After dropping Monday’s series opener, Colorado rallied with wins on Tuesday and Wednesday to take the series, snapping an eight-series losing streak on the road.

It also broke a longer road series drought within the National League West, as Colorado had previously lost 20 straight road series against NL West teams, tied for the longest such streak against divisional opponents by any team in the Divisional Era (since 1969).

Here are five takeaways from the series victory as Colorado now heads to San Francisco for a three-game series this weekend, before returning to Coors Field on Monday to face the two-time defending champion Dodgers.

The league is adjusting to Gabriel Hughes. Can he adjust back? Following a solid first month in the big leagues in which the rookie right-hander posted a 3.33 ERA over five games, Hughes has come back down to earth in his last two starts.

The Rays tagged him for five runs in five-plus innings on Aug. 4, before the D-backs blitzed him for 7 runs in 4 innings in Monday’s series opener to inflate his ERA to 5.61. Struggles were inevitable for Hughes, especially considering he ranks in the bottom fifth of baseball in average fastball velocity at 92.3 mph. How Hughes responds down the stretch will be telling for his rotational role in 2027.

Nolan Arenado reaffirms Hall of Fame future against former team. The Arizona third baseman was central in blowing up Hughes in Monday’s opening inning, launching his eighth career grand slam. Now in his 14th big-league season, and with a year left that will take him through his age-36 season, the longtime Colorado fan favorite remains on a trajectory toward Cooperstown.

No, he doesn’t have quite the power he once did. He hasn’t won a Gold Glove Award in four years. But even in his mid-30s, he remains a solid player. He is on track, or ahead of pace, to enter the National Baseball Hall of Fame after he retires by numerous statistical predictors, including the Black Ink, Gray Ink, Hall of Fame Monitor and .

The biggest question left: Will his plaque have a Rockies cap or a Cardinals one? Arenado’s peak years largely came with Colorado, but his departure from LoDo came on a sour note.

Sugano has been stellar — and the Rockies should try to re-sign him. The Japanese starter gave up a pair of solo homers in the first inning of Tuesday’s game, then promptly settled in for a quality start by throwing five shutout innings. When Colorado’s mid-game rally put Sugano in line for the win, he became only the sixth Colorado pitcher to win 12 of his first 17 decisions in a season, and the first to do so since German Marquez in 2019.

The Rockies went 1-for-3 signing veteran free-agent starters this offseason — Jose Quintana hasn’t pitched since late May , and Michael Lorenzen hasn’t been good with a career-high 6.83 ERA. But by hitting on Sugano, the Rockies found a guy who can pitch at elevation (3.93 ERA in 10 starts at Coors Field) and whom they should make a push to bring back in 2027 considering the team’s thin options in the rotation.

Sugano might want to try and sign with a contender, where he could be a valuable back-end starter, but it’s worth a try for Colorado to pursue him again after the club got its money’s worth out of the 36-year-old’s one-year, $5.1 million deal this season.

Veen makes an immediate splash in his season debut. Outfielder Zac Veen, recalled from Triple-A Albuqurque on Tuesday, made his impact felt in Wednesday’s game when he hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning for his first hit of the season. Veen played briefly in the majors last year after debuting, then spent the rest of the season in Triple-A, where he raked all summer before this week’s promotion.

Considering Colorado’s outfield depth, maybe Veen plays well enough down the stretch to stoke front-office confidence that he can be a future lineup pillar. On the other side of the coin, maybe a solid August/September performance makes him a trade candidate.

Whatever happens, there are a lot of cooks in the Colorado outfield kitchen right now, and somebody is likely to be offseason trade bait for starting pitching. It won’t be Mickey Moniak (just signed a new two-year contract) or promising rookie Cole Carrigg, but Veen, Jordan Beck, Troy Johnston and/or Jake McCarthy could all be on the block come November.

The road to avoiding 100 losses is getting tight. Even with the 6-4 win in Wednesday’s series finale, which was much-needed considering the Rockies are now just 4-13 in rubber games this season, the window to avoid becoming the fifth MLB franchise with four seasons of 100-plus losses is narrowing.

The Rockies (48-73) need to go 15-26 down the stretch to avoid 100 losses, a .365 winning percentage that’s slightly lower than its current winning percentage of .397. But keep in mind that 12 of the Rockies’ 13 remaining series are against teams that are in playoff contention. Colorado will just miss further infamy and finish with 98 losses.

PHOENIX — Nolan Arenado hit a grand slam in the first inning against his former team, Michael Soroka had a successful return on the mound and the Arizona Diamondbacks jumped out to a big early lead for a 9-0 win over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night.

The D-backs (64-56) moved to eight games above .500 for the first time this season.

Arenado hammered a fastball up in the zone from Gabriel Hughes over the left-field fence for his eighth career grand slam and second of the season. The eight-time All-Star played his first eight seasons in the big leagues with the Rockies.

Rockies’ Jake McCarthy wins National League Player of the Week

The D-backs pushed their lead to 7-0 in the second with three more runs. Corbin Carroll had a run-scoring double, Ketel Marte brought home another run on a single and Geraldo Perdomo scored on a wild pitch.

Gabriel Moreno and Ryan Waldschmidt had two hits apiece.

Soroka -- who missed nearly two months with a strained left glute — threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings in his return. The veteran right-hander gave up three hits, walked three and struck out four.

Zack Littell (1-0) made his D-backs debut in relief, giving up two hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings. The 30-year-old righty was signed on Monday after getting released by the Washington Nationals.

The only major blemish in Arizona’s win was that shortstop Geraldo Perdomo left the game after the fourth inning with left knee soreness.

Hughes (0-4) gave up seven runs on five hits and three walks over four innings. He struck out three.

The Rockies have lost six of their last seven.

Up next

The Diamondbacks start LHP Mitch Bratt (1-1, 3.90 ERA) on Tuesday night vs. Rockies RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (11-5, 4.51).

PHOENIX — Nolan Arenado ripped a double down the left-field line for his 2,000th career hit Monday night, joining an elite club that includes some of the greatest players in baseball history.

The 35-year-old Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman became one of six major leaguers with at least 2,000 hits, 350 homers and 10 Gold Gloves. The others are all Hall of Famers: Ken Griffey Jr., Willie Mays, Mike Schmidt, Johnny Bench and Al Kaline.

Arenado said it was particularly gratifying to join a small fraternity that includes Schmidt, whom he considers the best third baseman ever.

“He was the first to say, ‘I love the way this guy plays,’” Arenado said. “He was one of the first legends of the game to say, `I like this third baseman.’ That meant a lot to me. I’ll never forget that.”

