The club announced that veteran left-hander Kyle Freeland, who is off to an excellent start, was placed on the 15-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation. The move is retroactive to Monday. Depending on how long Freeland is out, the IL stint could affect his chances to activate his player option for the 2027 season.

“There’s inflammation in there, but we won’t know exactly what����ap going on until we get the picture or MRI,” “The last couple days it has felt good, I think me taking the steps I did and backing off before the start in San Diego was good.”

Freeland had been scheduled to start on Sunday.

“We think this is a minor issue,” manager

The good news for the Rockies is that veteran lefty starter Jose Quintana was reinstated from the 15-day IL. Quintana, 37, was scheduled to start against the Astros in Houston on Wednesday night.

Quintana went on the IL because of a strained right hamstring. He’s made just one start this season, on March 29 at Miami. He took a no-decision after pitching 4 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on four hits and four walks. He struck out two.

Freeland, 32, was Colorado’s Opening Day starter for the fifth time. After three starts, he was 1-1 with a 2.30 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. The lefty has struck out 13 while walking four.

Freeland, a Denver native and a graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School, signed a five-year, $64.5 million contract extension with the Rockies in 2022. The deal runs through the 2026 season. Freeland’s contract includes a $17 million vesting player option for 2027 if he reaches 170 innings pitched in 2026.

Freeland, who’s in his 10th season with Colorado, has reached 170 innings just twice in his career. In 2018, Freeland made 33 starts and pitched 202 1/3 innings while going 17-7 and posting a 2.85 ERA. He finished fourth in the National League Cy Young Award voting. In 2022, Freeland made 31 starts, pitching 174 2/3 innings, and finished with a 9-11 record and  4.53 ERA.

Freeland recently told The Post how proud he feels to have pitched for his hometown team for 10 seasons.

“I mean, looking back, 10-year-old Kyle would say that there is no chance,” he said. “It����ap the coolest thing for me to say that I spent 10 seasons with the Colorado Rockies, the team that I grew up with. This team was born in 1993, the same year that I was born.

“I got to know two Rockies Hall of Famers — Larry Walker and Todd Helton. I would say that����ap all pretty cool.”

Colorado’s starting rotation has been hit or miss through the first 17 games. Veteran right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano is 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA across three starts. But right-handers Michael Lorenzen — 1-2, with an 8.10 ERA in five appearances (four starts) — and Ryan Feltner — 1-1, 7.30 ERA over three starts — have struggled.

Overall, Colorado’s starters had a 4.95 ERA entering Wednesday, the fifth-highest in the majors.

For that, the Denver native deserves to be knighted. Or at least have a medal pinned to his No. 21 jersey.

So says former Rockies starter Aaron Cook, who toiled at Coors from 2002-11 and is second on the Coors Field list with 104 career starts.

“Hell yeah, he deserves a badge of honor,” Cook said while driving through Texas cattle country south of San Antonio. “I was there for the better part of 10 years, so for Kyle to do what he’s done? For that long? Hell yeah, he deserves a medal.”

Freeland, who turns 33 on May 14, is off to a strong start this season. Heading into his scheduled start on Sunday in San Diego, he’s 1-1 with a 2.30 ERA after three outings. Last Tuesday night, pitching on the ninth anniversary of his major league debut, Freeland allowed just one run on three hits over 6 1/3 innings.

Freeland carries battle scars from the toil and trouble of pitching in LoDo, but that’s not what he likes to talk about.

“I’m very proud of being with one organization for my entire career,” Freeland said. “One, that’s a feat in and of itself. Two, to do it in the hardest park in the majors is its own thing.”

Jason Jennings is the only Rockies player to win National League Rookie of the Year, doing so in 2002 at age 22. In that rookie season, the right-hander made 32 starts and finished 16-8 with a 4.52 ERA.

Jennings had his ups and downs in Colorado before he was traded to Houston after the 2006 season. But even in that final season with the Rockies, Jennings was an effective pitcher, making 32 starts, pitching a career-high 212 innings, and posting a 3.78 ERA.

Today, however, Jennings marvels at Freeland’s toughness and staying power.

“I don’t even think about the pitching aspect of Colorado,” he said. “You have to be so mentally and physically tough. It’s so hard on the mind, so hard to recover. And he has done it for so long.

“It’s a whole different animal. The grind of taking the ball every fifth day, surviving some really tough seasons, surviving Coors Field, it is really impressive. You don’t see many guys last 10 years in the league, let alone at Coors Field. Most guys, after four or five years, it is like, ‘Get me the heck out of here.’ ”

Cook, who spent a week at spring training this year working with Colorado’s minor league pitchers, said that baseball at altitude presents a plethora of problems for pitchers, including:

• Adjusting pitching sights at Coors Field after returning from a road trip. That is, adjusting their mental focus on a specific, small target, like a catcher’s mitt or shoulder, to guide their pitch movement and improve command.

• Realizing that there are going to be games at Coors when you’re going to get shelled, but also realizing that as long as you were one run better than the other guy, you’d done your job — inflated ERA be damned.

• Understanding that the huge outfield can turn a small-scoring inning into a blowout inning in a hurry.

However, Cook said it was the wear and tear, both physically and mentally, that was the hardest thing for him to deal with.

“Listen, I never said anything about Coors Field when I was playing there because I would never give merit to anything outside of my control,” he said. “But now that I’m 15 years removed from it, I can say, Coors Field is not an easy place to pitch. Period.

“But, for me, the hardest part, really, was the recovery. If I had to make two starts on the same homestand, I felt like I had made two starts in three days. It wasn’t just my arm or my legs; it was my whole body. Full fatigue. The mental part fatigues you, too. It just drains you, drains you, drains you.”

Former Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd struggled every year trying to figure out how to make starting pitchers effective — and keep them healthy.

“We have found that every starter who has pitched here for 185 to 200 innings for three consecutive years over the lifetime of this franchise has broken down with a significant injury,” O’Dowd told The Post in 2012. “That inability to keep pitchers healthy has been one of our biggest struggles. We have to find a way to change that.”

The current Rockies regime is giving it a go. Paul DePodesta (the new president of baseball operations), a slew of new pitching coaches and coordinators, and manager Warren Schaeffer, are trying to solve the issue by using several long relievers and employing occasional “openers” to start games. The club also plans to limit the number of times a starter takes the mound during a homestand.

“It’s not a hard plan, but if we can avoid (starting a pitcher) twice, we would like to,” Schaeffer said. “It all depends on our schedule and if the availability of the bullpen allows it.  All the numbers show a huge spike in ERA the second time. It just makes sense to try and avoid it.”

