For a team looking to turn the page from a horrific 2025 season, the Colorado Rockies looked very much like a team stuck in the past over the weekend in Miami.

Yes, the cast of characters has changed from year to year, with turnover from the roster to the dugout to the front office. However, some of the things that haunted the Rockies last season showed themselves again in the weekend’s three-game sweep at the hands of the Marlins.

Three consecutive one-run losses like the Rockies suffered in Miami will certainly sting at any point in the year. However, for the Rockies, hoping to put the past behind them as a new season dawned, there were reminders of why the team racked up 119 losses last season and already has three in 2026.

Colorado was just 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position on Sunday, and that one hit came in the first inning when Jordan Beck cleared the bases with a three-run double to give the Rockies their only runs of the day. Over the course of the three-game sweep, the Rockies were 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position.

Those are numbers that won’t help a team win many games. It’s something the Rockies have to correct quickly if they’re going to avoid a stumbling start like they did last year, when they went 5-25 in March and April.

On paper, this team is deeper and more talented than last year’s squad. However, chasing bad pitches and not being able to come through at the plate when it matters most were calling cards of the 2025 team. In their first three games in Miami, this year’s Rockies looked a lot like last year’s Rockies in those regards.

Last season, Colorado hit .233 with runners in scoring position, the second-worst number among MLB’s 30 teams. It was something the Rockies had to improve upon this season to be successful. So far, the puzzle of hits in meaningful moments still seems to be one the Rockies can’t unlock.

However, as bad as things looked in Miami, the season is far from over. As manager Warren Schaeffer pointed out to reporters in South Florida after the game on Sunday, there are still 159 games to go, and the Rockies had their chances to win in each of the three games.

The frustrating moments in Miami will hopefully be teaching moments for a team that opens a three-game series in Toronto against the defending American League champion Blue Jays on Monday night. Schaeffer and his coaches said during spring training, that the players were in “la la land” because nothing had gone wrong for them yet. Now it’s about how this team will regroup and recenter north of the border.

For the Rockies to turn things around in Toronto, the starting pitchers need to find a way to go deeper into games. In Miami, Kyle Freeland, Michael Lorenzen and Jose Quintana each pitched just 4 1/3 innings, setting up the bullpen to carry the load the rest of the way. That’s not a plan for long-term success.

Were there some positives for the Rockies in Miami? Absolutely. Hunter Goodman has officially shaken off a slow start in spring training by hitting .333 early on. TJ Rumfield has shown an ability to hit for power and average as Colorado turns the page at first base. And even Antonio Senzatela looked solid in his new bullpen role on Sunday, throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and striking out three.

At the end of the day, however, the Rockies are 0-3 and stacking wins is the most important metric for a fan base looking to see some kind of improvement over last season.

So who could be the keys to turning around Colorado’s early misfortunes during scoring opportunities? A pair of outfielders who have started slowly at the plate could be the spark plugs if they can find their swings in Toronto.

Jake McCarthy, brought in this offseason from the Arizona Diamondbacks and inserted into the lineup’s leadoff role early on, is 1-for-11 to open the season. Brenton Doyle, who tweaked his batting stance in the offseason to get more consistency at the plate, went 0-for-11 in Miami.

Colorado will need both to click for its offense to reach the levels the franchise hoped it would see early in the campaign.

Three games into the season, the Rockies have shown the ghosts of 2025 still lurk in some places. Now it’s up to them to figure out how to exorcise those demons before hopes for a new season start slipping away.