Arenado connected on a fastball from Athletics left-hander Jeffrey Springs in the fifth inning of a 5-2 loss and received a lengthy standing ovation from the crowd at Chase Field. He is one of six active players with at least 2,000 hits, joining Freddie Freeman, Jose Altuve, Andrew McCutchen, Paul Goldschmidt and Manny Machado.

“This one feels good,” Arenado said. “I try not to talk about things like that when I get some accomplishments, but this feels good, I’m not going to lie. I’m just thankful that I’ve been healthy enough to do it.”

The 10-time Gold Glove winner is in his first year with the Diamondbacks after an injury-filled 2025 season with St. Louis. He was batting .244 with 13 homers and a .739 OPS coming into Monday’s game.

Arenado played his first eight seasons in the big leagues with the Colorado Rockies before spending the next five with the Cardinals. One of the best third basemen of his generation, the eight-time All-Star has a .280 career batting average with 366 homers and 1,228 RBIs.

“I’m honored to share the same dugout with him right now — watched him for a long time,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “The fact I get to manage him is a total honor for me. Future Hall of Famer for sure, and he’s just making our ballclub better with everything he’s doing.”

The Rockies catcher was named to the National League team when . This year’s 96th Midsummer Classic will be played on Tuesday, July 14, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

Goodman, 26, is only the second Rockies catcher in franchise history to be named to the NL team, along with Elias Díaz (2023). He’s also the first Colorado player to earn a second straight selection since 2019, when Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon and Trevor Story all appeared in consecutive games.

Entering Saturday night����ap game against the Giants, Goodman has 27 home runs — tied for second in all of baseball. And he’s doing it while playing catcher every single game, while the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez (27) and the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber (30) are only swinging the bat as designated hitters.

Goodman’s 27 home runs have put him in rare company in franchise history. Only Hall of Famer Larry Walker had hit more homers for the Rockies through 85 games than Goodman entering Tuesday. Entering Saturday night’s game against the Giants, Goodman had nine games remaining to surpass Walker’s mark of 27 homers before the All-Star break.

“The last few weeks I’ve gotten a lot of good pitches to hit,” said Goodman earlier this week. “I’ve been able to capitalize on those. It goes through spurts where there’s some weeks, you’re not getting a lot of good pitches. And there’s other weeks where you’re getting a good bit of good pitches to hit. And I’ve been able to capitalize on those recently.”

Goodman’s 13 homers in June led the majors. His power game also travels. Only nine of his 27 homers have come in the thin air of Coors Field. He’s mostly donned the resplendent faux-fur purple coat that the Rockies break out for home-run celebrations on the road.

Of Walker’s 27 homers before the All-Star break in 2001, 14 came on the road. Goodman’s 18 road homers ahead of the All-Star break are the most in franchise history, breaking a previous record set by Walker in 1997.

When asked to explain his unusual home-road splits on Tuesday, Goodman didn’t have any deep thoughts.

“I don’t really have an answer for it right now,” Goodman said. “I’d love to perform at home. I’d love to. As the season goes on, I think it will get better. I try not to worry about it. As long as I’m doing my job, it’ll work itself out.”

Goodman ranks first among all catchers in home runs, total bases (172), runs scored (56), slugging percentage (.550) and extra-base hits (41). He ranks second among NL catchers in hits (44) and third in RBI (50). He’s the second player in franchise history to have at least 13 home runs in a single month, along with Troy Tulowitzki, who belted 15 home runs during September of the 2010 season.

“There’s a lot that goes into it,” Goodman said of his approach this season. “Some of the stuff I’ve been doing in the cage has helped. Every day is a different plan of attack for whatever pitcher is on the mound. Guys throw different pitches, attack you different ways. You’ve got to know how they’re going to attack you and figure that out and look for a good zone for you to see the ball in.”

But if someone’s willing to hand him stupid money, some crazy return, for those sexy wheels? Here’s the keys, brother. Go nuts.

“I really like my car. I’m not looking to sell my car,” told me by phone Friday. “But if someone came up to me and said, ‘Man, I sure like your car, I’ll give you $60K for it,’ for some reason, I might do that. But I’m not looking to do it.”

If a contender is from their farm system for Goodman, the Rockies catcher who’s hit more home runs before the All-Star break (27) than any Colorado player since Larry Walker in 2001, then heck yes, you bite. You’d be nuts not to.

The problem? Szymborski says he can’t see any franchise, including the oft-discussed Yankees, that would be willing to meet that asking price for the sweetest ride on 20th & Bleak.

“Teams hang on to top-top prospects a lot more greedily than they used to,” Szymborski continued. “Although Hunter Goodman is really good, you’re not going to get two top-60 guys. (If you could), you do it.”

Goodman’s 26. and is reportedly under team control through 2029. He’s on pace to hit 50 jacks while paradoxically doing most of his damage (18 of 27 homers) away from Coors Field.

“I think (Goodman’s) bat will play anywhere,” “(But) I don’t think he’s going to be a guy that’s going to hit 40 home runs somewhere else. It may be that this is as good as it gets. This may be his peak. If somebody bowls you over with an offer, I think you take it. If not, I think you wait to do this at a time where a team is desperate enough to where you can really make it work for your organization.”

at minus-2 heading into the weekend, while T as a plus-2 through 484 2/3 innings behind the plate. So that’s a wash — a playable, decent glove with an All-Star bat. A bargain who won’t turn 30 until October 2029.

The Rox still may not be any darned good by then, which is the No. 1 argument for dealing Goodman now. But that’s also why the new(ish) braintrust of Walker Monfort, Paul DePodesta and Josh Byrnes can afford to be choosy. Goodman’s the fattest goose they can take to market. If they shoot, they can’t afford to miss.

“I think I would actually be inclined to hang on to him,” Szymborski noted. “The Rockies could get a lot of value for him, but this is a team that’s finally getting the idea that they need to throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. I think they could actually come together as a decent team in a few years.

“There’s still a lot of things to like. So it’s not necessarily a good time to trade (him). Also, catcher is a deep position around the league. So I would probably hang onto him. I would see the case for trading him, too, but he’s not going to bring back a superstar return.

“The problem is that The (Jeff) Bridich Era put the team in such a hole where they have little MLB talent and very little MILB talent. It’s hard to build from nothing.”

Which is why you can’t swap him for nothing, either. It’s easy to look at the suddenly-contending White Sox, who were somehow worse in ’24 (121 losses) than the Rockies were in ’25 (119 losses), and get stars in your eyes. Yet there are some significant circumstantial differences between the Pale Hose revival, the best story in baseball, and rebuilding purple pinstripes into a power again.