Freeland is in the final year of his contract, with a vesting player option. Veteran right-hander Antonio Senzatela, who is now a reliever after struggling as a starter last season, is also in the final year of his contract. Like Freeland, Senzatela made his major league debut in 2017, but injuries (a torn ACL, Tommy John surgery) have limited Senzatela to 145 career starts.

“Speaking for myself and ‘Senza,’ this place isn’t easy, and it can break you down,” Freeland said. “But it shows the kind of people and pitchers that we are, that we are willing to take on that brute force and try to win games here in Colorado.”

Freeland is making $16 million this season and can activate his $17 million option with Colorado for 2027 if he pitches 170 innings. He’s pitched at least 170 innings twice, in 2018 (202 1/3) and in 2022 (174 2/3), but he came close in 2025 (162 2/3).

Though Freeland’s best season was in ’18, when he went 17-7 with a 2.85 ERA for Colorado’s last playoff team, he says he’s better equipped now to endure the rigors of Coors Field.

“One thing I learned when I was younger, from veterans like Tyler Chatwood, is that you have to take care of your body,” Freeland said. “You have to listen to your body. Get in the training room. If something is bugging you, take care of it right away. Because in Colorado, things are going to spiral a lot faster with injuries than they would at sea level. Injuries are worse here, too.”

Now, it’s the young guns like right-hander Chase Dollander who come to Freeland for survival tips.

“Guys ask me all the time, ‘What are the secrets to pitching in Colorado?’ ” Freeland said. “I say, ‘Sleep and drink as much water as you possibly can.’ Those are the two things that you have to take care of.”

Freeland wears his 117 Coors Field starts like a badge of honor, but that’s not what he celebrates most.

“Being here — for 10 years — is the thing I’m most proud of,” he said. “Being able to do it with my hometown team, and to stay with one team — something very rare in this age — that makes me so proud.

“I mean, looking back, 10-year-old Kyle would say that there is no chance. It’s the coolest thing for me to say that I spent 10 seasons with the Colorado Rockies, the team that I grew up with. This team was born in 1993, the same year that I was born.

“I got to know two Rockies Hall of Famers — Larry Walker and Todd Helton. I would say that’s all pretty cool.”

If my informal eight-man panel is correct, the Rockies will join Gil Hodges, Don Lock, and Claude Osteen in an infamous chapter in major league history. Hodges was the manager, Lock was the best hitter, and Osteen was the best pitcher for the 1964 Washington Senators. losing 100 or more games for the fourth consecutive season.

No major league team has done that since. But the 2026 Rockies will, at least according to my panelists.  Add up their predictions, divide by eight, and you get a 59-103 record.

I’ll start. I’m encouraged by the long-overdue front-office shuffle led by new team president Walker Monfort. And I’m intrigued by young players like third baseman Kyle Karros and Charlie Condon. But the reality for this season is that the starting pitching is still too thin over the long haul, and the offense too punchless to improve by 20 games over their 119-loss 2025 season.

Saunders’ prediction: 60-102.

Sean Keeler, Denver Post columinst

The season highlight might well be those long-overdue statue unveilings for Todd Helton and Larry Walker. Beyond that? Meh. The best thing about 2026 for the Rox is also the worst: The record won’t mean much. It’s a free hit for Paul DePodesta and Josh Byrnes. A honeymoon year. A transition year. A throw-everything-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks year. It would be great to give a long-abused fan base some good vibes before Dick Monfort and his fellow Lords of the Realm torpedo 2027, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Keeler’s prediction: 62-100.

Kyle Newman, Denver Post sportswriter

The Fightin’ Rox will be better in 2026, but they are attempting to climb out of the abyss. This is going to take years to get competitive again, so book a fourth consecutive 100-loss season.

The starting pitching will be better, but the Rockies’ depth at that critical position remains thin. After an inevitable injury or two to starting pitchers, the season will unravel quickly. Also, the Rockies won’t hit for enough power once again, even though they’ll play better at home. Look for 2027 to be a true turning point year where Colorado can perhaps sniff a win total in the 70s.

Newman’s prediction: 60-102

Nate Peterson, Denver Post sports editor

Looking for a purple-and-silver lining for 2026, Rockies fans? Here it is: Colorado’s hard-luck MLB franchise will again be the worst team in baseball, but it will somehow, someway avoid the historical ignominy of four-straight 100-loss seasons.

No, Ted Lasso isn’t the skipper, but the arrival of Paul DePodesta, the addition of some crafty veterans on the mound and the development of young talent on the field will be enough to avoid the century mark for losses. The Rockies won’t be the 1962 Phillies, who improved by an MLB-best 34 wins. But they’ll be 20 wins better, which will feel like a miracle. 

Peterson’s prediction: 63-99

Troy Renck, Denver Post columnist

The Rockies will be terrible, but a light will replace an incoming train at the end of the tunnel. With a veteran starting rotation, improved health of shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle, and a versatile lineup that strikes out less, the Rockies will look like a major league team again. That is not meant as a backhanded compliment, but an indictment of the past regime. As the use of analytics and improved coaching takes hold as prospects develop, hope will return.

Renck’s prediction: 60-102

Jorge Castillo, ESPN baseball writer

Will they flirt with the wrong kind of history again?

Colorado finally hit the front-office reset button, hiring longtime executive Paul DePodesta as president of baseball operations to replace general manager Bill Schmidt to course-correct. … DePodesta didn’t overhaul the roster over the winter, instead signing four players to contracts of one or two years and making minor trades. The Rockies will look to avoid disaster.

Keith Law, national baseball writer, The Athletic

I have the Rockies finishing with the worst record in baseball again, but winning 11 more games, and I’m not sure how strongly I can even defend that other than to say that it����ap very hard to be 119-loss bad two years in a row. They do have new people calling the shots in the front office, including Paul “The Revenant” DePodesta, and I expect some gains on the margins, but they’re going to need more than an Ezequiel Tovar breakout to get back to even 60 wins this year.

Dan Szymborski, FanGraphs baseball writer

If another NL West team shocks the Dodgers, it won’t be wearing purple-and-black.

Pose a Rockies- or MLB-related question for the Rockies Mailbag.

Is Zac Veen going to make the team? If so, will he play?

— Chris Haag, Cincinnati

Chris, you are not the only one asking about Veen. He’s an intriguing player because he was a first-round draft choice (No. 9 overall in 2020), and because he has prodigious power potential.

But Veen, 24, did not make the Opening Day roster for Friday’s game at Miami because he’s dealing with a knee injury that slowed him for much of spring training. Even if Veen had been healthy, I doubt he would have made the team. He has a lot of work to do to become a better outfielder, and he needs work as a hitter, too. There are a lot of holes in his swing. The hope is that he doesn’t turn into a strikeout machine like the departed Michael Toglia.

