The Rockies’ trip to Nationals Park brought some ugly baseball, with a couple of solid games sandwiched in between.
Colorado got destroyed in the series opener on Monday, 13-3, to set a season-high of seven straight losses. But the Rockies bounced back with wins in the next two games of the series, 3-1 on Tuesday and a 13-1 romp on Wednesday, before falling 7-1 in Thursday’s series finale.
Here are three takeaways from the series split as the Rockies head to Atlanta for a three-game series at Truist Park this weekend before returning home for a six-game homestand against the Orioles and Cardinals. Colorado needs to go 11-17 in the remaining 28 games to avoid its fourth straight 100-loss season.
The start of Mason Adams’ audition
Adams, acquired at the trade deadline in a deal that sent center fielder Brenton Doyle to the White Sox, made his MLB debut on Tuesday. The right-hander allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts over four innings. That made him the second Rockies starter to post a stat line of one or fewer earned runs, three or fewer hits and five or more Ks in his debut, joining Antonio Senzatela.
The 12th Colorado player to debut this season, Adams will get an extended look in September, with the hopes that he can be an effective part of the rotation in 2027 and beyond. The Rockies desperately need Adams to fill a spot in that rotation, given their extremely thin options of big-league caliber starters on the farm.
Hunter Goodman keeps mashing
The Rockies activated Goodman off the injured list on Tuesday after the catcher missed nine games with a left shoulder strain. Coincidence or not, Colorado went 1-8 with Goodman on the shelf. The catcher immediately made his presence felt on Tuesday, homering in the fourth inning to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead. Then Goodman went deep on Wednesday again, his 36th of the year and 81st in his career to pass Chris Iannetta for the most homers by a primary catcher in club history.
Goodman continues to be a bigger threat away from Coors Field, as he leads the league with 21 homers on the road. And when Goodman homers, the Rockies are 17-11 this season. Beyond Goodman, Colorado is getting good productivity out of backup catcher Brett Sullivan, who has reached base in 20 of his last 25 starts since June 11. Sullivan is hitting .253 with a .526 slugging and 20 RBIs during that span. The Rockies would be smart to hang onto Sullivan, who is only making $800,000 this year, going into 2027.
Norby’s heater in purple pinstripes
Connor Norby has been on fire since being dealt to the Rockies by the Marlins on Aug. 3 as part of the deal for reliever Victor Vodnik. After the Nationals’ five-run fifth inning doomed Colorado in Monday’s crushing, Norby was central to the Rockies’ blowout of their own on Wednesday. He had a grand slam in the seventh and also an RBI single in the eighth as Colorado put the game on ice.
With a hit and a walk on Thursday, Norby has reached base in all 15 games since joining the club, the longest on-base streak of his career. In that span, he’s slashing .311/.415/.556 with five doubles, two homers, nine RBIs and nine runs scored. Norby, who played mainly first base for Miami this season prior to the trade, has been primarily a second baseman for Colorado. He can also play third. Under club control through 2030, the Rockies may have found a cheap auxiliary piece to help the rebuild over the next few seasons.