For one, the South Siders play in MLB’s version of the NFC South — and shock injuries to Detroit ace Tarik Skubal and to what feels like 70% of the Royals’ roster suddenly threw a crapola division into wide-open chaos. For another, after the Yankees and Rays, the American League this year is hot garbage compared to the Senior Circuit. For yet another, the White Sox microwaved themselves off the mat by dealing young, front-line starting pitching (Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito), with the Garrett Crochet-to-Boston haul somehow bringing back three solid starting bats into the ChiSox’s current lineup.

The Rockies don’t have anywhere near that level of cost-effective surplus of arms at present. And while the conversion of Antonio Senzatela from failed starter to late-inning weapon has been a revelation, set-up men typically don’t bring back much on the trade market.

Outfielder Mickey Moniak could help a lot of going-for-it clubs in need of a lefty bat, but he also went into this past Friday hitting .219 with a .689 OPS outside of Coors. Which means, whatever your buddy thinks the Rox would get for Mick The Stick, take away a prospect from that package, or drop said prospect down a minor-league class.

In the meantime, arguments for keeping Goodman now keep whispering like angels from the opposite shoulder. Even with a livelier ball and a three-outcome approach, 40-home-run catchers are rarer than the Wagyu at A5 Steakhouse. What kind of message are you sending to the clubhouse if you’re flipping a two-time All-Star in his prime? What kind of message are you sending to a fan base that’s been beaten down and conditioned to expect the worst?

“I think it’s dangerous asking your fan base to be even more cynical than it already is by trading a guy away at the point where he’s suddenly of value to other teams,” Jaffe said. “But I think you always have to be listening.

“If someone offers you the next Paul Skenes, I think you make that (trade). Always. But I don’t think anybody’s going to be offering that. They’re going to be trying to convince you that getting two A-ball prospects and a grab-bag catcher is going to be enough of a return.”

It isn’t. The Rockies have gone down this road recently at least twice before and whiffed on both occasions. The Nolan Arenado Giveaway of 2021 will go down as the nadir of franchise history and the worst deal in Denver that didn’t involve Russell Wilson. In July 2015, Colorado landed Jeff Hoffman, Jose Reyes, Miguel Castro and Jesus Tinoco for Troy Tulowitzki and LaTroy Hawkins, and again, the kids that came back amounted to bupkis.

Don’t settle. Set the bar high. Yankees farmhands Dax Kilby and Elmer Rodriguez would look awfully good in purple. But if the Bronx Bombers aren’t willing to go that far, close the briefcase, pack it up and move on to a suitor who’s serious. Or more desperate.

“Everybody has a price,” Szymborski said.

And you don’t move Goodman until a contender is hungry enough to meet yours. Not while the Mazda’s got that many miles left in the tank.

The two childhood friends from the Miami area lacked for reinforcements. That����ap life if you’re a Marlins diehard, especially when you live on another continent.

In his crisp teal cap with the original Florida Marlins logo and a custom-made black Jose Fernandez jersey, Pellerano was easy to spot Tuesday night sitting behind home plate — a Fish out of water among Rockies purple, cobalt blue and pink.

But taking in Coors Field for the first time after visiting some 20 other MLB stadiums, he said he felt right at home. If anyone can relate to downtrodden Colorado baseball fans, it����ap those from South Florida — the fraternal twins of .

“Brothers in arms, right?” Pellerano said, referencing a line from Walt Weiss, the former Rockies shortstop and manager who owns the distinction of playing for both expansion teams, starting with the Marlins in 1993 before joining the Rockies from 1994 to 1997. “We don’t have a lot of hardcore fans, because of probably a lot of spurning. And Miami is kind of a winner’s hype town. A lot of people jump on the hype train. When your team’s consistently good, they support you in droves.

“But if you’re bad and the ownership is actively not trying to improve the team, over and over, there’s only a few baseball psychos in every city, you know what I mean? And I’m one of them.”

Denver certainly has more than Miami. The Marlins have consistently ranked near the bottom in , drawing an average per-game crowd ranging between 7,934 and 14,356 fans. Once one of MLB’s best draws, the in attendance this season while trying to avoid the stain of a fourth-straight 100-loss season.

But to look at the two franchises, it����ap a lot like looking in the mirror. The unconventional when they arrived. The two franchises have nearly identical all-time winning percentages — the , the . The gruff Jim Leyland, one of baseball’s true gems, managed both franchises during a Hall of Fame Career. And, of course, home fans in both cities have become resigned to stadium takeovers by visiting fan bases — Cubs, Yankees, Cardinals, Red Sox — in two cities that attract many transplants.

The way Pellerano talks, he sounds a lot like loyal Rockies fans who can’t quit root, root, rooting for the home team, despite all the losing. The Marlins finished June with an MLB-best 20-6 record, and even after dropping the last two games of this week’s four-game series, they sit just .

That’s despite a payroll of just $80,392,535 — the second-lowest in baseball — while playing in the same division as the Mets, who have baseball’s richest roster at $

But Pellerano has seen enough broken promises from ownership, teardowns, fire sales, and beloved homegrown players traded or lost to free agency to get too hopeful about the future of Miami baseball.

“I don’t believe you should own a major league baseball team if you’re going to view it as strictly a baseball proposition, given how many people are emotionally affected by that team’s success or the way it����ap run,” he said.

So high, so low

That����ap not to say that there haven’t been some incredible highs. Despite neither team ever winning its division in 34 seasons, the Marlins have won two World Series, while Rockies fans still savor Rocktober in 2007 when the franchise won 21 of 22 to claim the NL pennant.

But the excitement generated from that inaugural 1993 season when the Rockies set and the Marlins drew a franchise-record 3,064,847? It feels like forever ago, said Debbie and Michael Kendrick of Basalt.

Both were at the Rockies’ electric home opener in 1993 when Eric Young led off with a home run. They were there in 2007 for Game 4 of the World Series when the Boston Red Sox ended that magical run with a clean sweep. Michael loved the Rockies so much that he worked as an usher for three seasons.

But that love has been tested ever since the Rockies’ last postseason appearance in 2018. Three 100-loss seasons and the prospect of a fourth had kept them away from the ballpark until Thursday, when they arrived with grandsons in tow.

Bringing the two boys to their first big-league game outweighed the couple’s dissatisfaction with the franchise’s trajectory.

“They’ve got to not only get talent but keep talent,” Michael said. “It����ap a difficult business. I wouldn’t want to be in it.”