Like a lot of people, I’m rooting for Veen, who’s had to deal with a lot in his young life, including substance abuse issues.

I have been following the Rockies since their 2007 run to the World Series. What a ride that was. My younger stepson learned baseball at Coors Field. He saw Chris Iannetta hit a ninth-inning grand slam against the Houston Astros and has gone with me since. My question is this: What in the world does everyone see in Jordan Beck? I see a lot of strikeouts. I see an impossibly uncontrollable swing. His head turns completely on his shoulders. He cannot possibly see the ball after he swings. Yes, he has gotten better in the outfield on defense and has a really good, accurate arm. But at the plate? Please help me out here.

— Ari Nixon, Brush

Ari, I think the best word to describe Beck is “streaky.” But when he’s hot, he’s a force, so I understand why so many fans and members of the front office and coaching staff believe he has All-Star potential. Plus, you have to remember that Beck is only 24.

Consider this little statistical nugget: per OptaSTATS, Beck became the second player in major league history to have his first five home runs of a season all come in two days (April 24-25), joining Ty Cobb on May 5-6, 1925. Beck was also the first Rockie in history to have five home runs in any two-day span.

But also consider this: He opened the 2025 season with the Rockies but was quickly optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on April 7 after starting the season 3 for 20 (.150) over nine games.

And then there are his dramatic home/road splits. He slashed .303/.348/.466 with 18 doubles, three triples, eight home runs, and 36 RBIs in 76 games at home, while slashing .204/.280/.355 with nine doubles, three triples, eight home
runs and 17 RBIs in 72 road games.

Finally, Beck needs to cut down on the K’s. He struck out 80 times in 251 plate appearances in the second half last season, a 31.9 strikeout percentage that was the eighth highest in the majors post All-Star break.

I’m not as critical of Beck’s plate approach as you are. He wouldn’t have gotten this far without a decent approach. He still has a solid chance to be a very good big-league player.

For the first time in years, the Rockies have changed their front office personnel and incorporated new ways to play baseball and win games. Even if the new regime is successful (75-80 wins) and analytics take hold, how many years can we wait to consistently get .500 baseball? How far is the Rockies’ analytics department behind the league? I predict 75-87 (maybe my last prognostication). Cheers!

— Robert Emmerling, Limon

Robert, I salute your optimism. But 75-87 this season?! In the name of the late Harry Caray, “Holy Cow!” I don’t see it.

Like you, I applaud the Rockies’ willingness to change their process. It’s way past time. As far as consistent, .500 baseball? I would think 2028 would be reasonable.

Hi Patrick, I have enjoyed your insights for a long time for both baseball and football. I also enjoyed reading your dad’s articles for many years. The Rockies have historically done well developing Latin American players (Ubaldo Jimenez, German Marquez, Ezequiel Tovar, etc.). Are there any young Latin American players we should be looking for in the near future to make an impact? Why don’t I ever see the Rockies being named as a possible suitor in the Asian market? Both Japan and Korea have produced many quality MLB players in the last few years, but I never see the Rockies as a possible landing spot. Thanks.

— Gene Ryan, Green Valley, Ariz.

Ryan, thanks so much for the compliment and for remembering my dad, Dusty Saunders.

A quick, bittersweet anecdote about my dad, who was a big baseball fan. My dad died at age 90, almost four years ago. I was with him on the day he died, and I was watching a Rockies road game when he passed. In his eulogy, I joked that my dad woke up briefly, saw that the Rockies were getting rocked again, and said, “I can’t take it anymore.” Then he passed away.

OK, on to your question. The Rockies’ best Latin players right now are outfielder/second baseman Roldy Brito (Dominican Republic), outfielder Robert Calaz (Dominican), and third baseman/shortstop Wilder Dalis (Venezuela).  I think 2028 would be the earliest we see any of them in the big leagues.

As for the Rockies’ presence in Asia, they used to simply punt, believing they couldn’t compete. But Paul DePodesta, the new president of baseball operations, plans to change that.

“I absolutely think it’s important,” DePodesta said during baseball’s winter meetings in December. “We’ve talked about a necessity for us to be sort of active in every possible avenue to acquire talent. So whether it’s Latin America, whether it’s Asia, whether it’s the waiver wire, you have Major League free agent [and] trades. I mean all of it. I think we have to be actively involved in all of those to try to find some potential solutions for us. And so I do think that’s an area where we’ll probably ramp up our efforts to some degree.”

At this point, it is pretty obvious to everyone, including Kris Bryant and the bat boy, that he will never play baseball again. With the highest annual player salary on the team, you would think he would be inclined to initiate a contract renegotiation to provide some relief to our current payroll. Seems like I remember Todd Helton doing this, which was a pretty stand-up and classy move to help the team.

Do you think these discussions may be possible at all?

Looking forward to all your 2026 Rockies articles!

— Troy, the biggest Rockies fan in Virginia

Troy, thanks for reading. It’s very much appreciated.

You’re correct, Helton did defer part of his contract. In March 2010, Helton signed a two-year extension ($9.9 million 2012–13) that also reworked his 2011 salary and 2012 buyout, totaling $13.1 million in deferred money.

However, the Bryant situation is much different. Helton was still playing, and he was a Rockies icon, with deep ties to ownership. Bryant is not playing and is still owed $81 million over the next three seasons. Plus, Bryant’s agent is Scott Boras, one of the most powerful men in sports, and he’s going to get all of that money for his client.

At some point, a deal will likely be worked out. This is what I wrote last November:

“Retirement, with a financial agreement worked out with the Rockies, seems like the sensible course of action. It����ap what former Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg eventually did when he finally retired in April 2024. Strasburg, who had not pitched since June 9, 2022, is receiving all the remaining $105 million owed from his original seven-year, $245 million contract.

“His original contract was heavily deferred — $11.4 million annually, according to USA Today — with Strasburg scheduled to receive $26.5 million in 2027, ’28 and ’29. When Strasburg retired, the contract was restructured to spread out the deferrals further into the future.”

Who will be doing the Rockies radio broadcasts in 2026? On the spring training simulcasts, I thought I understood they were auditioning three possible partners with Jack Corrigan. Who employs them? Are the TV broadcasters the same as before? Thank you.

— Steve, Aurora

Steve, funny you should ask. I had just reached out to David Tepper, the program director at 850 KOA. He told me that it has not yet been decided who will work with Corrigan in the radio booth. For now, Corrigan will team with longtime producer Jesse Thomas when the Rockies open their season on Friday in Miami.

During spring training, the Rockies auditioned Zach Goodman (announcer for the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles and son of Drew Goodman, the Rockies’ longtime TV play-by-play man), Albuquerque Isotopes announcer Josh Suchon, and Hartford Yard Goats announcer Jeff Dooley. I believe one of those three will join Corrigan.

