Injuries are always unfortunate, yet they are a standard part of a Major League Baseball season. The fact is, injuries are inevitable and it’s important to have depth or reliable sources of relief when plans fall apart. When a team struggles, it’s easy to blame injuries, which certainly play a huge part in things, but in other cases, it’s simply a scapegoat for a poorly constructed team.
As the Rockies sit with the worst record in baseball and are on pace for the worst season in MLB history, injuries have been a notable point that general manager Bill Schmidt has emphasized.
“I’d like to think if [Ezequiel] Tovar was healthy, and [Thairo]Estrada, we’d be a different ballclub — you watched Spring Training,” Schmidt told MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. “I didn’t think we’d be 7-and-whatever it is. I kept talking about growth.”
Losing Tovar was definitely a blow to the Rockies and his return has been a welcome boost. But as we know, no single player makes all the difference in the big leagues as a team is the sum of its parts.
Harding recently wrote, “In recent days, Rockies GM Bill Schmidt has noted that the spring training injury to second baseman Thairo Estrada has done more damage to the Rockies’ record than folks want to acknowledge.”
Schmidt has been adamant about the effect of losing Estrada, which begs the question: How much of a difference would Estrada have made for the 2025 Rockies so far?
Signed to a one-year, $3.25 million contract with a mutual option for 2026, Estrada was pegged as the everyday second baseman for the Rockies until they figured out the plan going forward. Since Brendan Rodgers was non-tendered, the hope was that Estrada would fill the gap with high-quality defense and contact ability at the plate while bringing speed on the bases.
On paper, it looked to be a good signing by Rockies standards. A career .251 hitter, Estrada has always had a knack for contact and his career 20.1% strikeout rate is below league average. Two things the lineup has struggled with as currently constructed. In general, the Rockies hoped to replicate the overall success of the 2022 signing of Jose Iglesias, who slashed .292/.328/.380 that season.
The evidence of that potential success was apparent in spring training, where Estrada slashed .400/.421/.457 before sustaining a fractured right wrist on March 20. However, 2025 has made it quite evident for the Rockies not to put much stock into Cactus League numbers.
There is little doubt that Estrada could have been a notable boost for the Rockies’ lineup. In his absence, the team has used four players at second base, with veteran Kyle Farmer and rookie Adael Amador taking the bulk of reps. The -1.1 fWAR generated by second basemen is the lowest in the National League and second only in baseball to the Kansas City Royals, who sit at -1.2 fWAR.
At the time of writing, the Rockies sit last in batting average (.167), 29th in on-base percentage (.257), 29th in slugging (.231), last in runs scored (5), and last in wRC+ (33). They also rank fifth in strikeout rate (24.9%). The only positive they have going for them offensively is a 9.2% walk rate, which ranks 11th.
In general, the offensive production from second base has been stale. Farmer started off hot, then cooled off, and has shown some positive signs as of late by hitting his first two home runs of the season, but he’s better as a supplemental piece these days. Amador has gotten an extended look but has struggled to find consistency as strikeouts plague him, and he’s not making much contact or getting on base enough.
It gets more interesting at Coors Field, where the Rockies have a .181 AVG from second base. Estrada has been a notoriously good hitter at Coors Field during his time with the San Francisco Giants, and could find success, but that is hard to project how he would have done this season when he doesn’t have the luxury of facing Rockies pitching.
So, the offensive aspect is hard to judge for Estrada. It stands to reason that his bat could have contributed a few more runs that could have helped the Rockies snag a couple more victories, but simply getting on base doesn’t make up for the fact that the rest of the lineup struggles to make contact.
The area where he could make the most impact is on defense. Estrada has a reputation as an above-average defender, and when the Rockies have always prided themselves on defense, 2025 has been a mess. The team leads the NL with 39 errors, trailing only the Boston Red Sox (40).
Four errors have been committed at second base for the Rockies, which isn’t necessarily a lot, but it’s still enough to be noticeable at the big league level. The bulk has come from Amador, whose inexperience shows quite a bit as he continues to learn the position, committing three errors, with two of them on throws.
