Today marks the start of the regular season in Major League Baseball in the Mile High City. The Colorado Rockies will greet their Opening Day faithful at Coors Field in baseball’s time-honored annual tradition, now in its 33rd year in Denver.

Manager Harry Ralston “Bud” Black, 67, will lead the team for the 2025 campaign going into his 18th managerial season, ninth with the Rockies. Black will be tasked with turning around a club that has posted back-to-back, 100+ loss seasons the past two years, a franchise-worst.

The team has run the gamut since the league expanded to 30 teams in 1998, going from cellar dwellers to the World Series in 2007. Like their crosstown competitors, the Broncos, it was eight seasons ago since Black and the Rockies made the postseason, his first season in Denver, with Wildcard appearances in 2017 and 2018.

Although there have been individual outstanding bodies of work over the years, collective efforts have not consistently produced the quality team product to compete at a playoff caliber for the Rockies. Players like Hall of Famers Todd Helton and Larry Walker and perennial All-Stars like Nolan Arenado, Troy Tulowitzki, Trevor Story, and Carlos Gonzales have posted remarkable numbers and added excitement in Denver sports. But the current teams have produced prospects, not superstars.

The team’s biggest and most expensive signing has not provided any return on its investment since his signing with the Rockies. Kris Bryant started the season during the road opener last week. Batting DH cleanup, Bryant had three swings and three misses in his first at-bat of the season. He was a healthy scratch in the lineup by game three after going 0-8.

Although the goal was to reduce Bryant’s playing time by using him as a designated hitter, Bryant has been a bust after three seasons, playing in a career-low 37 games in 2024, with three stints on injured reserve. The former league MVP, Rookie of the Year, and World Series champion has played in 159 out of the Rockies’ 486 games since 2022.

Going into the 2025 season, notable players no longer with the team include right fielder Charlie Blackmon, who retired after 14 seasons with the Rockies, second most in team history; LF Nolan Jones traded to the Cleveland Guardians for INF/CF Tyler Freeman; and Brendan Rodgers left in free agency making the Opening Day roster with the Houston Astros.

Key acquisitions for the 2025 Rockies include INF Kyle Farmer, OF Nick Martini, INF/CF Tyler Freeman, 2B Thairo Estrada, and LHP Scott Alexander. Also returning in 2025 after missing significant time in 2024 are RHP Antonio Senzatela and RHP Germán Márquez.

Players to watch in 2025: C Hunter Goodman, first player in Rockies’ history to start at four different positions at least four times; CF Brenton Doyle, NL Gold Glove winner 2023 and 2024; SS Ezequiel Tovar, youngest player in Major League history to win the Gold Glove award at 23 years old; 1B Michael Toglia, last year’s 25 home runs were most in franchise history by a switch hitter; and 3B Ryan McMahon, Rockies 2024 only All-Star player, who hit a walk-off grand slam in the Rockies opener last season.  

The pitching rotation for 2025 starts with Denverite ace Kyle Freeman, Antonio Senzatela, Ryan Feltner,  Germàn Márquez, Austin Gomber, and Bradley Blalock. Ten hurlers go into the bullpen, including Victor Vodnik, Seth Halvorsen, Tyler Kinley, Angel Chivilli, and Scott Alexander.  

Closing out the Spring Training preseason in the Arizona Cactus League for 2025, the Rockies finished 17-15-1 (8th), matching their record in 2012 and the exact win total of 2024. Their 4.53 ERA was the second-best pitching stat in the Cactus League while pitching at an altitude of 2,163 ft. Senzatela posted the lowest ERA in franchise history at 1.21 with 19 strikeouts and 4 walks.

Dates to mark on the calendar for Rockies’ baseball viewing include the upcoming Jackie Robinson Day on Tuesday, April 15, when they play Robinson’s iconic team, the world-champion Dodgers, in Los Angeles. The Bronx Bombers will bring their pinstripes and torpedo bats to Blake Street in late May when the New York Yankees come to town. The 4th of July fireworks will be at Coors Field this season against the perennial powerhouse the Chicago White Sox.

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