs point to the White Sox retaining their title as owners of the worst 162-game record in MLB history.
Odds are, the Rockies will be tied for second or third.
Does any of this even matter?
If the Rockies do manage to avoid making more bad history and finish with 120 losses instead of 121, does that excuse Dick Monfort from making drastic changes? Does that lead to another quiet offseason and business as usual at 20th and Blake?
It’s scary to think that the answer might be yes. If the Rockies aren’t the worst, and they think they have gotten better, they may be either content to stand pat, or they could even be delusional in thinking this season hasn’t really been as bad as it has been.
With home games remaining against the Dodgers and Cubs, Coors Field is going to see packed stands for a team that could be the worst ever. The Rockies still rank No. 14 in attendance (30,165 average per game). If they can stay in the middle of the pack while being epically terrible, there may not be much incentive to change for an owner who seems to lack any kind of competitive spirit.
If the Rockies lose 122 games and dethrone the White Sox, will Dick Monfort finally make sweeping changes in the front office and adopt an innovative win-at-all-cost model?
It’s hard to imagine, regardless how high the losses pile up.
It would stand to reason that the weight of the shame and embarrassment would at least force a change in general manager. It also might mean reshaping a roster by cutting Kris Bryant, even if the Rockies have to pay him $78 million through 2028, and cutting or trading Antonio Senzatela, despite his contract going through 2027, as well as easier calls like not re-signing Austin Gomber or Thairo Estrada.
Last season in their history-making losing, the White Sox traded six major players at the trade deadline, compared to the Rockies three this season. In the offseason, Chicago made more big trades. In 2023, they fired their president and GM. In 2024, they fired their manager, had an interim manager, and started 2025 with a completely different manager.
This season, the White Sox are still the worst team in the American League at 44-77, but they have already won more games than they did last season. They are only better than one team: Colorado. Changes don’t mean winning, but limited action can feel like being content with losing and not making efforts to improve.
After their brutal 119 losses in 2003, blamed on a terrible rotation, a stagnant offense (sound familiar?) and a first-year manager, the Tigers made moves to bring in quality players in the offseason and rebounded to finish with a 72-90 record in 2004. By 2006, Detroit was in the World Series.
How this season finishes and what happens in the offseason will determine if the Rockies respond like the Tigers or like White Sox.
Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 8, Oklahoma City Comets 5
In his third rehab start coming back from a lacerated right middle finger, Ryan Ritter hit a pair of RBI singles and Keston Hiura and Zac Veen also hit run-scoring singles of their own to lift the Isotopes over Oklahoma City on Thursday night. The Isotopes drew seven walks on the night, including RBI walks by Sean Bouchard and Drew Romo. Huira drove another run in by being hit by a pitch. Braiden Ward scored three runs with one hit and one walk. After Mason Albright gave up four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and four walks in 3 2/3 innings, three Isotope relievers locked it down to limit the Comets to only one more run the rest of the way.
Double-A: Harrisburg Senators 8, Hartford Yard Goats 6
After falling down 7-3, the Yard Goats cut Harrisburgh’s lead to 7-6, but they weren’t able to get any closer. Cole Carrigg hit a three-run homer on a two-hit night when he also scored two runs, Jose Cordova hit an RBI double, Braylen Wimmer added an RBI single and Charlie Condon added a double.
High-A: Vancouver Canadians 8, Spokane Indians 6
Aidan Longwell went 2-for-3 with a homer and a two-run double, scored three runs and drew a walk, but it wasn’t enough to carry Spokane to victory on Thursday. Blake Wright hit an RBI single after Longwell’s double to put the Indians up 4-3 in the fifth inning, but Vancouver rallied back to take a 6-4 lead in the sixth. In the seventh, L0ng well scored on a wild pitch and Andy Perez drove in a run with a walk to help Spokane tie the game at 6-all. Unfortunately, the Canadians rallied back again with two more runs in the eighth for the win.
Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies 4, Stockton Ports 3
Wilder Dalis hit a solo home run, Tanner Thach and Kelvin Hidalgo singled and Brayan Restituyo was intentionally walked to set up a Roldy Brito walk-off RBI single to lift Fresno over Stockton on Thursday.
The Grizzlies were unable to hold a 2-0 lead as the Ports scored one run in the eighth and two more in the ninth inning to take the lead heading into the bottom of the ninth. Fresno took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Derek Bernard doubled and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Tanner Thach. Thach and Kelvin Hidalgo hit back-to-back singles in the fifth and Thach moved to second on a fly ball. When Hidalgo stole second, Thach came around to score on a throwing error by the catcher.
Ethan Holliday went 1-for-3 on the night. Marcos Herrera had a solid start, giving up no runs on six hits with three walks and six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
Rockies Interim Manager Has Chance of Being Named Full-Time Skipper | SI.com
Sports Illustrated looks into the probability of the Rockies keep Warren Schaeffer on as the manager after the season. The Rockies have been much improved under his guidance.
This article has a great story about Kyle Karros, the Rockies rookie third baseman. In trying to analyze film after his first MLB at-bat against Zac Gallen, he saw something else that made him tear up with all the emotions of his first Big League game.
Latest Rockies injuries & transactions | MLB.com
Thomas Harding updated the Rockies injury news on Thursday, leading off with info about Germán Márquez, who has been on the IL since July 21 with right biceps tendinitis. He is scheduled a live batting practice session on Friday. Antonio Senzatela will throw a bullpen session on Friday as he works back from a right middle finger blister that put him on the IL on Aug. 2.
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