“Our family has not been coming to baseball,” Debbie said. “Literally, our son wouldn’t join us because we feel like the Monforts need to put some money into training and keeping pitchers once they get them.”

It����ap not just the losing, Debbie said, but the lack of competitiveness in recent years. Especially last season’s debacle, when the Rockies lost 119 games and had a run differential of -424, the worst in modern Major League history.

“They don’t have to win,” Debbie said. “But you have to go there with the idea that they might.”

Rockies fans talk about losing homegrown stars like Nolan Arenado, Troy Tulowitzki, Ubaldo Jimenez and Troy Tulowitzki the same way that Marlins fans talk about losing Miguel Cabrera, Josh Beckett, Christian Yelich, and Giancarlo Stanton.

Debbie said she was devastated when the at the trade deadline for prospects.

She couldn’t fathom how the franchise was so quick to part ways with a talent that it had discovered at 15 in the Dominican Republic and had developed into an ace pitcher.

“I was like, ‘Why would you get rid of Ubaldo?’” she said. “I forget that it����ap ‘Moneyball.’”

The ones that got away

As Brad Pitt, playing Billy Beane, said in the film version, both franchises have been .

“Every time they have a good team, every time they’ve won the World Series, they’ve always dismantled the team,” said Andy Armas, who was born in Miami but now lives in Denver.

“It����ap just like the Rockies, right?” said Jose Miranda, another South Florida transplant. “We bring them up, and they sell them. Same old (expletive) next season. And next season.”

Miranda was at Tuesday’s game with his friend from back home, Ernie Diaz. Diaz said there are always a few Marlins fans who show up at Rockies games when Miami is in town.

“There’s a handful. We’re two of those five,” he joked.

Like Armas and Pellerano, Diaz said his fandom stuck with him as a boy growing up in South Florida. He’s been stuck with it ever since.

“I became a Marlins fan in 97,” he said. “I remember my family would make a big deal about the postseason. I remember doing Angels in the Outfield as a kid. And when we won the championship in 2003, that cemented my fandom.”

“The biggest thing for me is the atmosphere at the ballpark. If you’re not winning games, it����ap a really tough atmosphere to watch a baseball game. Over the years, we have had a lot of talent. The closest we ever got was that Jose Fernandez death. We had a really stacked lineup, and him being our ace, we had a really good chance of competing, but ever since then it����ap been tough to put a really good team on the field.”

Nick Klein, who grew up in Miami and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, moved to Denver in 2019. He said he became hooked as a fan in 2003, at 7, during the Marlins’ World Series run.

“The experience is really summed up by the old ball park, which is Pro Player Stadium, where the Dolphins play,” he said. “You’d just go to one of those games on a summer day and it’d be a hellscape. And you’d be sweating. It����ap a 70,000-seat stadium with 10,000 people in it. Even with winning the World Series, you kinda got how depressing Marlin fandom is.”

‘Not optional’

Despite it all, Pellerano said he’s grateful for every chance he gets to take in a baseball game. He returns to the United States during the winter holidays and in the summer. He always plans his summer trips around seeing his beloved Fish.

Aside from his daughter’s birth, his two greatest memories are of being at clinching World Series games. He was at Pro Player Stadium in 1997 when Édgar Rentería hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 7 to clinch the Marlins’ first title. And he was at Yankee Stadium in 2003 with his father when Josh Beckett shut down the Bronx Bombers with a five-hit, complete-game shutout, stunning the Yankees faithful.

“I lived in New York and I have my feelings about Yankees fans that aren’t super positive,” he said. “So, them being silenced in the biggest moment. Because they try and intimidate you with all their World Series championship videos before the game. And that team was undaunted. Josh Beckett was fierce. It was a crazy move by Jack McKeon to pitch him on four days’ rest. Because he knew if it went to seven, they’d probably lose. That was awesome.”

Klein said he didn’t empathize with Rockies fans, now that he’s in Denver, because the experience of being a Marlins fan is more brutal.

“At least they get people to show up to their games,” he said. “They still put out a good gameday product, and I think going to the games is actually what matters.”

Pellerano said he admired Rockies fans for sticking with their team, despite all the losing. It’s the same way he feels about his fandom, psycho or not.

“It����ap not optional,” he said. “If you’re a true baseball fan, you know it����ap not optional. Your connection with the sport and the game is something beautiful. And baseball is a beautiful game that can sometimes transcend the day-to-day. For me, I feel the same feeling that I feel about a baseball game as I do by the ocean. If you live in a city and were born in that city, you have to love that team. I’m sorry, if you change teams, except for a few extenuating circumstances, you’re a poser baseball fan.”

“Very nice,” he said, giving me a wry, knowing smile and a short laugh.

Some background is definitely required here.

In 2014, Weiss was managing the Rockies on a hazy, humid September Sunday morning at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Somehow, Weiss, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding, and I started talking about our 1970s crushes. We mentioned, of course, Farrah Fawcett and her famous poster, Cheryl Tiegs and her poster, as well as other supermodels and Hollywood stars. I said I once had a poster of pop singer Linda Ronstadt.

Then came the bombshell.

“I had a crush on Barbara Streisand,” Thomas said. “I thought she was hot.”

Walt and I were aghast. As Walt pointed out, “Babs” had a nose like his own. No way Thomas was telling us the truth, right? To this day, insists he was.

The kicker came after the Rockies lost to the Cardinals that day. Walt pulled us aside and said, “You know, when I was going out to the mound to make a pitching change, I kept thinking about Barbra Streisand. Thanks a lot, Thomas.”

The point of my ramble down memory lane? My nearly 28-year career at The Denver Post ends Wednesday when the Rockies host the Red Sox at Coors Field. I’ve covered World Series, Super Bowls, Final Fours, Nuggets games and scores of high school state championships alongside Kyle Newman. In the end, my fondest memories are not about games, highlight reels, strategy, upsets, or scoops. My fondest memories are about people. It’s what I wrote about best.

Being a baseball beat writer is the most gratifying of any of the major sports beats, in my humble opinion. You get to know the people, from owners and managers to players and clubbies to broadcasters and fellow writers. Meanwhile, the walls between the NFL and the media grow thicker and taller with each passing year. I can’t imagine Broncos beat writers talking about their boyhood crushes with coach Sean Payton.

I was hired by The Post in October 1998, joining Adam Schefter as a Broncos No. 2 beat writer, just in time to cover John Elway’s second Super Bowl title. In the summer of 2005, I was yanked off the Broncos beat and moved to the Rockies, as the No. 2 writer behind current Post columnist Troy Renck. It was a demotion for me, no doubt.