Collectively, however, the Rockies have -7 Defensive Runs Saved, with Amador responsible for -6 DRS at second base. That number does fall in line with what Estrada did at second base in 2024, although he was battling injury and still managed to be worth 9 Outs Above Average. In spring training, we saw evidence of the slick defense he could provide with Tovar.
Ultimately, while I do agree that losing Estrada was a big hit to this club, I don’t feel that his presence over the first two months of the season would have made much difference. ZiPS projections had him worth somewhere between 0.4 and 1.3 fWAR, which doesn’t move the needle much. Again, a team is the sum of its parts, and with or without Estrada, the Rockies were not going to be contenders this season.
The best they can hope for is that when he returns in the near future, he can play well and become a nice trade chip they can flip elsewhere.
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On the Farm
Triple-A: Renos Aces 7, Albuquerque Isotopes 6
The Isotopes made a stellar comeback to tie the game by scoring four runs in the top of the ninth, but fell victim to a walk-off as Reno the winning run on a single in the bottom of the inning. Fresh off being named the PCL Player of the Week, Ryan Ritter had three hits while Keston Hiura, Yanquiel Fernandez and Warming Bernabel each had two. All three players had key hits in the ninth for the rally. Hiura knocked a homer in the fourth and Sam Hilliard had a homer in the fifth. Jack O’Loughlin started the game and got two outs, giving up three runs on two hits with three walks, followed by Karl Kauffman allowing two runs in 2 1⁄3 innings of relief.
Double-A: Erie SeaWolves 5, Hartford Yard Goats 0
The Erie SeaWolves (who will get a rebrand courtesy of comedian John Oliver) blanked the Hartford Yard Goats. Benny Montgomery had two of the four hits for Hartford while the offense struck out 10 times against just two walks. Sean Sullivan made the start and allowed three runs on six hits over four innings of work.
High-A: Tri-City Dust Devils 3, Spokane Indians 2
The Indians game ended in heart break as a sacrifice bunt was popped up for a double play to end the game after they got the tying run to third and the winning run to second base with less than two outs. The Indians struck out 10 times and had six hits with Skyler Messinger, Aidan Longwell, and Jean Perez each knocking a double and Cole Messina hitting his fourth home run of the year. Micahel Prosecky started on the mound and battled his command, issuing five walks as he allowed two runs on three hits in three innings of work. Alan Perdomo suffered the loss after allowing the go ahead run in top of the ninth.
Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies 3, San Jose Giants 2
A two-run bottom of the seventh helped the Grizzlies come from behind and snag the victory on Tuesday. Jacob Hinderleider led the way offensively with two hits, but it was Felix Tena RBI single in the sixth and a Kelvin Hidalgo sac bunt in the seventh that made it a 2-2 ball game. The winning run for the Grizzlies scored via a bases loaded balk. Marcos Herrera started on the mound and tossed five solid innings, giving up one run on two hits while the bullpen locked things down with four scoreless innings.
★ ★ ★
Throughout the season you’re going to see more coverage about the Rockies than you have in the past and R.J. Anderson does a quality job pointing out some things that casual fans or the general baseball landscape tend to ignore.
Rockies sued for negligence after foul ball hits man’s eye while in a luxury box | KDVR
Hey, we’ve all been upset about the Rockies poor play but using it as a point in a lawsuit? A man from Parker was struck by a foul ball in 2023 and is now suing the team for negligence, with his lawyers claiming that the team hasn’t done it’s due dilignece in making the stadium safer by extending the netting further.
Roeckell’s lawsuit goes on to note the Rockies’ performance, noting a particularly poor showing on May 10 against the San Diego Padres, and said the team’s record has “contributed to a game-day environment” that makes a “stadium culture in which socializing, dining, and business networking have become the primary focus for many attendees.”
His lawsuit argues that because of this, the Colorado Rockies should expect that people in the luxury suites are less attuned to the game and are therefore more susceptible to injury “from conditions that were not reasonably accounted for in the stadium’s design and maintenance.”
★ ★ ★
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