2025 Rockies Spring Wraparound and Season Preview

Today is the day! We have made it through the baseball-less offseason and to Opening Day 2025! We over here at Rockies Now are thrilled for the season to start, and I’m here to tell you what to look forward to and why you’ll be seeing some new faces this season.

This offseason was one of the more eventful offseasons the Rockies have participated in. With big names like Juan Soto and Alex Bregman being signed to big contracts, the Rockies were able to fly under the radar and make some sneaky good signings. With the departure of Brendan Rodgers, the Rockies needed to add a second baseman while Adael Amador develops in the minors. Similarly to the Harold Castro signing in 2023, while Tovar developed, the Rockies signed another UTL that can hit for average, except this time, the UTL signing has a glove. In early January, the Rockies signed a one-year contract with second baseman Thairo Estrada. Estrada is coming off a career-worst year, but in 2023, he achieved a career-high 2.5 WAR and batted .271 over 530 plate appearances. After hitting .400 in spring training this year, he is expected to have a bounce-back season. Unfortunately, on March 20th, he was hit by a pitch and broke his wrist, continuing the Rockies' streak of breaking new things.

Other notable signings this offseason include: C Jacob Stallings, UTL Kyle Farmer, C Austin Nola,  LHP Jefry Yan, OF Nick Martini, UTL Keston Hiura, and LHP Scott Alexander. No one signed for more than a year. Some notable names that are no longer with the organization include: Peter Lambert, who signed in the NPB; Dakota Hudson, who signed in Anaheim; Jake Cave, who went to the KBO; Daniel Bard, who is currently a free agent; Brendan Rodgers, who signed in Houston; Cal Quantrill, who signed in Miami; Justin Lawrence was waived and picked up by Pittsburgh, and the big one, the Nolan Jones trade to Cleveland for Tyler Freeman. The Rockies made moves this offseason; some were better than others, but moves are moves, especially for this franchise.

Spring Training for the Rockies started off hot. The Rockies had one of their best starts in franchise history. In early March, the Rox were second in the MLB in run differential and hits while sitting third in batting average. However, as reassignments became more frequent, the numbers started slipping. They finished 7th in run differential at +5, 14th in batting average, and 8th in hits. It’s hard to gauge team stats in the spring, but when it comes to individual efforts, that’s a different story. Hunter Goodman had one of the greatest Rockies springs since Ryan McMahon in 2019. Goodman had 20 hits (3rd in the league), 13 runs (3rd), six doubles (3rd), and hit .444 in 19 games with 45 at-bats. His OBP finished at .500 and had a whopping 1.322 OPS! Other notable stats from Rockies hitters this spring: Toglia homered 5 times (2nd), Zac Veen had 13 runs (3rd), both Owen Miller and Veen played 28 games (1st), and Aaron Schunk played 26 games (3rd), Jordan Beck finished first in ABs with 65, and finished third with 63. The Rockies did, however, have five of the top 10 in player strikeouts, with Sam Hilliard finishing first with 27 and Beck finishing second with 25.

The pitching this spring was abnormally a joy to watch. A couple of different pitchers showed how much potential they have, and even a familiar face may have found his old form. Antonio Senzatela has pitched in only five games over the past two seasons due to a torn ACL and TJ surgery. That didn’t stop Senzatela from returning to the majors and tearing up the Cactus League. Senzatela threw 22.1 innings through six games, giving up only three runs and having a BAA of .203, which was suitable for ninth best. Because he only gave up three runs over 22.1 innings, Senza finished the spring with a 1.21 ERA, which was second to Mets pitcher Clay Holmes, who pitched 19.1 innings (qualified pitchers only). This was extremely good to see as a Rockies fan, and it’s great to know that with the setbacks Senza had, he can still go out there and put on the best spring of his career.

While Senzatela showed us what we currently have in the rotation, young pitchers like Chase Dollander and Bradley Blalock showed what the future holds for the rotation. While Blalock made the Opening Day roster with a 1.02 ERA through 17.2 innings, Dollander showed he still needs a little more time in the minors. Dollander pitched 17.2 innings as well, but he gave up 14 earned runs along with five home runs. He gave up 17 hits like Blalock did, but those hurtful hits called for the option. Dollander did strikeout a club-high 24 batters, an honor he shared with Kyle Freeland. Those 24 Ks put himself and Freeland sixth in the league for Ks. Dollander has excellent stuff, but he still needs to work on his consistency just a little bit. I would not be surprised if we see him in purple this season. As I stated before, it’s tough to gauge team stats in the spring, especially regarding team ERA. However, when it comes to the bullpen, I think Bud Black said it best. “Just pure stuff. We’re right there with anybody.”

So, what does this 2025 season hold for the Colorado Rockies? It's probably the one question that you’re here to see answered. This Rockies team is projected to be one of the worst teams in the league again this year, with the o/u being set at 59.5 on FanDuel. I think the Rockies could win more than 59 games this year. The team saw improvement last year. Whether it was the emergence of Brenton Doyle’s bat or a closer like Victor Vodnik, the pieces started to appear. With that being said, a lot of the pieces are still missing. I don’t see the Rockies winning more than 72 games, but I also don’t see them losing more games than they did in 2024. If Doyle holds strong, Tovar keeps churning out doubles, and the defense plays to the best of their ability, I think Coors Field will be turning some heads this year. My official projection is 72-90, marking their best record since 2021. I believe that call-ups from the minors will be plentiful and helpful as the season progresses, and they will start bringing this team to relevance. I know it’s too early to talk about the postseason, but as I stated before, I do see a postseason spot in the year 2027, as long as pieces hold and nothing crazy happens.

The Rockies 2025 Season officially starts today in Tampa Bay at Steinbrenner Field, with a scheduled first pitch at 2:10 p.m. MT. You can stream Rockies baseball on Rockies.TV, and don’t forget to tune into the Rockies Now Podcast with Steve, Tom, and MileHighMez on the Rockies Now socials, YouTube, and Spotify! Now, let’s buckle down, hold our breath, and watch some Mile High Baseball!

Projected Opening Day lineup

1. CF Brenton Doyle

2. SS Ezequiel Tovar

3. 3B Ryan McMahon 

4. 1B Michael Toglia 

5. DH Kris Bryant

6. 2B Kyle Farmer

7. RF Nick Martini

8. LF Jordan Beck

9. C Jacob Stallings