Sloths show more urgency than the Rockies.
On a sun-splashed Thursday at Coors Field, with fans’ growing apathy reflected in the 18,593 paid attendance, they toppled the Brewers 7-2.
It was a victory that masked the ugliness of the first month.
Losing the first two home series of the season should qualify as shameful. For the Rockies, this is normal, the 3-9 start fitting in with a 3-9 mark last year and a 20-loss April in 2023.
That alone is reason to remain disgusted with this team. But worse, the Rockies possess a quality that most professional organizations avoid like gas station sushi: They make players soft.
Has there ever been a pro team in our city more comfortable losing?
This is why what I unearthed in the postgame clubhouse offered a morsel of hope. We want the players to care, to show that they are no longer treating Coors Field as a 4A minor league weigh station, that they realize results matter.
Ryan McMahon wants to be part of the solution if this team ever gets good again. He gets it.
Filling the leadership void created by Charlie Blackmon’s retirement, he spoke to the team after Wednesday’s 17-2 ear boxing by the Brewers, a travesty that featured four errors and a flammable bullpen.
“I am not really a loud guy. I am more of a one-to-one guy. When there are times that something needs to be said, I won’t be afraid to say it,” McMahon said. “Most of the time, it’s how you react in baseball and life. I think the guys took the message well.”
For way too long, too many players have been just happy to be here, and even more have been here only because the Rockies are the worst team in the National League.
The Rockies are on pace for a third consecutive 100-loss season, and there is no reason to suggest any moves will happen. Owner Dick Monfort values loyalty over competence. Patience over consequence.
This is what happens when a franchise operates in a vacuum, shakes its fist at the clouds about a salary cap and treats analytics like hieroglyphics.
Nobody expects this team to flirt with a .500 record. But is it too much to ask them to compete? To locate a compass and single-mindedly pursue a destination. We all agree that the Rockies are a draft-and-development organization that doesn’t draft or develop well. But manager Bud Black must embrace the youth movement.
“It’s hard,” Black said. “You want to win every game, but you have to balance the now with the future.”
The onus is on him to navigate the task. No excuses.
Keep giving at-bats to Zac Veen — he plays with his platinum blond hair on fire and delivered a celebration after his eighth-inning double that made me wonder if something was smoking besides his bat. Bring back Jordan Beck. If that means curtains for Sean Bouchard, who cares?
Any veteran in this clubhouse must bring an edge — as Ryan Feltner demonstrated by working out of a fourth-inning mess with a primal scream. They must set an example that will help the development of Veen, Chase Dollander and Michael Toglia.
The organization comes across as rudderless. Nothing is stopping the players from establishing a culture.
It is why the Rockies must release Kris Bryant. He is a nice guy. No one disputes this. It simply sends the wrong message to use a DH more concerned about not getting hurt than getting a hit. He has missed four starts in the first 12 games. At the same age of 33, Todd Helton played in 154 games with a surgically-repaired back.
The Rockies need swag, confidence. Brenton Doyle is one of few who fit this description.
“Ryan gave us a good speech. That was a rough one,” said Doyle, who delivered three hits and five RBIs in the win. “It shows a lot about us on how we responded.”
Watching the Rockies lightbulb flicker, the juxtaposition with the Nuggets remains striking.
They robbed the winningest coach in franchise history of his dignity Tuesday, firing Michael Malone to give the team a chance for playoff redemption. They canned general manager Calvin Booth to demonstrate their distaste for the team’s performance and the tension the pair fostered.
This as they woke up Thursday with the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference. The Rockies will need a telescope to see the postseason by month’s end if they are not careful.
The Kroenkes excel at silence, at living in the shadows. But regardless of my opinion on Malone’s exit, at least they want to win.
Is that thought even allowed at 20th and Blake? The concept has become foreign. And rarely discussed because that would demand Monfort holding accountable Rockies lifers who have failed upward.
Maybe Thursday is the start of something, of a retreat from embarrassment. Monfort is not selling the team. He is not hiring a real president, desperately needed to diminish the owner’s influence on baseball decisions.
Progress will happen only if Black holds players to a higher standard, if McMahon and others keep reminding their teammates they are sick of losing.
“It is about understanding we are better than (what happened Wednesday). We don’t need to just settle. We can make (bleep) happen,” McMahon said. “I think you saw that.”
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