My wife, Nancy, and I were shocked by the grind of the baseball beat, especially back in the days when The Post still traveled to cover the Rockies. We eventually embraced the lifestyle, though it wasn’t easy.

Covering a team afflicted with chronic losing wasn’t easy either. I covered the Rockies for nearly 20 years, and during that time, they had five winning seasons, made the playoffs four times, and made one magical run to the World Series in 2007.

I’ve had to rewrite more deadline game stories than I can count. The adage in the Coors Field press box: “The Rockies blew another lead. And they blew another lede.”

But, all in all, it’s been quite a wonderful ride. What follows are excerpts from some of my favorite stories I wrote for The Post. The common theme is people.

McCaffrey family legacy

When I started covering the Broncos, first for the Longmont Times-Call and then with The Post, training camp was still held at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. The players stayed in one dorm, the media in another, and we shared the same cafeteria. Access to the players was incredible. I once interviewed Elway while riding in a golf cart as the fans screamed for autographs — Elway’s, not mine.

That’s how I got to know wide receiver Ed McCaffrey and his wife, Lisa. In 1999, I profiled their family’s rich sports legacy:

When 5-year-old Max McCaffrey plays soccer, his 3-year-old brother, Christian, can’t bear to watch.

“Christian is always trying to run out on the field to be with his big brother,” his dad said. “We have to keep reeling him back in.”

Christian can’t help it. The need for speed, the energy driving his little motor, the desire to follow the bouncing ball — they’re in his genes.

His grandfather won a silver medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Uncle Billy became a legend in the Pennsylvania Rust Belt and later won a national basketball championship with the Duke Blue Devils.

When she was a pixie in South Florida, Christian’s mom scored so many goals for her high school soccer team that her mug shot ended up in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd.”

Christian’s dad? All he’s done is win three Super Bowl rings, earn a trip to the Pro Bowl, develop a stiff-arm that could stop a rhinoceros, become one of the best receivers in Denver Broncos history and destroy forever the notion that white men can’t run.

Arenado’s SoCal roots

In 2016, Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado was a budding star. I traveled to his boyhood home of Lake Forest, in Orange County, California. While the Rockies hosted the Blue Jays at Coors Field, I sat in the living room of Fernando and Millie Arenado as they watched the game on TV. It was a remarkable day, topped off with a trip to El Toro High School, less than 10 minutes from the Arenado home. I spent an hour reminiscing with Mike Gonzalez, Arenado’s high school coach.

Here’s the beginning of my story about Arenado’s baseball roots:

LAKE FOREST, Calif. — The trim, stucco home looks like many others in this quiet, middle-class Southern California neighborhood. There is a basketball hoop out front and a beautifully tiled swimming pool in the backyard.

Step inside and you’re enveloped by warmth. Family photos cover every wall, every shelf, every nook and cranny. The family dog, a white Havanese named Mojito (“Mo” for short), hops up on the comfy couch to greet visitors.

Baseball is everywhere, too. Indeed, the home is something of an impromptu museum. Near the TV in the living room sits Nolan Arenado’s gleaming 2015 Silver Slugger Award. Open a nearby cabinet, and one of Arenado’s three Gold Glove Awards sits among a sea of memorabilia.

Likely more baseball stuff will be added after Tuesday night����ap All-Star Game in San Diego, where Arenado, the Rockies’ third baseman, will be appearing, the second year in a row he was voted in by fellow major-league players. Who knows? Perhaps an All-Star Game MVP trophy will be his newest baseball heirloom. At the very least, his All-Star Game jersey will find a place in the Arenado home.

Upstairs is the “Bonus Room,” as the family calls it. In the middle sits a pool table, now overflowing with framed photos, jerseys and signed baseballs. On the couch in front of a big-screen TV sits a Star Wars stormtrooper helmet. Back in the day, Arenado wore it while playing video games.

A day in the life of Buddy Black

I covered five managers in my time with the Rockies: Clint Hurdle, a force of nature and philosophy; Loquacious Jim Tracy, one of the nicest men I’ve ever met; Weiss, a fellow Bruce Springsteen fanatic; Bud Black, a walking baseball encyclopedia who’s beloved throughout the game; and current manager Warren Schaeffer, full of incredible passion and heart.

Of all of the Rockies’ managers, I know Black the best. We’re near the same age and share the same sense of humor. We still text frequently. In 2018, in the midst of a race for the National League West title, Black allowed me to go behind the scenes and chronicle a day in the life of a big-league manager:

It����ap the second week of September, the Rockies are chasing their first division title, and Bud Black has former Bronco Peyton Manning on his mind.

He’s trying to figure out a way to get the legendary quarterback to appear in a video that would play on the giant scoreboard at Coors Field as the Rockies make their run to a possible National League West crown.

“I want Peyton, waving his arms up and down, to get the crowd going,” Black says. “Hey, we don’t care about the snap count! We want it loud! ‘Omaha! Omaha!’ ”

Later in the afternoon, he’ll call in Julian Valentin, the director of social media, to see if there has been any progress on Project Peyton. (Valentin tells Black that it����ap being looked into).

Black’s office, down the hallway from the players’ spacious clubhouse, contains a comfy black-leather couch and a tidy desk. Photographs of Coors Field adorn the walls, including one that captures the joy of a young boy watching a game. Encased in a glass frame is the lineup and a baseball from Black’s first game as Rockies manager. It����ap dated April 3, 2017, a game in which the Rockies beat the Brewers at Milwaukee, 7-5.

Black has plenty on his to-do list, though he goes about his chores with a relaxed, easy manner. Colorado’s second-year manager, age 61, plans to watch video, meet with his coaches, chat with some players and confer with head trainer Keith Dugger. The night before, the Rockies hammered the Diamondbacks, 13-2. With nothing to stew over and no second-guesses haunting him, he got an excellent night����ap sleep. Today, he’s open to having a reporter shadow him, from arriving at the ballpark just after noon through another critical game that night vs. Arizona.

Helton gets the call

Todd Helton is the greatest player in Rockies history. He’s a complex, moody, smart and extremely funny man. His sense of humor can be cutting and takes some getting used to. Somehow, we bonded.

In January 2024, Helton invited Thomas and me to his home outside Knoxville, Tenn., to be there with his family and close friends when he got the call that he’d been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. We all figured he’d get in, but there were no guarantees. It turned out to be one of the most memorable days of my career:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Todd Helton, arms folded across his chest, nervously paced the living room of his home Tuesday afternoon.

