As if fielding a competitive and consistent rotation wasn’t hard enough, the troubling trend of increased injuries and surgeries has made the task even more challenging for MLB teams. Then there are the Rockies — the only team trying to piece together a quality pitching staff at high altitude. Of course, being analytics-adverse and insular in strategy doesn’t help.
As the Rockies forge ahead in their sixth straight losing season, one of the biggest reasons is that the starting rotation ERA hasn’t ranked higher than No. 29 out of 30 teams since before the 2022 season.