If all goes according to plan, German Marquez will make four more starts this season for the Colorado Rockies. Those could be his final moments on the mound in purple.

Marquez is in the final days of a two-year, $20 million contract extension that kept him as a member of the Rockies rotation in 2025. However, beginning with a scheduled Tuesday night start in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, it’s clear the 30-year-old Marquez and his time in Colorado is on the clock.

“I take this game and my life day by day,” Marquez said on Sunday morning inside the Rockies clubhouse at Coors Field. “I’m just trying to do my best every day.”

Marquez makes clear the future does not weigh on him. A 3-12 record and 6.19 ERA in his first full season following Tommy John surgery isn’t how Marquez drew up the last year of his current contract, but he isn’t looking back. He’s focused on what he can do against the Dodgers on Tuesday night.

What Marquez does over these next four starts could be enough to secure a decision on his future in Denver, one way or the other.

That decision could cause a domino effect with what happens for the rest of the Rockies rotation in 2026.

Next year will be the last for Kyle Freeland under his current deal (with a vesting option for 2027), so the Denver native can be penciled into next year’s mix. The same could be said for Chase Dollander, who will draw the start in Los Angeles on Monday night and will look to lower his 6.77 ERA over his first 20 starts in his rookie season.

After that, there are plenty of questions of what could be in 2026, making the final September starts for pitchers such as Tanner Gordon and McCade Brown even more important.

“Nothing’s given to you in this game,” Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “You have to show up. You have to be good if you want to stick. This is a hard game played at a hard level.”

That’s been a lesson learned by Colorado’s new wave of pitchers while taking their lumps this season.

Of the current rotation that consists of Freeland, Marquez, Gordon, Dollander and Brown, the latter three have combined for a 6.43 ERA over 158.2 innings spanning 34 starts. That’s an average start of 4.2 innings per pitcher, putting pressure on the Colorado bullpen to piece together the remainder of the game.

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With the Rockies having an MLB-high 6.00 ERA heading into Sunday’s series finale against the San Diego Padres, it’s clear there is work to be done on the mound.

That work for 2026 begins now, but Brown isn’t looking that far ahead.

“We have the offseason prep for all of that,” the 25-year-old Brown said. “I try to stay where my feet are. I don’t try to look too far ahead or look to the past and what has happened.”

There are, of course, other possibilities for how the Rockies improve the rotation for 2026. Among them are some in-house veteran options, including Ryan Feltner and Antonio Senzatela, who will be in the final year of a five-year, $50.5 million deal.

Feltner began the season expected to be a key pitcher after a strong finish to 2024, but back and shoulder issues forced him to the injured list. He then struggled to an 8.57 ERA in six Triple-A starts. Senzatela was recently moved to the bullpen after opposing batters hit .436 against him as a starter in the first inning.

Colorado could also go after experienced veterans to supplement the rotation, much like they did last season when Cal Quantrill made 29 starts. They could also potentially trade position player prospects to land starters.

Pitching prospects such as Sean Sullivan and Gabriel Hughes could play roles as well, in addition to Bradley Blalock and Carson Palmquist, both of whom made starts for Colorado this season.

It’s a puzzle with seemingly infinite pieces at the moment, but some of the clarity for next year will come with two big decisions — what the Rockies do with Marquez and which young pitchers are ready to be a part of the Opening Day roster.

Whether he has a place on next year’s team or not, Marquez is hopeful the lessons learned this season will pay off for Colorado’s next generation of pitchers.

“They have to understand that baseball will have its ups and downs and they don’t have to be frustrated after a bad outing,” Marquez said. “They have good stuff and they have the chance to be some of the best who have been here.”

Those are hopeful words for a franchise that needs some kind of light at the end of what has been a very dark pitching tunnel.