“I haven’t been superstitious for 10 years, not since I retired,” the Rockies’ iconic first baseman said. “Today, I’m superstitious. I didn’t look at anything, I didn’t watch anything, I didn’t look at the internet.”

He could have spared himself the angst.

Because, fittingly, at 5:17 p.m. Eastern time, No. 17 got the call of a lifetime. Told that he had been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Helton pumped his fist and finally took a deep breath.

“It����ap the greatest honor you can get as a baseball player,” Helton said. “Getting your number retired and getting elected to the Hall of Fame are the two greatest achievements you can get.”

Still, Helton wasn’t quite ready to let it all go.

“I’m going to go (crazy) when y’all leave,” he said.

The sweet-swinging Helton, the beloved heart and soul of the Rockies for 17 seasons and one of the most accomplished players of his era, received 79.7% of the vote, clearing the 75% bar required by the Hall of Fame and the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Matzek, ‘The Yips,’ and me

We’ve all got something. Mine is anxiety and depression, something I’ve dealt with for much of my adult life.

That’s why I was so interested in Tyler Matzek’s story. The former Rockies pitcher had such a bad case of the yips, brought on by performance anxiety, that it nearly ruined his baseball career. In December 2015, we met in a Southern California coffee shop and talked for nearly three hours. He was remarkably candid.

In 2021, he won a World Series as a shutdown reliever for the Braves. But before that, I wrote this story:

LAGUNA HILLS, Calif. — On Sept. 5, 2014, at Coors Field, Tyler Matzek pitched a three-hit shutout against the San Diego Padres. Poised and confident, and throwing a 94 mph fastball with graceful ease, the Rockies’ rookie left-hander was dominant. Over his final six starts, Matzek went 4-2 with a 1.55 ERA. He looked like the Rockies’ ace of the future.

Yet demons lurked in the corners of Matzek’s mind, and by the time he took the mound for the Rockies’ 2015 home opener April 10, he was headed for trouble.

“Even when things were going the right way, there was this overwhelming stress inside me that just kept building and building and building,” Matzek said recently while sipping coffee at a Starbucks in Southern California. “(Then) I just couldn’t hold that stress any longer and my game collapsed.”

Matzek was suffering from performance anxiety.

It wrecked him on the mound and even began to creep into his everyday life.

“My wife, Lauren, said it was our worst time, relationship-wise, because I was so tight, so stressed, just waiting to explode from this thing,” Matzek said. “She knew it wasn’t about her, but it was hard.”

But the quiet, intelligent 25-year-old confronted his condition head-on, confident he would fulfill the promise that prompted the Rockies to make him the 11th pick in the first round of the 2009 draft. He is determined to compete for a job in the Rockies’ starting rotation in spring training.

Thanks, mom

The day after I cover my final Rockies game, Nancy and I are flying to Southern California. We’ll join my extended family to scatter the ashes of my mom, Anita, and my dad, Dusty, in Laguna Beach, their favorite vacation spot.

This is my final chance to say thanks, sharing past stories with you:

Somewhere up there, my mom is smiling.

Ryan McMahon hit a home run for the Rockies in their 4-3 win over the Giants on Thursday night. McMahon broke out of a horrendous slump.

“RyMac” was my mom’s second-favorite Rockie, right behind Todd Helton. Why? Partly because he’s Irish, mostly because I like RyMac.

She was thrilled when Helton invited me to his Knoxville, Tenn., home to witness his Hall of Fame phone call in January 2024. When my wife, Nancy, and I were invited to Helton’s party in Cooperstown last July, my mom felt like she was there.

During her last years, I watched Rockies road games with her when I could. She rarely asked why the team was winning or losing. Strategy was not her thing. She always asked, “Is so and so a good guy?”

That����ap the kind of sports fan my mom was. She knew nothing about OPS, yards after catch, 3-point percentages, or point spreads. She just liked how players played and hoped they were good people. She loved Dr. J, Nolan Arenado and Floyd Little.

In the Broncos’ infancy, when Little was their only star and the game plan was “Little off left tackle, Little off right tackle,” my mom would shout, “Don’t hurt Floyd!”

In her later years, she’d tried to stay up late enough to watch manager Bud Black’s postgame news conference, not because she wanted to hear his explanations but to hear me ask a question.

Thanks, dad

I wrote this journal a few months before my dad died in May 2022:

What do you get your dad for his 90th birthday?

I’ve been pondering that question for the past few weeks. I kept striking out.

Then, as I perused the web, I came across a cool T-shirt. Cardinals red, the shirt displays the image of Stan Musial, leaning on a baseball bat. The script simply reads: The MAN.

How many sports-related T-shirts, sweatshirts and books have I given my dad over the years? I’ve lost track. It doesn’t matter. My dad’s going to love his “Stan the Man” T-shirt.

A father and son bonding over sports is not unique, but it is different for every father and son.

Walter Patrick “Dusty” Saunders was born on Sept. 24, 1931, in Denver. He was a lonely kid. His father died when he was 9 years old, and his mom died when he was 10.

In the 1940s, my dad’s companions were the radio, books and sports. He became a St. Louis Cardinals fan because he could pick up the strong signal from KMOX radio in St. Louis. Musial was his favorite player.

In 2006, my first full year on the Rockies beat, I took my dad to St. Louis for Father’s Day to watch the Rockies play the Cardinals in the first year of the new Busch Stadium. He chatted with Clint Hurdle and Todd Helton. After the game, my dad, MLB.com Rockies beat writer Thomas Harding and I had dinner at former Cardinal Mike Shannon’s restaurant. Thomas and I still talk about that day.

Cole Carrigg’s off to a pretty solid start in his MLB career, but why was he promoted instead of Charlie Condon or Zac Veen? Was he just playing that much better than them? Is it to manage their service time in the majors? A little of both? Thanks.

— Marshall, Parker

Marshall, since you submitted your question, Carrigg has been sensational. It’s not about service time.

In the Rockies’ excruciating loss to the Cubs on Monday night, he drove in all four runs and hit an eighth-inning, three-run home run that should have stood as the game-winner.

Carrigg plays with a swagger and an edge, and in that regard, he reminds me of Troy Tulowitzki as a rookie. I asked one of Tulo’s former teammates if he shared my opinion.

“I see some,” the teammate responded. “Tulo wasn’t on the razor’s edge of out of control like Carrigg.”

Anyway, to your question, the Rockies front office sees a lot of things that fans don’t see, and that I don’t see or consider. Paul DePodesta, the president of baseball operations, recently told me that they take a hard look at “the process” a player has in the minors as a major part of their decision on when to promote a player.

