DENVER -- General manager Bill Schmidt realizes the Rockies are being chased by history, with each loss keeping them in conversation with the worst starts in MLB history.
“You feel for a lot of people, right?” Schmidt said. “Because there are a lot of people that care. You keep trying to grind through it. That’s all you can do.
“I know we’re better than we’ve played. We’re not good right now. We’re going to have to battle through it and come out on the other side.”
Schmidt spoke as his Rockies prepared for what turned out to be another eyesore loss – 21-0 to the Padres for the club’s third eight-game losing streak this season. At 6-33, the Rockies are tied with the 1988 Orioles in the Modern Era (since 1900), and before them the 1884 Kansas City Cowboys and 1876 Cincinnati Reds for the worst first 39 games in AL/NL history.
Before the game, Schmidt was positioned just outside the dugout as he watched batting practice – with the newly retired Charlie Blackmon, hired over the winter as a special front office assistant, having made a trip in for additional guidance. But Schmidt saw beyond his struggling club. In his mind’s eye, Schmidt could see what will be.
More accurately, what was supposed to have been. Injuries helped assure the losing.
Thairo Estrada and rotation member Austin Gomber before the season. Their expected talisman, 2024 Gold Glove shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, sustained a left hip injury during the season’s first series, and took other bumps and labored ineffectively until going to the injured list on April 16. Two middle infield depth players, Tyler Freeman (left oblique) and Aaron Schunk (left groin), went to the injured list with muscle strains.
Schmidt couldn’t help but allow his mind to go to Oklahoma City, where Tovar led off, Freeman hit second and Schunk also played for Triple-A Albuquerque in the 2-1 loss.
“I’m not sure you can have more depth than four middle infielders,” Schmidt said when asked if he could have built more depth in the offseason. “I’m not sure there are other things you could have done.”
Injured players – Gomber, Estrada and reliever Victor Vodnik (right shoulder inflammation) included – are trending toward returns.
The notable exception is designated hitter Kris Bryant, who said Saturday he is resting from an ablation procedure this week on his troublesome back, and hopes to ramp up strengthening exercises in a couple of weeks. Bryant is a candidate for the 60-day injured list should the Rockies need a roster spot.
Tovar was already in pain while batting .282 through the first five games. He landed hard on the hip on April 9 and missed the next game. But with leadoff man Brenton Doyle missing time because of a quadriceps issue, Tovar felt the lineup needed him. He played to diminishing returns.
Tovar went to the IL to get himself together, but the Rockies continued to fall apart. Poor starts by third baseman Ryan McMahon and first baseman Michael Toglia, and Doyle struggling through the quad and a bereavement leave led to stunningly weak hitting.
“I think it accumulates, but I’m not going to blame it all on Tovie not being here,” Schmidt said. “Tovie played a couple weeks but I’m not sure he was completely healthy.
“We’ve got to get guys back. That’s the big thing. Try to withstand the storm.”
But injuries don’t let the Rockies off the hook.
A rotation that pitched well during the early weeks has been mostly poor. Saturday, with a tired bullpen, starter Bradley Blalock walked two of the first three batters and didn’t get much better – a franchise record-tying 12 earned runs (Shawn Chacon vs. the Royals on June 7, 2003)-,plus 13 hits (but no further walks) while throwing 87 pitches in a laborious 3 2/3 innings.
About the only smiles came when catcher Jacob Stallings pitched the final two innings, allowing one run.
Problems go deeper than the starting pitching, even though its 7.31 ERA is third-highest through 39 games since ERA became a stat since 1913. (The ‘23 Athletics at 7.78 and ‘04 Rockies at 7.49 were higher).
The club replaced hitting coach Hensley Meulens with their former manager Clint Hurdle on April 17. But while younger players Hunter Goodman, Jordan Beck and Toglia (more at home than on the road) have made strides and McMahon is on a better path, clutch hitting is barely existent. The defense has been shoddy, especially lately.
Frustrations grow. Near tears after his loss to the Tigers on Thursday, lefty and Denver native Kyle Freeland – himself struggling – characterized the Rockies as “bad.”
“I know he cares,” Schmidt said. “There’s a lot of guys that care here, and we all feel the frustrations. We haven’t performed very well. We have to be better. These guys are working to get better.”
Owner Dick Monfort has not addressed the situation publicly and there are no rumblings of major changes. For his part, Schmidt is behind manager Bud Black.
“Buddy’s a professional,” Schmidt said. “He’s been in the game a long time. He knows how to handle it. It wears on him. It wears on everybody here. But he’s a professional.”
Going into the year, Schmidt and Black said the success of the season would be measured in “growth.” Flirting with some of baseball’s worst starts wasn’t planned, but the goal is still in sight.
“Still growth, still getting better, just playing better baseball,” Schmidt said. “We’re not doing that right now, but we’re capable of doing that.”