There are signs of real progress for the Rockies for the first time in years

There’s a particular skill required to find encouragement in a Colorado Rockies season. The wins don’t come easily. The standings are bleak. And the national conversation rarely has time for what might actually be going right in a city more focused on football, basketball, and hockey. But for the fans still paying attention at 20th and Blake, there are signs of something genuinely interesting happening, and the midday show wants to make sure those signs don’t get lost in the noise.

On a recent edition of “Dover and Cecil” on 104.3 The Fan, hosts Josh Dover and Cecil Lammey took an honest look at the state of the Rockies and landed on a conclusion that might surprise some fans. This team isn’t good. But it’s meaningfully better than it was a year ago. And the trajectory matters.

The numbers tell the story plainly. Through 78 games last season, the Rockies were 18-60, a pace that put them on track for one of the worst seasons in baseball history. Through 80 games this season, they’re 31-49. Still bad. Still in last place. But the improvement is undeniable, and the underlying competitiveness has been visible for stretches of the year that haven’t existed in Denver for some time.

Lammey framed the season in a way that asks fans to zoom out.

“If I were to tell you at the end of the year the Rockies won X number of games — the Rockies throughout the entire year, except for May, they were encouraging and interesting. Wouldn’t you take that?” he asked.

Dover didn’t hesitate.

“Hell yeah I would!” he said.

That exchange captures the honest read. Rockies fans aren’t asking for a playoff push. They are asking for a team worth watching on a Tuesday night in July, a roster that develops, competes, and shows the kind of week-to-week growth that suggests the future is going to look different than the present. By that standard, this year is delivering.

And there is a specific milestone within reach that would punctuate the improvement.

“Cecil, we’re looking at an opportunity for these Rockies to be .500 or better in the month of June,” Dover said.

That accomplishment may sound modest to outsiders. But the Rockies haven’t finished a calendar month with a record at or above .500 since September 2021. Nearly four years. That is the kind of drought that turns a routine baseball milestone into something resembling a genuine achievement.

The math is workable. Colorado sits at 9-11 in June with six games remaining, a stretch that includes the Boston Red Sox at Coors Field, the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis, and the Miami Marlins back at Coors. None of those series are gimmes. But none of them are insurmountable either. The Rockies have shown enough this year to suggest they are capable of stringing together the wins required.

This team isn’t winning a pennant. But it is finally giving its fan base a reason to pay attention. And after the last few years in LoDo, that is a more meaningful step forward than the standings might suggest.

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