Carrigg has proven that he was ready. I think promotions for Condon and Veen could very well depend on what happens as the trade deadline nears.

Patrick, I heard you’re leaving soon. It’s been a pleasure reading your coverage all these years. The Denver sports community is losing an absolute legend. What are some of the most memorable moments of your career?

— Ryan C., Aurora

Ryan, thanks for your kind comments.

Leaving The Post after nearly 28 years is a hard and emotional decision, but it was time. The buyout I was offered made me accelerate my retirement timeline. The baseball beat, particularly covering a losing Rockies team over the last few years, has been a grind. Plus, the industry is changing fast, and I’m becoming a bit of a dinosaur.

I have far too many memories to mention here in any detail, so I will list a few: Rocktober; covering all three of the Broncos’ Super Bowl title wins; watching Nolan Arenado play third base; spending time in the dugout talking baseball and music with Bud Black; being at Todd Helton’s house in Tennessee when he got the call that he was elected to the Hall of Fame; working with some incredible colleagues, especially Kyle Newman and Troy Renck; crazy, fun times in the press box with the crew; covering games at all 30 major league ballparks; having Coors Field as my office on perfect summer nights; and forming a friendship with MLB.com’s Thomas Harding, with whom I’ve had a bromance for 25 years.

I’ll be writing a farewell story soon, so keep an eye out for it.

Did you expect T.J. Rumfield to be our breakout star this season? I certainly didn’t, but, boy, is it nice to have a solution at first base after so many years of failed experiments. Do you think he’ll win the Rookie of the Year award?

— Mike, Denver

Mike, I was excited about Rumfield after seeing him play in spring training and reading the reports on his skill set. As I wrote in February: “T.J. Rumfield was a big-league first baseman trapped in Triple-A limbo.”

But I have been surprised by the quality of his at-bats; he’s been hitting like a seasoned veteran. His glove work at first base has been outstanding.

However, I don’t think he’ll be named the National League’s top rookie, for a few reasons.

First, he plays in Colorado for a team with the worst record in baseball and he’s not going to get much attention from the baseball writers who vote for the award.

Second, he plays his home games at Coors Field, which will automatically disqualify him in the minds of some voters. That’s a shame, because he’s hit just as well on the road as at home. At Coors, he’s slashing .263/.353/.449 (.802 OPS), with five homers and 22 RBIs. On the road, he’s slashing .287/.359/.465 with four homers and 12 RBIs.

Third, there are several strong candidates, led by Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt, Reds first baseman Sal Stewart, and Mets right-hander Nolan McLean.

Are you surprised, disappointed, or comfortably numb by how the Rockies have performed so far this season?

— Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.

Comfortably numb? You must be a Pink Floyd fan.

Anyway, I’m not sure my characterization is on your list. I would say mildly encouraged, but the state of the pitching staff is a huge concern.

Hey Patrick! Who do you think has the best shot at becoming our lone representative at the All-Star Game? I thought it was going to be Mickey Moniak before he went on IL. I feel like our best shots are Hunter Goodman, Antonio Senzatela or Tomoyuki Sugano.

— Ryan, Aurora

Ryan, the Rockies will have only one representative, and it’s going to be Goodman for the second consecutive season. As I write this, he’s slashing .255/.327/.537 (.864 OPS) with 27 RBIs.

Not only has Johnston been one of the National League’s most productive hitters, but he’s also injected fun and energy into the clubhouse. And he’s become a fan favorite.

“People (who) watch television can point directly to Troy, he’s got a big personality,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “We love Troy here. We absolutely love him. He brings a lot to the table in terms of his skills — on and off the field — and does bring a (special) vibe.”

What the outfielder/first baseman is doing at the plate, especially in the clutch, is exceptional. Entering Friday night’s game against the Brewers at Coors Field, Johnston was hitting .431 (22 for 51, including seven doubles) with runners in scoring position, the second-highest average in the majors behind the Athletics’ Nick Kurtz (.475, 19 for 40).

Overall, Johnston was hitting .320 with 27 RBIs.

Colorado claimed Johnston, 28, off waivers from the Marlins in November. He was by no means a lock to make the big-league team out of spring training, especially since he still has a minor league option and could have been assigned to Triple-A Albuquerque.

“It����ap all still just baseball,” Johnston said during spring training. “But you have to have a good, sound approach and still be athletic. And you have to have fun. So I’m doing what I can to make the team, make the adjustments I need to make, and go out and have fun.”

He’s having a ball right now. Johnston entered Friday’s game with multiple hits in a career-best four straight games. But it’s his ability to deliver baserunners to the plate that stands out most.

“With runners in scoring position, nothing should change,” Schaeffer said. “It’s all mentality. It’s all about how even-keeled you can stay. How slow is your heartbeat?

“I mean, you look at guys like (former Rockies third baseman) Nolan Arenado, or other guys who drive in a lot of runs, they stay the same guy. They don’t freak out because of the situation. They keep the same mentality — which is confidence. And Troy has a ton of it.”

Johnston, who was drafted by Miami in the 17th round of the 2019 draft out of Gonzaga, played six seasons in the minors and didn’t make his major league debut until July 29 of last season. He played in 44 games for the Marlins, slashing .277/.331/.420 with four home runs, two doubles, one triple, and 13 RBIs. With runners in scoring position, he hit .267 (8 for 30).

Johnston prides himself on his ability to handle the bat and put balls in play. He’s learned to exhale at the plate and focus on the task at hand.

“You know, I’ve been playing pro baseball for quite a while,” he said. “I don’t have that many games in the big leagues, but what I have found is that when you just try to put the ball in play, don’t press too much, and just try to make things happen, well, sometimes good things do happen.

“And sometimes it’s out of your hands. That’s all part of baseball. I try to remember that.”

Gordon to IL: Colorado’s starting rotation has taken another hit. Right-hander Tanner Gordon was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 2, with a right hip impingement.

The club recalled right-hander Zach Agnos from Triple-A Albuquerque. There is a chance that Agnos could start in Gordon’s place on Saturday against the Brewers.

Rumfield loses homer. First baseman TJ Rumfield’s home run total dropped from eight to seven on Friday when Major League Baseball made a scoring change.

In the fourth inning of the Rockies’ 8-2 win over the Angels on Tuesday night, TJ Rumfield hit a line drive to right center. Angels right fielder Jo Adell caught up to the ball, but it glanced off his glove, ricocheted off his forehead, and went over the yellow line for a home run. However, MLB ruled that Adell committed a four-base error and took the homer away from Rumfield.

