The Rockies’ starting pitching rotation needs help from the rest of the team

The Colorado Rockies had a lead late in Monday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies before the bullpen took over and immediately squandered the game for the club. German Marquez threw six shutout innings before being pulled before the seventh inning in which Philadelphia scored four runs to take the lead.

The starting pitching rotation has been solid for Colorado to start. With Austin Gomber still on the 15-day IL, the rotation is only four players deep, but each pitcher has been good so far. Kyle Freeland threw six shutout innings in the season opener, Antonio Senzatela followed with 4 1/3 shutout innings, Ryan Feltner then allowed two runs in five innings, and Marquez looked to be back to his former self Monday.

Two runs in 21 1/3 innings is very good. Those four have been doing their job for the Rockies so far. It’s the rest of the team that hasn’t been helping them out. The club currently has five pitchers in the bullpen that have an ERA of at least 10. The only other team in the entire league that has at least five pitchers with that bad of an ERA is the Milwaukee Brewers, who just got torched by the New York Yankees and their torpedo bats.

After having the worst ERA in the league for the previous three seasons, these first four games haven’t been a sign that anything has changed for the Rockies. Bad news for the club, this isn’t the 1800s when everyone pitched a complete game for the entire season. They need help from the bullpen, and for the fourth consecutive season, it looks like that’s not going to happen.

Darryl Scott has been the pitching coach for the Rockies since 2020. In his five full seasons with the team, they have finished last three times, second-to-last once, and sixth-to-last once in team ERA. Is it time for a change?

It’s not just the relief pitching that has been a mess for the team so far, as the Rockies can’t score any runs either. They are one of just four teams in the league who have yet to score 10 runs this season, have the least amount of walks taken and are tied for the eighth-most strikeouts in the league.

The Rockies’ bullpen has been bad; no doubt about it. But it’s also been a smokescreen for what’s shaping up to be one of the worst offenses in baseball. Rockies are:
– worst in walk %
– 2nd to worst in K %
– 28th in ISO (power)

This is inverse 3-true outcomes

— Luke Hall (@OakTreeStatus) April 1, 2025

While it was rumored Monday that the club had an order of the new torpedo bats on the way, those will only help so much. Their benefits are amazing from a power standpoint, but if the players can’t make proper contact or take walks, what good do those bats do?

The Rockies have been getting good contributions from the likes of Brenton Doyle, Nick Martini and Hunter Goodman, but they can only do so much. Especially since Kris Bryant, the man that the team is paying $182 million, still doesn’t have a single hit through four games with just two walks, there are bigger issues on the hitting front.

Will a return to Coors Field help the Rockies’ hitting statistics make a jump up from the bottom of the league? If so, will it result in them winning games, or will it not matter with the way the bullpen is pitching?

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