If the Colorado Rockies are going to get back to the postseason, their work in the NL West has to look a whole lot different.
Rocktober hasn’t been part of the conversation since 2018, and that club was nothing like the roster Colorado is working with now. Still, one area stands out as a major hurdle - and a potential turning point - if the Rockies want to climb back into playoff contention.
Beating division rivals matters. Maybe that sounds obvious, but in a brutal division like the NL West, it can shape an entire season. There’s talent everywhere, and Colorado has to find ways to stack wins against the teams around them.
The Rockies have shown they can compete at times with the San Francisco Giants and, to a certain extent, the Arizona Diamondbacks. The bigger mountain is the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, two teams that have spent plenty of Octobers in the postseason this decade.
Against San Diego, the gap has been glaring. Colorado won only two of 13 meetings with the Padres, and over the last three seasons the Padres have gone 26-13 against the Rockies. That kind of record makes it hard to treat Colorado as a true threat in the division.
The Dodgers haven’t been much kinder. The Rockies managed just three wins in 13 games against Los Angeles this season.
Across 36 games against NL West opponents overall, Colorado finished 16-36. Flip that to 36-16, and that’s the kind of season every Rockies fan would sign up for in a heartbeat.
Getting back to the postseason will take more than a lineup built around home runs. The source material points instead to the kind of team foundation that lasts: a long-term manager, quality pitching, and strong defense.
Even then, October brings its own uncertainty. A player can shine in the regular season and disappear when the lights get brighter.
The Rockies would love to find players who can raise their level when it matters most - the kind of October difference-makers represented by a Kike Hernandez or Freddy Peralta-caliber player. They did improve with their wins compared to 2025, and now the question turns to what 2027 might hold.
For Colorado’s young core, the next step has to come this offseason, whether the front office adds to the roster or not.
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