KOA is looking to replace Jerry Schemmel, the longtime Colorado broadcaster, who was laid off for the second time by iHeartMedia last October. Schemmel now works as an ambassador and chief fundraiser for Best Day Ministries in downtown Longmont.

Do the Rockies have enough to win 50 or 60 games this season?

— Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.

Ed, you’re not a glass-half-full kind of guy, are you? At least not when it comes to the Rockies. They will be improved, so yes, they can win 60 games. In fact, my preseason prediction is a 60-102 record.

Dressed in Rockies purple, with a birthday tiara perched atop her baseball cap, and a lavender lei around her neck, she’s talking to outfielder Charlie Blackmon during a Cactus League game at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The 6-foot-3 Blackmon is crouching down to greet Mabel, who stood about 4-foot-7. Blackmon was one of Mabel’s favorite players. Mabel was one of Blackmon’s favorite fans.

“Mabel is a true one of one,” Blackmon told me. “She was a star that shone bright. It was uncanny how she could make you feel better about yourself. The world needs more people like Mabel Miyasaki.”

Mabel would have been 101 this coming Friday, but she died on Feb. 5. When she passed, the Rockies lost one of their greatest, funniest, kookiest, and ferocious fans. Donning purple nail polish and Rockies earrings, she attended nearly every home opener, dating back to the first one at Mile High Stadium in 1993.

“It’s tough, she left a hole that will never be filled,” said her daughter, Meri Miyasaki. “We’ll miss her a lot.”

I’ll miss her, too. When I got started in this sportswriting business at the Longmont Times-Call too many years ago to count, Mabel was a fixture at Niwot High School baseball games, where she handed out candy and gum. She worked in the Niwot High lunchroom for years and was the Cougars’ super-booster.

As her obituary noted, “Mabel became known as the “Bubble Gum Lady.” She strongly encouraged (i.e. shamed) people to place donations in her green coffee can for the Niwot Booster Club.”

Mabel used to invite me — and former Rockies infielder Clint Barmes, too — to her home for her version of chicken teriyaki and rice.

Mabel was born to Tasanji and Yoshi Shibao on March 6, 1925, in Brighton, where she grew up working the family farm. A self-described tomboy who was surrounded by five brothers, she fell in love with baseball at an early age. She once told me that she escaped boring kitchen duties — “girly stuff” is how she put it — by going outside to throw and hit baseballs.

Her favorite Rockies included Hall of Famers Larry Walker and Todd Helton, Vinny Castilla, Tony Wolters, trainer Keith Dugger, as well as Blackmon and Barmes.

Walker called her “Sushi Mom.” Former manager Clint Hurdle gave Mabel a framed, signed photo inscribed: “Grandma, thank you for your love.” She got to throw out a first pitch to Barmes during a Cactus League game in 2010.

Mabel also shared a special friendship with the late Keli McGregor, the former team president who died unexpectedly in 2010. In the main corridor of the Rockies complex at Salt River Fields, a large photo is displayed showing Mabel reaching her tiny hand through the netting behind home plate to shake the 6-6 McGregor’s giant paw.

“They had a very special bond,” Meri said.

Mabel’s tradition of celebrating her birthday with a dinner during spring training dates back to the early days of the franchise when the Rockies’ camp was at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Ariz. She and her family, and often a Rockies player or two, would gather at Sakura, a teppanyaki restaurant in the heart of Tucson.

One year, reliever Manny Corpas joined the celebration.

“He got me drunk,” she told me, wrinkling her nose. “I got really silly.”

Hearing that, Meri rolled her eyes and chimed in: “Mom, it doesn’t take much. You had two glasses of wine!”

Thomas Harding, my best buddy from MLB.com, often joined Mabel’s family for those birthday dinners.

“They would get in so much trouble together,” Meri recalled with a laugh. “They would get out of control.”

Mabel seemed to know everybody, probably because she would talk to anybody. For more than 20 years, she worked at a McDonald’s in Longmont. When she retired in 2014, she was one of the oldest McDonald’s employees in the country.

“My mom was one of a kind,” Meri said. “And she was one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever known. She wasn’t afraid of hard, physical labor.

“But stubborn? Oh my! She had a stubborn streak you wouldn’t believe. But the thing that I loved most about her was that she loved to have fun. She was always the life of the party. Even when things were tough late in her life, she had that mischievous grin. She would always laugh.”

Mabel’s last spring training was in 2020, right before the pandemic shut everything down. But she continued to attend Rockies home openers at Coors Field, all the way up to last year when she was 100.

She won’t be there in person this year. She will be there in spirit.

That’s my go-to response when friends, family and fans ask me about the madness of Major League Baseball’s economic system. It’s the only way to wrap our minds around it.

Of course, for a fan who shells out $20 for a hot dog and a beer at a Rockies game at Coors Field, that’s of little comfort. That’s real money.

But back to the madness.

Coming off two straight World Series titles, the Dodgers will again have a payroll of more than $400 million in 2026. Only four other teams — Yankees, Mets, Phillies and Blue Jays — are projected to top $300 million, The Marlins ($79.3) and White Sox ($85.9) bring up the rear. That’s a Grand Canyon-sided disparity.

The rebuilding Rockies, fresh off a 119-loss season, but hopeful with a new front office in place, are projected to have a $131.2 million payroll.

The club held its Fan Fest on Saturday. Hall of Famers Todd Helton and Larry Walker were in town, the new brass met with fans, players percolated with optimism, and Dinger did his Dinger thing.

But a dark shadow looms as MLB once again nears an economic tipping point and talk of a lockout next winter heats up.

According to a the national baseball writer for The Athletic, most MLB owners are “raging” in the wake of Kyle Tucker’s four-year, $240 million free-agent deal with the Dodgers. Drellich reported that it’s “a 100 percent certainty” the owners will push hard for a salary cap beginning in 2027.

Leading the charge will be Rockies owner Dick Monfort, chair of the league’s labor committee. Part of the reason Monfort stepped away from his day-to-day interactions with the Rockies and handed them over to his son, Walker, is that Monfort will be engulfed by the labor battle. Monfort has said that the only way to fix baseball is to establish a salary cap and a salary floor.

Last September, an anonymous mid-sized-market team president “How do we compete? We try to do everything right. We draft well. We develop well. And then we get the (expletive) kicked out of us by clubs that buy their players. It feels like the game is rigged.”

While Monfort and the vast majority of MLB owners see a salary cap as an economic and competitive necessity, the MLB Players Association says a cap is a nonstarter; a line in the sand.

Eleven months from now — on Dec. 1, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET, to be exact — MLB’s current labor agreement expires. At that point, the owners would, in all likelihood, lock out the players. Free agency and trades would cease as they did in 2021.