Climbing the Charts

Outfielder/first baseman Troy Johnston is making his mark in his first season with the Rockies:
• .320 batting average: Ranks fifth in the majors (fourth in National League)
• .347 batting average at Coors Field: Sixth-highest home average in the majors.
• .431 batting average with RISP: Second-highest average in the majors.
• 17 doubles: Tied for fifth in the majors (fourth in NL)

Note: Through games of June 4
Source: Colorado Rockies

Sitting in the dugout at Coors Field, the 35-year-old pitcher asked why, after all of his fame and success in his native Japan, he was pitching in the majors, 5,800 miles from home.

“I was in the latter part of my career in Japan, and I just didn’t want to have any regrets, looking back at my career,” he said, using Yuto Sakurai as his interpreter. “It was one of the things I wanted to accomplish.”

American baseball fans might know the basics about the man dubbed “Tommy Sugar.” For instance, he won two back-to-back Sawamura Awards in 2017-18, equivalent of the Cy Young Award.

In the World Baseball Classic in 2017, he was Japan’s ace. In the Sugano dominated Team USA, pitching six innings and allowing just one unearned run on three hits. Although Japan lost, 2-1, he struck out six — fanning Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado three times and Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich and Adam Jones once each.

Rockies fans have seen Sugano, who signed a one-year, $5.1 million contract, become the club’s most consistent starting pitcher. After tossing 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball in Colorado’s 3-2 win at Arizona on Friday night, he’s 4-3 with a 3.86 ERA over 10 starts.

In 2025, Sugano went 10-10 with a 4.64 ERA in 30 starts with Baltimore after signing a one-year, $13 million deal.

But his short stint in America doesn’t begin to paint a picture of how big a star the right-hander was for 12 seasons with the Yomiuri (Tokyo) Giants.

“He was the best pitcher in Japan for a decade,” said Ryan Spilborghs, currently a Rockies TV analyst, who played seven seasons with the Rockies and spent the 2013 season with the Saitama Seibu Lions of the Japanese Pacific League.

“It’s the equivalent of someone like Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, or Justin Verlander going to Japan after their elite run in the majors,” Spilborghs added.

But Sugano wasn’t just an ace in baseball-crazy Japan; he was baseball royalty.

He was 5 years old when he sat among the sold-out crowd at the Tokyo Dome to watch his uncle, in October 1995. Hara, a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, was one of the elite power hitters of the 1980s. In his final game, Hara blasted his 382nd and final home run.

Hara played 15 seasons for Yomiuri from 1981-95, and won three Japan Series titles (1981, 1989, and 94).

Following his playing career, Hara became the Yomiuri Giants’ manager and managed his nephew in two separate stints (2014-15 and 2019-23). And Sugano’s baseball bloodlines run ever deeper. His grandfather, Mitsugu Hara, was a standout high school and college coach, and Sugano’s father, Takashi Sugano, pitched in college.

“Tatsunori, Tomoyuki’s uncle, was like the crown prince of baseball in Japan,” said Margaret Narumi, a television producer who worked out of Los Angeles-based NHK Cosmomedia America for 29 years, bringing Major League Baseball games to Japan.

“Not only was Tatsunori a super, superstar in Japan, but he was really good looking,” Narumi added. “So all of the girls were following him like crazy.”

When Sugano was 19, there were sky-high projections for him to become a great player. In 2009, when Tatsunori was managing Japan in the World Baseball Classic, he told Narumi, “My (nephew) is being groomed to play baseball. He is going to be really great.”

Along with expectations came scrutiny.

“Of course, Sugano, being the nephew, got a lot of pressure,” Narumi said. “The expectations were much, much higher than for any regular player. But he surpassed all of those expectations.”

After some initial media frenzy during spring training with the Orioles last year, the scrutiny died down. Media attention is even less with the Rockies, although there are usually a handful of reporters from opposing teams surrounding Sugano’s locker after he pitches.

“It’s a different type of pressure than I felt back in Japan vs. here,” Sugano said. “I was expected to win and pitch very well, every game. But over here, I’m feeling more like a rookie. I was a rookie last year, so there’s not as much pressure.”

Sugano comes across a pleasant, quiet man. That was his reputation in Japan, too.

Nobi Kuga, who used to work for the Yomiuri Giants as their North American liaison and coordinator, is a close friend of Sugano’s uncle and Sugano’s parents. Kuga also helps arrange Sugano’s accommodations in Honolulu, where Sugano trains during the offseason.

“He’s a very down-to-earth guy,” Kuga said. “He’s very quiet, but he’ll open up to his close friends. In Baltimore, he was very quiet, but he’s happy to be in the majors. In Baltimore, I’m told that all of his teammates liked him.”

When Sugano pitched through illness to notch his 150th win on May 16, the Rockies held an impromptu postgame celebration in the clubhouse at Coors Field.

Sugano said he was “thrilled” that his new teammates recognized his milestone, but he was also characteristically modest about it.

“I’m obviously happy about it, but it����ap just another win, so I want to look forward to the 151st win,” he said.

Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer praised Sugano for his businesslike approach to the game.

“He’s just the ultimate professional — on a daily basis,” Schaeffer said. “You can just tell he’s been doing it at a high level for a long time. We celebrated the 150th in there today, and I’m very, very happy for him. It����ap a great milestone, well deserved.”

Rockies veteran right-hander Antonio Senzatela, who notched the save to secure Sugano’s win, was awed by No. 150.

“That’s really big,” Senzatela said. “He’s one of the best pitchers over there in Japan, and he’s performing really well here in Coors. He’s a nice human being, a nice person. I love him, and I’m so happy for him.”

Sugano’s one big regret is that he never led the Giants to a Japan Series title, not even in 2020 when he posted a minuscule 1.97 ERA and 0.89 WHIP. But he’s proud of the legacy he left behind in Japan.

“The No. 1 honorable thing I could say about (my career highlights) is playing for the Yomiuri Giants,” Sugano said. “I have a lot of history there, for 12 years, and the teammates and the coaching staff that I met throughout the process is probably my No. 1 thing I’m most proud of.”

Sugano’s Star Power

During his 12 seasons with the Yomiuri (Tokyo) Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball, Tomoyuki Sugano was one of the best starting pitchers in Japan. A closer look:
• Two Sawamura Awards, NPB’s equivalent of the Cy Young (Sugano won back-to-back in 2017 and ’18)
• Two league MVP awards in NPB’s Central League (2014 and 2020)
• Eight All-Star seasons
• A pitching Triple Crown (2018)
• Four league ERA titles
• Two league strikeout titles (including a career-high 200 K’s in 2018)
Source: MLB.com