The Rockies have spent most of this season making life hard on themselves, but the final stretch still offers a chance to leave a better taste in everyone’s mouth. They’ve already avoided the kind of collapse that defined the year before, and that matters. Colorado’s 95th loss last week left it nearly 20 games better than it was at this point in 2025, a sign that Warren Schaeffer has handled his first full season as manager well enough to keep this from turning into a complete wreck.
Still, the last two weeks have been ugly. The Rockies are 2-12 since September 4, and with eight games left they’d need a 7-1 finish to dodge another 100-loss season.
That’s a steep climb, especially with the Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Chicago White Sox still on the schedule. Even so, there’s at least a path to ending the year with some dignity if the pitching can stop putting the offense in impossible spots.
That task falls in part to Jose Quintana on Saturday night. The veteran left-hander has had a rough season and hasn’t pitched in the majors since the end of May, when a severe left elbow sprain sidelined him for nearly four months. His return comes with plenty of questions attached.
Quintana’s last outing before landing on the injured list was a rough one. The Diamondbacks knocked him out before he could get through the second inning, tagging him for six runs. His most recent rehab start at Triple-A didn’t offer much encouragement either, with three earned runs allowed in 2.1 innings.
The Rockies will need better than that if they want any shot at closing this thing out on a positive note. The lineup still has some punch, with Hunter Goodman, rookie phenom TJ Rumfield, and up-and-comer Cole Carrigg giving Colorado real power in the middle of the order. Goodman is two homers away from 40, and Rumfield is in the mix for NL Rookie of the Year.
There’s enough talent here to imagine a better-looking roster next season. For now, the goal is simpler: give those bats a chance to matter by keeping the games within reach. After everything this team has been through, a strong finish would at least make the last week feel worthwhile.
In Other News...
Jake McCarthy Is Forcing A Bigger Rockies Decision Than Expected
Jake McCarthy has turned what looked like a straightforward offseason addition into one of the more interesting decisions on the Rockies board. Since arriving in a trade, he has settled in as a regular starter and put together a season filled with career marks, from a 20-game on-base streak to a rise in power and run production that has made him a central part of Colorados offense.
The bigger question now is no longer whether McCarthy belongs in the lineup, but how long the Rockies want that relationship to last. He remains under team control for two more arbitration seasons, and with his production trending toward his best batting average and OPS, Colorado has a real case to consider a longer-term extension before the price changes again. [Read more 🡒]
Kyle Freeland Keeps Giving Rockies Fans One More Reason To Care
Kyle Freelands work in the community has become one of the steadier things the Rockies can point to, even when the on-field results have been harder to come by. This week offered another example, as Freeland and Rangers player Jake Burger teamed up for a special event for children with Down syndrome at GiGis Playhouse Denver through the Jake Burger Family Foundation, adding another layer to a reputation Freeland has built well beyond his starts at Coors Field.
Freeland has been a frequent presence in Colorados charitable efforts, especially through his support of Special Olympics Colorado, where he and his wife have hosted medalists at Coors Field and helped raise funds through raffles. It also fits with the kind of company he keeps in the Roberto Clemente Award conversation, with Burger named the Rangers 2026 nominee and Freeland earning the Rockies nomination for the fifth straight year, a reminder that his impact in Denver keeps extending past the mound. [Read more 🡒]
Kyle Freelands Rockies Legacy Is Getting Harder To Define
Kyle Freeland has spent enough time in purple pinstripes to leave a real imprint on Rockies history, even if the shape of that imprint is still open to debate. He is the franchise leader in games started and innings pitched, and his career 19.3 WAR is the best by any Colorado pitcher, the kind of accumulation that speaks to durability, trust and constant availability in a place where pitching has often been hard to sustain.
The harder question is what kind of legacy that actually creates. Freeland has been roughly league average over his career, with an ERA+ of 103, which puts him in a different lane than some of the more memorable peak seasons turned in by Rockies arms like Ubaldo Jimenez, Aaron Cook and Jhoulys Chacn. So the discussion around Freeland is less about whether he has mattered and more about whether longevity alone is enough to define him, or whether Colorado still needs a bigger signature moment to settle the argument. [Read more 🡒]