Worse, if a lockout wiped out most of spring training, an extended work stoppage — baseball’s last was in 1994-95 — would be inevitable. The hope throughout the industry is that it won’t come to that.

Last January, the Dodgers signed left-handed reliever Tanner Scott to a four-year, $72 million contract. Big Blue’s move left many fans, and many owners seeing red. Even Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner sang a song of woe.

“It’s difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kinds of things (the Dodgers) are doing,” a week after the Scott deal.

On the day of Scott’s signing, , a clearinghouse for baseball news, ran a two-question poll for its readers. The first asked: “Do you want a salary cap in the next MLB CBA?” After more than 35,000 votes were cast, an overwhelming 67.2% said yes. Then there was this: 50.2% of respondents said they would be willing to lose the 2027 season if baseball implemented a salary cap.

But Tony Clark, the executive director of the MLBPA, has continually said that there’s nothing to fix.

“As an organization, you get ready for the next negotiations as soon as the ink is dry on the previous one,” in December. “I can’t speak for the other side, but our interests are getting into the room and hammering out a fair and equitable deal. That����ap our commitment. The other stuff is just noise.”

At the All-Star Game in Atlanta last July, Clark labeled the push for a salary cap “institutionalized collusion.”

“A cap is not about any partnership,” Clark told reporters. “A cap is not about growing the game. That’s not what a cap is about. As has been offered publicly, a cap is about franchise values and profits. That’s what a cap is about.”

MLBPA’s argument boils down to this: It has watched the NFL, NBA and NHL implement caps, and in every case, the players’ share of revenue eroded afterward. Major League players say they won’t let that happen.

So at a time when baseball is thriving on the field (thank you, pitch clock), and when MLB surpassed 70 million fans a third straight season, a dark cloud hovers over the game.

Surely the owners and players can find a solution. Increased revenue sharing, a better way to distribute television and streaming money, and a salary floor to keep the cheaper owners honest have to be real options.

The club announced Saturday at Fan Fest that it plans to unveil statues honoring Todd Helton and Larry Walker during the 2026 season.

Walker’s will be unveiled and celebrated on Aug. 23, with Helton’s statue unveiling scheduled for Sept. 19. Both statues will be unveiled prior to games at Coors. The celebrations include replica statue giveaways to the first 15,000 in attendance at each game.

Walker Monfort, Colorado’s executive vice president, said the location of the statues at Coors Field is still being determined.

The statues are being created by Longmont sculptors George and Mark Lundeen of Lundeen Sculptures. The Rockies called them “two of the most renowned sculptors in the world.”

Additional details regarding the unveiling events and celebrations will be announced at a later date.

Tuesday’s game featured the lowly Miami Marlins against the historically bad Rockies. Storm clouds were building, and lightning was crackling. But Marion didn’t care. He was ready to watch his 75th game of the season.

“I just love baseball,” explained the 32-year-old transplant from Long Island, N.Y. “It’s a struggle, but I keep showing up. At the end of the day, you still see some great baseball, even if it’s by the other team.”

The lifelong Yankees fan transferred his loyalty to the Rockies when he moved to Denver eight years ago. He’s a season-ticket holder, but he’s having second thoughts after watching the Rockies bumble their way to their third straight 100-loss season.

“It’s frustrating, it really is,” said Marion, who wore a Brenton Doyle Rockies jersey to the game. “And it’s tough to justify renewing my season tickets again. I’m still on the fence about it.”

“On the fence” should make Rockies owner Dick Monfort nervous, because cracks are appearing in his team’s bulletproof attendance record. The club was averaging 29,386 fans per game, entering the weekend series vs. the Angels, still remarkable for a team on pace to lose 117 games.

Following the weekend series, the Rockies’ total attendance at Coors Field finished at 2,404,613, an average of 30,058 per game, the worst home attendance since 2007. In 2018, the last time the Rockies had a winning team and made the playoffs, they averaged 37,233 per game.

“It’s a team in complete disarray,” said Bill Brown, who sat one row ahead of Marion. “The team is in trouble.”

Brown, 68, lives in Littleton. He came to Colorado 45 years ago. He buys his tickets from friends who are longtime season-ticket holders. Brown and his wife, Judy, have gone to six games this year.

“We used to go to 12 or 15,” Brown said. “It’s hard to find games that my wife will come to when the Rockies have maybe a 40% chance of winning. This is pretty much rock bottom. We brought our son to a game earlier this year, and it looked like all of the Rockies on the field were making the league minimum.”

Judy chimed in, “It’s pretty sad. I would like us to be competitive again; give us at least a 50-50 chance of winning. They just don’t invest enough in this team.”

On Tuesday night, in front of an announced crowd of 22,764, the Rockies lost, 6-5. The game was interrupted by a 1-hour, 1-minute rain delay. By the time the game ended, soggy and cold Coors was practically a ghost town.

Afterward, veteran starting pitcher Kyle Freeland, who did not pitch well, was asked what his message is for disgruntled fans. Freeland, a Denver native and graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School, didn’t hold back.

“I’m from Denver, so I hate this,” he said. “It’s hard to send a positive message out to fans right now. Three straight 100-loss seasons, sniffing an MLB record this year (for the most losses). Not a lot has gone correctly for us, and what has gone right has been mostly in the second half.

“We have been playing much better baseball lately, but the consistency is still not there. I really don’t know what to say to the fans right now. This is a very rough time for Colorado Rockies baseball. We’re not out here trying to lose. We want to win games, we want to be in the playoff hunt, we want to be in a division hunt, but we’re not. You can’t snap your fingers and make it happen.”

Interim manager Warren Schaeffer, who wants a chance to turn things around next season, is trying to send a positive message to the fans who have witnessed seven consecutive losing seasons.

“First of all, thank you so much for sticking with us through this tough time; this elongated tough time,” he said. “I hope they have seen progress over the year. I really do. There is a core group of young players being formed on a daily basis. Hopefully, they can see that.”

Schaeffer’s right, fans have stuck with the team. Sort of.

A three-game series with the Yankees in May drew 128,776 fans, an average of 42,925 per game. Of course, Derek Jeter, Aaron Judge and Mickey Mantle jerseys were ubiquitous.

Though the Rockies entered the weekend with an ugly 23-55 record at Coors, the worst team in baseball ranked 17th out of 30 in attendance. That’s pretty amazing when you consider that the Detroit Tigers, leaders of the American League Central with an 85-68 record, have averaged 29,587 fans, only slightly more than the Rockies.

Then there is this: the 2024 Chicago White Sox, who lost a modern-era record 121 games, averaged only 17,046 fans last season, 27th in the majors.

