Kyle Freeland emotional after what could be his final Coors Field start with Rockies

DENVER — The crowd was sparse Tuesday night as Denver native and 10-year Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland made what could be his final Coors Field start, but the emotions were worthy of a September battle between postseason contenders.

And when Freeland was lifted after allowing a leadoff single to Arizona’s Iledmaro Vargas in the fourth inning, the weight of the moment appeared to hit the 33-year-old career Rockie.

As fans applauded, Freeland waved in the direction of the first-base stands as he neared the Colorado dugout. By the time he sat down in the dugout a moment later, he was in tears.

🫡 pic.twitter.com/XUDDJ6Rs10

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) September 23, 2026

The 256th start of Freeland’s career — all in a Rockies uniform — didn’t go the way he wanted. The Diamondbacks got to him early, ripping four base hits at his expense before he could record the second out of the game. And after that, he allowed an RBI double to Corbin Carroll that reached the base of the left-field wall and a six-pitch walk before he could finally get out of the first inning with three runs allowed — and three runners left on base.

But with 50 more starts with the club than anyone else has ever made, you can’t write the history of the Rox without him, even if the final act wasn’t close to what he would have wanted as his five-year, $64.5-million contract expires after next Sunday’s season finale.

FREELAND’S TEN SEASONS SAW PEAKS AND A LONG VALLEY

If this proves to be Freeland’s final Coors Field start in a Rockies uniform, it was hard not to notice the contrast between the atmosphere Tuesday night and the one that greeted him for his first major-league start on April 7, 2017.

It was the Rockies’ home opener that year, and in front of a typically-electric crowd that greets the team’s first home game each season, Freeland was worthy of the environment, scattering four hits and two walks over six innings. He even chipped in a fifth-inning single as the Rox won 2-1, giving him his first major-league win in his maiden voyage as a starter.

In terms of WAR and earned-run average, Freeland’s best two seasons were his first two. Not coincidentally, the Rockies went to the postseason in both of those campaigns.

In some ways, Freeland’s diminished results and those of the team were connected, He had a 3.4 WAR as a rookie when the Rox fell in the wild-card postseason game at Arizona and a 7.8 figure in his second season, when the Rox advanced to the National League Division Series for the only time in the last 16 years.

His ERA has been above 5.00 for three of the last four seasons; it’s 6.51 for this season. That’s obviously not where he wanted it.

But in a Rockies rotation that went through pitchers like disposable diapers, Freeland was a mainstay. He made at least 25 starts in four of the last five seasons. And as time passed, he provided even more to a young clubhouse in leadership, guidance and presence than he ever did on the mound.

That’s not a bad legacy for the Colorado kid made good. No one in Rockies annals has more starts or innings pitched than Freeland, who also has the club’s best all-time pitching WAR, second in strikeouts, third in wins and 10th in earned-run average.

And in a home park that has shredded many a pitcher’s performance and confidence in a way that no other major-league venue ever has, Freeland had the resilience to keep taking the ball every fifth day, compartmentalize the bad moments and — far more often than not — give his team a chance.

If that was the end, it wasn’t a storybook-worthy final page. But in enduring for 10 seasons, he long ago showed his worthiness of the highest level.

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