Rockies pitching staff sets major-league history — the wrong kind

The Rockies won’t be the worst team in major-league history.

But by one measure, their pitching staff — at least their starters — found its way to the all-time depths, clinching its place there in the season finale Sunday.

Colorado finished the season with a collective-starting pitcher earned-run average of 6.65. And as former major-league pitcher C.J. Nitkowski noted, that would end up as the worst team-wide starters’ ERA in the modern era of major-league history.

Nitkowski, now a television analyst on broadcasts of Atlanta Braves games, was a member of the previous record holder, the 1996 Detroit Tigers staff that finished with a 6.64 ERA.

What to watch in the final weekend for MLB….

The worst all-time starting pitcher team ERA for a season.

Like the 1972 Miami Dolphins me and my 1996 Detroit Tigers teammates will get together and root on the Rockies with champagne close by. pic.twitter.com/qz15V4IijD

— CJ (@CJNitkowski) September 26, 2025

Two solo home runs by the San Francisco Giants at McCade Brown’s expense on Sunday sealed the Rockies’ historical fate. Willy Adames led off the first inning with his 30th home run of the season, then Rafael Devers went yard to open the fourth inning.

Devers homer‼️ pic.twitter.com/mr7hNhPpQs

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) September 28, 2025

After a subsequent walk and a single, interim manager Warren Schaeffer relieved Brown for Luis Peralta.

ONLY ONE ROCKIES STARTER WITH AT LEAST 7 STARTS HAD AN ERA BELOW 6.00

That was Opening Day starter Kyle Freeland, who needed a September surge just to nudge his ERA below 5.00.

The 4.98 ERA was an improvement over his previous two seasons. He posted a 3.73 ERA over six September starts, but he went 2-4. Five of those starts were quality starts, including Saturday’s.

Nevertheless, Freeland still finished with a major-league leading 17 losses, which matched a franchise-record set by the late Darryl Kile in 1998.

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