Part of the Rockies’ allure lies not in the team but in the ballpark itself.

“You can’t beat this,” said 21-year-old Jessica Raymond as she stood, sipping a cocktail on the Rooftop high above right field on Thursday afternoon.

Raymond was joined in the area commonly known as the “Party Deck” by several friends. The temperature was 73 degrees. To the west, there was a coat of fresh snow on the mountain peaks. Below, the Rockies were losing, 9-7 to the Marlins.

“Baseball’s fine, but I come here mostly to hang out,” she said. “I think this is my fifth or sixth game this year. I can’t remember if the Rockies won or lost.”

In section 106, above the manual scoreboard in right field, 27-year-old Sherman Atkins was paying much closer attention. He wore a No. 17 jersey in honor of Rockies Hall of Fame first baseman Todd Helton.

“I’m a hardcore fan, for sure,” he said. “I first came when I was in diapers. My dad (Sherman Atkinson Sr.) and my uncle (Randy Atkinson) have been bringing me to games for years. We have two season tickets that we split between the family.”

The Atkinsons have owned their season tickets for only two years, and although Sherman loves attending games, he’s unsure if his family will renew.

“It’s definitely been a conversation,” he said. “Because it’s definitely not been the year I wanted them to have. You get tired of hearing about how bad they are in the media. You turn on MLB Network, and you hear that they lost again, and all of this other stuff. It’s just hard to keep coming back and stay loyal.”

Atkinson said his family invested in season tickets because they thought the Rockies were going to turn things around. He said he’s attended about 65 games this season.

“We have always been big Rockies fans, but we wanted to really commit now because we thought that the young talent would really come through,” he said. “But it really bothers me that we haven’t seen as much of that breakthrough as I’d like to.

“They need to make big changes in the front office, the coaching staff, and analytics. Those are the three bullet points, for me, that they have to address.”

Atkinson likes outfielders Jordan Beck and Doyle, All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman, and he is impressed by the promise of rookie starter Chase Dollander. He also thinks rookie second baseman Ryan Ritter has a chance to be a solid player. Still, he’s skeptical.

Goodman is not, believing the Rockies will turn the corner as soon as next season.

“Look at me as an example,” the catcher said. “I mean, last year I struggled a lot. I didn’t play a lot, and I didn’t play great baseball, but being in there every day and getting experience has allowed things to go better for me.

“You can see that from a lot of guys. Beck is another example. He struggled last year, but he’s shown much better this year and has made a lot of improvements. A lot of these young guys haven’t been great this year, but I think, going forward, that big-league experience will help them. It will be a brighter future with some of the prospects coming up.”

It remains to be seen if the Rockies will make significant changes in the front office or if the team can pull out of its skid of seven straight losing seasons — the longest stretch of failure in franchise history.

Schaeffer hopes that frustrated fans stay patient for a little bit longer.

“For me, the future is bright here,” he said. “Some people may not be able to see that at the moment because we are in such a deep ditch. But I know that the future is bright.”

Note: This story was corrected on Sunday, Sept. 21. The original story said the Rockies averaged fewer than 30,000 fans per game for the first time since 2007. The Rockies ended up averaging 30,058 per game over 80 games, including a doubleheader.

Rockies’ 10 lowest attendance seasons at Coors Field

For the first time since 2007, the Rockies will average fewer than 30,000 fans per game at Coors Field this season. Three of the 10 lowest attendance seasons in franchise history have occurred in the last four years.

# Through 78 home games on Sept. 18 | Note: COVID-interrupted 2020 and 2021 seasons not included | Source: Baseball Reference

But the Rockies’ projected first baseman of the future, the third overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft, is starting to figure it out. Condon’s recent hot streak at Double-A Hartford, replete with power and solid infield play, finds him in a good place.

“You have to be where your feet are and do the work in front of you,” Condon said.

That’s not a cliché or a throwaway slogan for the 22-year-old. It’s a bedrock belief that he’s needed during his often-difficult first two seasons in professional baseball. It’s beginning to pay off. Condon entered the weekend hitting .262 with 10 home runs and an .886 OPS in 47 games for the Yard Goats in the always-tough Eastern League.

Since Aug. 1, Condon is slashing .297/.415/.624 with eight homers and 22 RBIs in 28 games. He ranks third in the Eastern League across that span in home runs, RBIs, slugging and OPS (1.039).

“His numbers have climbed as he’s executed his game plan,” Hartford manager Bobby Meacham said. “He has that workmanlike attitude of, ‘Next step, then next step, then next step.’ He’s really seeking the process.”

The Rockies have been waiting for a homegrown, power-hitting first baseman ever since Hall of Famer Todd Helton retired in 2013. The club hoped Michael Toglia, a first-round draft choice out of UCLA in 2019, would be that guy. But after surging last season — he slashed .232/.331/.470 with 21 home runs in his final 100 games — Toglia has regressed. He’s hitting .194 this season with a ghastly 38.3% strikeout rate. His highly touted glove has also fallen short of expectations. Toglia was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque twice, the second time in late July.

“Mike had some strikeouts, and we tried to be patient,” general manager Bill Schmidt said when Toglia was sent down to Triple-A the first time at the end of May. “We thought, coming off last season, he was going to take a step forward. Ultimately, he took a step backwards. So we have to do a little bit of a reset, send him back down to Albuquerque and hopefully make some adjustments and see where it goes.

“We want consistency. We want him to figure it out. I think there is a hitter in there.”

Toglia’s struggles flung the door wide open for Condon, but he still has to make the big step up to the majors. He played some first base during his sophomore season at Georgia, but mainly played third as a junior.

“I feel very comfortable at first,” the 6-foot-6, 220-pound Condon said. “It was just a matter of knocking off a little rust.”

Condon broke his right wrist in spring training and missed all of April, then worked his way through the Arizona Complex League and High-A Spokane before debuting with Hartford on July 2. Last summer at Spokane, he tried to play through a left-hand injury before shutting down late in the season, finishing with 35 games played. Condon slashed .180/.248/.270 with one home run and 34 strikeouts in 109 plate appearances.

Much more was expected from the University of Georgia sensation. He won the 2024 Golden Spikes Award as the top college baseball player in the country after hitting .433 in 60 games with 37 homers and 78 RBIs. He signed with the Rockies for a then-record $9.25 million bonus, with the hope he could rise quickly up the ranks.

Condon had his down days, for sure, but he’s gained perspective.

“The biggest challenge that every minor league player faces is dealing with failure,” Condon said Thursday in a phone interview from Hartford. “That is really the name of this game. Everybody has failures in baseball. Everybody goes through different stretches where failure is more prevalent in their game. The thing I’m learning is not to let a bad game turn into a bad week. Being able to turn the page is important.”

