DENVER (AP) \u2014 Speedy Colorado rookie Cole Carrigg hustled out a recent double, losing his batting helmet and leg guard along the way. He slid into second with such force that he ripped his pants, before hopping up and performing a little shimmy shake toward the dugout.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the new grit, the new attitude, of a team still in last place but finding a path upward under the watchful gaze of a new front office. This isn\u2019t the same floundering Rockies from a year ago that flirted with baseball\u2019s all-time worst record.<\/p>\n
At 32-49, the Rockies are already a plus-14 wins from where they were a year ago at the halfway mark. They\u2019ve turned the page on last season, too \u2014 on the last three seasons in which they\u2019ve dropped 323 games (2023-25). That\u2019s tied with the 1940-42 Philadelphia Phillies for the fifth-most losses by a squad over a three-year span in the modern era.<\/p>\n
Players like Carrigg and TJ Rumfield are helping bring a youthful vibe to the field.<\/p>\n
Outfielder Mickey Moniak said the mentality these days is winning instead of hoping not to lose.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s just a big step in the right direction. I think it\u2019s only up from here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Last season, the Rockies didn\u2019t win their 32nd game until Aug. 13. They were also 18-23 in one-run games. This season, they\u2019re 11-10 in games decided by a run.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven during games where we\u2019re losing, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a lot of panic,\u201d said the 24-year-old Carrigg, who\u2019s hitting .271 with three homers since being promoted from Triple-A Albuquerque on June 9. \u201cEverybody trusts each other. We all know that we\u2019re all great baseball players, and we\u2019re here for a reason. We have a really special group of guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
This young nucleus, which includes All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman and shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, gives them promise down the road (they currently have around a 0.1% chance of making the playoff this season). The team hasn\u2019t been to the postseason since 2018.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been a high level of commitment to elevate the story,\u201d manager Warren Schaeffer said. Rebuilds, though, take time.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why a front office led by Paul DePodesta and Josh Byrnes are being patient to make sure a consistent message permeates through all levels of the organization.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve still got a ways to go,\u201d said Byrnes, who was brought in as general manager from the reigning World Series-champion Los Angeles Dodgers. \u201cBut I\u2019m encouraged by the progress.\u201d<\/p>\n An area the Rockies plan to upgrade is the pitching throughout the system. That could be addressed through the draft next month or before the trade deadline in early August.<\/p>\n \u201cPitching is always going to be a challenge here when it\u2019s tested over six months, and it\u2019s our daily ritual of who\u2019s available, who\u2019s not,\u201d Byrnes said. \u201cCandidly, and it\u2019s been done here before, to build a pitching staff that\u2019s playoff-caliber and hopefully sustainable for several years \u2014 not just the players, but the methods behind it \u2014 is probably pretty high on the list for what we\u2019re trying to do.\u201d The Rockies do figure to be sellers at the trade deadline, especially given their surplus of outfielders. DePodesta is already starting to field some calls.<\/p>\n Anybody untouchables?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThere would be certain guys that would be really, really hard for us to move,\u201d said DePodesta, the president of baseball operations. \u201cThat\u2019s probably true for any team. There are guys that we feel are hopefully foundational players for us going forward.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the same time, I think we need to be opportunistic. We\u2019re not where we want to be. So, if there are opportunities for us to get better, certainly both in the short-term and long-term, we need to look at that.\u201d<\/p>\n One thing the Rockies are preaching on the minor-league level is position flexibility. Carrigg, for example, played outfield along with shortstop.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s good for you. It\u2019s good for us. Let\u2019s do it,\u201d Byrnes said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to require some work, but for the most part … it\u2019s going very well.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most important thing we can do is deliver a team (fans) can root for, a team that wins, a team that plays in October.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" DENVER (AP) \u2014 Speedy Colorado rookie Cole Carrigg hustled out a recent double, losing his batting helmet and leg guard along the way. He slid into second with such force that he ripped his pants, before hopping up and performing a little shimmy shake toward the dugout. That\u2019s the new grit, the new attitude, of … Continue reading A grittier Rockies emerging at the midway point, with young players fueling a new attitude<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1452],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1518376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-06-27 13:16:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1518376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1518376"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1518376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1518377,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1518376\/revisions\/1518377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1518376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1518376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1518376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nA path forward<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nThe trade deadline<\/strong><\/p>\n