The Colorado Rockies finished with a winning record in the 2025 Cactus League. At 17-15, they were exactly in the middle of the pack—eighth among 15 teams training in Arizona.
What does this mean for their 2025 season?
In itself, not much.
A year ago, the best team in the Cactus League won the World Series.
But the year before, the other Los Angeles team, the Angels, led the Cactus League with an 18-11 record (.621 percentage) and the Kansas City Royals finished second at 19-13 (.594).
Then the Angeles proceeded to finish fourth in the American League West, with 89 losses, and KC lost 106, second-worst in the majors.
How about the Rockies in that season?
Last spring, they won 17 and lost 12, second-best to those world champion Dodgers, yet lost 101 while LA was cruising.
As the investment disclaimer goes: Past performance is not an indicator of future success.
So, if Spring Training records aren’t a good predictor of the season to follow, what, if anything, can be made of springtime performances?
Antonio Senzatela gave reason to hope that he is heading for a solid season after virtually two years on the shelf. In six games he allowed just three earned runs and walked only four.
His first start last Saturday in Tampa, though, wasn’t exactly stellar—nine hits and two walks in four and-a-third innings.
Opening Day starter Kyle Freeland, on the other hand, “got his work in” during the spring. And, honestly, that’s the best that can be said.
Yet he was dominant against Tampa Bay last Friday, allowing only two baserunners in six shutout innings, striking out seven and throwing 53 strikes in 67 pitches.
Reliever Tyler Kinley raised hopes that he has regained the form he showed before his second elbow surgery two years ago by not allowing a run and striking out 10 in eight spring games.
Asked to hold Freeland’s 2-0 lead in the seventh inning of the first game the season, however, he managed only one out before he was replaced by Angel Chivilli. His line: three hits, a walk and two earned runs allowed.
No one should expect young Hunter Goodman to approach a .400 batting average, despite hitting .444 in 45 at bats in Arizona and leading the club in hits (20) and total bases (37).
But his three home runs and 10 runs batted in, along with improved defense, suggest he could be part of a strong catching tandem with veteran Jacob Stallings (.290, 2-9).
Rewarded with back-to-back starts behind the plate to begin the season, he went 3-for-8 with two doubles then found himself hitting cleanup as the designated hitter Sunday and tying that game with a two-out single in the sixth.
The Rockies continue to hold their collective breath and hope for the best with Kris Bryant, saying they’ll use him as the designated hitter most of the time and avoid playing him in the field to try to prevent more back troubles.
But Bryant, who has played in only 159 games—combined—in the first three seasons of the $182-million, seven-year contract he signed with Colorado, had the fewest at bats (31) of any player on the opening day roster who was with the club for all of spring training.
He saw 31 pitches as the DH in the first two games and went 0-for-8 with three strikeouts, four fly balls, and an equally playable ground ball.
The hype touting Michael Toglia as a future Gold Glove first baseman began the day he arrived in Scottsdale. In the second game in Tampa, he showed why with several dazzling plays, including snaring a bad hop and firing to reliever Seth Halvorsen to prevent the tying run from scoring in the eighth and making a very difficult scoop to end the game.
Toglia, who showed power last season once he became the regular at first base, hit a team-high five home runs this spring. But he reached five strikeouts before his first hit and left Florida without a homer.
On the eve of the home opener, neither Spring Training nor the first series of the regular season tells us what the Rockies’ record will be after the last out in San Francisco on September 28.
My bottom line: the Rockies will not lose a hundred or more for the third straight year.
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Denny Dressman’s 17th book, a collaboration with Kansas City artist Anthony High titled Black Baseball’s Heyday – Capturing An Era in Art and Words, will be published in late June. You can write to Denny at dennydressman@comcast.net.