So is blocking out FOMO.

In today’s age of instant information, young players can’t help but compare their numbers to those of their contemporaries. Fear of missing out on the big leagues is only natural.

Condon is aware that Athletics rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz is slashing .308/.401/.636 with 28 home runs and is a heavy favorite to be named the American League’s rookie of the year. Kurtz was selected fourth in last year’s draft, one spot behind Condon.

“He isn’t falling into the trap of getting on the bus for those long trips, getting on his phone and scrolling through social media and seeing what people are saying about him or other players,” said Chris Forbes, the Rockies’ senior director of player development. “He’s stayed grounded. When he gets up here with us, we want him to stay.”

Added Meacham, “A lot of times, guys want to think about getting to the next spot. I was praying that he wouldn’t see that guy with the A’s (Kurtz), hitting all of those homers and think, ‘I’ve got to get there.’

“No. You have to stay with your process, be yourself, stay businesslike, and don’t fall for the shortcut.”

Through the ups and downs of his infant career, Condon says he’s come to understand that.

“Just because someone has what you want before you get it doesn’t mean that you aren’t going to get it,” he said.

Perseverance, the Rockies believe, is part of Condon’s DNA.

Georgia is a hotbed for youth baseball, but Condon was not considered a hot prospect while playing high school baseball at The Walker School in Marietta, Ga. He had to walk on to make the team at the University of Georgia. He red-shirted his first year, and then broke out in a big way the next spring in a debut season that saw him earn national freshman of the year honors from multiple publications.

“I’ve had to practice patience pretty much my whole career,” he said. “Even when I was in high school, I had buddies who were getting Division I offers and committing to SEC schools during their sophomore and junior years.

“I would think, ‘When is that coming around for me?’ So I think that trait has been instilled in me from a young age. I have just known for a while now that people operate on different timelines, and you’ve got to be OK with that.”

Condon is also learning about life balance. Not easy for a young athlete.

“There are days when you wake up and all you think about is baseball,” he said. “But you have to learn how to compartmentalize your life and find an identity in baseball and an identity away from baseball. It’s about being able to separate the two. That’s the biggest thing I have learned this season.”

Meacham, a first-round draft choice for the Cardinals in 1981 who understands the pressure of being a top prospect, is confident Condon will fulfill his potential. He’s told Condon to concentrate on being a hitter who drives the ball up the middle, telling him not to force home runs or worry about statistics.

“He has not been chasing power, which I think is really good,” Forbes said. “He wants to let it come and wants to have a high rate of contact. He’s got that finish to his swing, where, naturally, the balls are going to leave the yard.

“He is now focused on what he wants to do from a tactical standpoint as opposed to a technical standpoint. He’s seeing certain things and how teams are attacking him. Now, he’s thinking, ‘OK, this is my plan against their plan of attack.’ ”

Condon has tinkered with some mechanical adjustments, including squatting a bit lower in his stance.

“It’s hardly noticeable, but it’s helped,” he said. “I feel really good in the box right now, and it feels like my pitch recognition is good. I’m just executing better. I’m not missing mistake pitches nearly as much as I was early in the season. When I’m getting my pitch, I’m not missing it, and that’s a good feeling.”

Condon was an excellent student in high school and at Georgia. He’s a good listener and eager to learn, two big reasons why Meacham insists that the talent that made Condon the third overall pick will blossom in the big leagues.

“You can see it in his face when you talk to him,” Meacham said. “He’s just one of those guys who loves to soak up information, and then he wants to go use it in his game. He’s devouring information. I just think he’s different than a lot of guys who have been told their whole life how good they are and think they have it all figured out.”

In splitting a four-game series against the Dodgers, the Rockies snapped a 10-game losing streak against their Los Angeles bullies.

As happy as that made the Rockies’ interim manager, that wasn’t what left Schaeffer positively buoyant. Rather, it was seeing the offense Schaeffer envisioned produce more unselfish at-bats, fewer strikeouts and aggression on the basepaths.

Home runs are great, of course, but Schaeffer doesn’t view them as a be-all, end-all. He wants an offense that not only dominates at Coors Field, but also gives the Rockies a fighting chance on the road.

“I couldn’t care less about that, to be honest,” Schaeffer said when asked about his players’ home run swings after shortstop Ezequiel Tovar went deep in Monday night’s series-opening win. “I care about guys who put the ball in play on a highly consistent basis. That plays in this yard.”

In that game, Colorado beat L.A., 4-3, on rookie first baseman Warming Bernabel’s hard-hit, walk-off groundball single to center.

Two days later, the Rockies dominated the Dodgers, ripping off 16 hits and knocking superstar Shohei Ohtani out of the game after four innings en route to an 8-3 victory. In the fourth inning, the Rockies smacked five consecutive hits off Ohtani.

It was a distillation of the approach Schaeffer wants to see every night at 20th and Blake.

“We had a good plan against (Ohtani) and we executed our plan throughout the game,” he said. “He went soft a lot, and it seems like the boys didn’t spit on the balls outside the zone. We kept him in the zone.

“They took the ball the other way, took what was given to them. That’s been a huge key for us. Taking the ball the other way and not trying to yank everything like we were doing earlier in the year.”

Schaeffer’s future in Colorado is uncertain. While the Rockies (37-91 entering the weekend) are no longer tracking toward setting the record for most losses in a season, they will undoubtedly lose 100 games for a third straight year. There is no guarantee Schaeffer will return, especially if the Rockies shake up their front office.

Colorado’s starting pitching is a mess with a 6.60 ERA and a .317 batting average against. A cleanup looks far away. But Schaeffer’s Colorado blueprint is clear, and he sees the Milwaukee Brewers as his template. The Brewers, with the 23rd-highest payroll in the game, entered the weekend with a major league-best 80-48 record.

“I like the way the Brewers play the game,” Schaeffer said.

There’s a lot to like. The Brewers are among the leaders in average (.258, second), stolen bases (138, second), and on-base percentage (.332, third). Their 20.5% strikeout rate is the fifth-lowest, and their 3.48 walks per game ranks fourth.

The Rockies have had several identities over the years, most famously the Blake Street Bombers. The 1996 Bombers remain the only team in major league history to hit 200 or more home runs (221) and steal 200 or more bases (201) in the same season. The 2018 Rockies, the last team to make the playoffs, batted .256, hit 210 homers and stole 95 bases.

Walt Weiss, who played shortstop for the Rockies from 1994-97 and managed the club from 2013-16, likes Schaeffer’s vision, but notes that it’s not unique in Rockies history.

“My thought, when I managed there, was that I wanted to overwhelm teams at Coors Field,” said Weiss, who’s served as the Atlanta Braves’ bench coach since 2018. “I wanted to be a multi-dimensional offense, and I wanted to push the tempo all of the time.

“I tried to make Coors Field the biggest home-field advantage in baseball. I always said that. The Rockies need to capitalize on that.”

Hall of Fame outfielder Larry Walker, a member of the Blake Street Bombers, says the key for the Rockies must be developing hitters in the farm system.

“You just can’t go out and purchase or (spend) a ton of money on players, or trade off a lot, because then you are left dry,” Walker said last September when he was in Denver to celebrate Coors Field’s 30th anniversary. “So the farm system needs to be built up a little bit to have that pool of young players that you can call up.

“I think, perhaps, they are running a little bit thin right now in that department. That����ap a process that����ap got to start. It doesn’t happen over a couple of years. It����ap going to take some time.”

Of course, now the question becomes, do the Rockies keep loading up on big, strong power hitters like first baseman Michael Toglia — a first-round pick in 2019 who was demoted to Triple-A Albuquerque because of his exorbitant 38.3% strikeout rate? Or like Charlie Condon, who’s slashing .258/.370/.469 with six homers in 36 games since his promotion to Double-A Hartford?

Or will the Rockies buy into Schaeffer’s vision of drafting and developing faster, athletic, put-the-ball-in-play players?

“A lot of how you play is based on your personnel, of course,” Weiss said. “You can’t put a square peg in a round hole, so you have to have the right personnel to play the type of game that the Brewers do.”

Dan O’Dowd, Colorado’s general manager from September 1999 through the 2014 season, says the Rockies need to find the right combination of on-base guys and power hitters.

“Very simply, they have to have guys that can hit and hit with at least average power at every position on the field, with a few aircraft carriers mixed in that can absolutely mash,” said O’Dowd, an analyst for MLB Network. “We were the Brewers in 2000, and a lack of power got us.”

The 2000 Rockies finished 82-80, and their non-pitchers hit .304. But Hall of Fame first baseman Todd Helton was the only real masher on the team. Helton hit 42 homers, while right fielder Jeffery Hammond was a distant second with 20.

Earlier this season, the Rockies were a disaster, and their offense had no identity, save for its ability to pile up strikeouts.

Through their first 18 games, they hit .209, led majors with a 29.6 strikeout percentage, ranked 27th with a 7.3 walk percentage, and were tied for 29th with 12 home runs. During a three-game series at San Diego from April 11-13, they were shut out in three consecutive games for the first time in franchise history. Colorado managed just nine hits (12 baserunners), the fewest in any three-game series.

Last season, the Rockies struck out a team record 1,617 times, the most in franchise history and the third-most in major league history. Clint Hurdle made it a priority to cut down on the Ks when he was brought back into the fold in April.

“It can’t be an elephant in the room that we aren’t going to talk about,” Hurdle said early this season. He was named the hitting coach after the team fired Hensley Meulens three weeks into the season, and then became the bench coach when Bud Black was fired and replaced by Schaeffer.

“Bottom line, I don’t think there is enough angst in the game about striking out,” Hurdle said. “I see it in our men, as a group. If you punch out 12 times in a game, you have watched the pitcher and catcher play catch in front of your dugout for four innings. Now you’re asking yourself to beat the other team with five innings of offensive baseball.”

The Rockies have improved their approach, albeit slowly. By the All-Star break, the team was slashing .230/.291/.378 with a 26.5% strikeout rate. Still bad, but better. Moreover, players started buying into Hurdle’s preaching and Schaeffer’s preferred style of play.

“When the second half came, we had a meeting and we said, ‘Hey, let’s flush the first half,’ ” said outfielder and leadoff hitter Tyler Freeman. “We said, ‘We’re not going to give at-bats away. The record may not show it yet, but we’re getting better, we’re really getting gritty.’ ”

Since the All-Star break, Colorado slashed .273/.320/.451 with a 21.5% K rate going into a weekend series at Pittsburgh. Schaeffer said the drop in strikeouts is the result of personnel changes and a better approach at the plate.

“It’s a combination of both,” he said. “Because we have certain guys up here now. You have (rookie) Kyle Karros at third and Bernable at first, and both of their biggest strengths are putting the ball in play. And they are replacing ‘Mac’ (Ryan McMahon traded to the Yankees), who’s a great player but a high strikeout guy (31.0%), and Toglia, who’s a high strikeout guy. Naturally, those strikeout rates are going to go down.

“But, yes, our approach has gotten better. It’s a testament to the work of our hitting coaches (Jordan Pacheco and Nic Wilson). The boys love working together with those guys. When there is a good collaboration going on, the sky’s the limit.”

Freeman is Schaeffer’s philosophy personified. He entered the weekend hitting .297 with a .372 on-base percentage. True, he’d hit just two homers, but his strikeout rate was a minuscule 9.6%.

Last year with Cleveland, he moved to center field but batted .209 in 118 games in a season shortened by a left oblique injury. He was in line for the Guardians’ starting second base job before the Rockies acquired him for outfielder Nolan Jones in spring training.

“My mentality coming into this year was getting back to who I am,” he said, admitting that he’d previously fallen into the trap of swinging for the fences. “I wanted to concentrate on doing the smaller things — bunting, stealing bases, little things like that, not worrying about the long ball. Coming over here with a fresh start was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I found myself again.”

Freeman won’t have the All-Star impact that Charlie Blackmon did in 2017 when Blackmon won a batting title with a .331 average, 37 homers and 14 triples, mainly from the leadoff spot. But Schaeffer believes Freeman is the type of player the Rockies need to set the table.

“I love the way Tyler Freeman plays baseball,” Schaeffer said. “I love the way he puts the ball in play and battles, and uses the big part of Coors. There’s a lot of space out there for balls to drop in and go first to third. He plays that game well. He runs well.”

Schaeffer understands that in-the-gap triples, bloop doubles and soft singles are part of baseball in LoDo. He just wants to do it better than the opposition.

“You see it all the time here,” he said. “Our pitchers give up those hits because other teams put the ball in play. That’s what we need to do in our own ballpark — only better than the other guys. And, I think a big bonus for us is that that style plays on the road.”

When Schaeffer replaced Black on May 11, he already had his vision in mind.

“Since Day 1, since I stepped into this job, that����ap one of the things I’ve been preaching,” Schaeffer said. “For me, you just have to keep preaching it, and then see some good results on the field.

“It����ap part of our game now, and we can beat teams and score runs in different ways now, as opposed to just going station to station and trying to hit a home run. That����ap tough to do at this level.”

Turning it around

The Rockies began the season with the worst offense in the majors. Since then, the team has steadily increased its output. Following is a month-by-month look at the Rockies’ offense:

* Statistics through Aug. 21.