Rockies GM Josh Byrnes Addresses Mounting Losses and Path Forward
DETROIT — As losses accumulate, the instinct may be to shift focus toward the future. However, Colorado Rockies general manager Josh Byrnes insists that sanity isn’t the objective.
“I mean, you can’t be so future-focused that you’re not trying to win every day,” Byrnes said on Sunday morning. “This last month has been very frustrating, because we certainly could have and should have won more games. And in terms of progress, 100 losses is a sightline. It means something, but the White Sox [who entered Sunday leading the American League Central] lost 100 last year.
“I don’t ever think it’s good — in the Minor Leaguers, in the Major Leagues — to rationalize losing, ever. We’re trying to win. Yeah, in terms of how young our team is and some of the players we brought in, there’s talent and there is progress. But it’s about winning, and we’re not there yet.”
Byrnes spoke a day after a game slipped away in the Detroit Tigers’ final at-bat. Sunday’s 8-1 loss completed a three-game sweep and an 0-6 road trip, extending the losing streak to seven and pushing the season loss total to 94 with 13 games remaining. The defeat was cemented when rookie Gabriel Hughes required 70 pitches to navigate just two innings while allowing five runs.
Having dropped 20 of their last 25 games, the Rockies have exposed persistent weaknesses and revisited familiar ones. Here is an assessment of the club’s shortcomings — and one area of strength — from a front office that acknowledges the misery but promises clear-eyed remedies.
Offensive Production Stalls Despite Improved WAR
The Rockies’ cumulative offensive wins above replacement (WAR) of 8.2 entering Sunday, per FanGraphs, represents a significant improvement over last year’s -3.0 mark. That uptick should translate to a better record, yet offense remains a frequent reason the team falls short.
“Most of the year, until the last month, we did well with men on base — we cashed in runners from third and were opportunistic,” Byrnes said. “We produce offense against righties and lefties. But lately we’ve just left a lot of runs on the board.”
Defensive Lapses Compound Problems
Defensive miscues have been costly during the recent skid. On Friday, Riley Greene’s triple to center field would have required a standout play from rookie Cole Carrigg. On Saturday, a two-run deficit ballooned to four when right fielder Jordan Beck became entangled attempting a play on Hao-Yu Lee’s eighth-inning triple.
Carrigg and Beck belong to a young group capable of highlight-reel plays — Beck has delivered two outstanding throws recently — but they need to demonstrate a more consistent knack for game-changing defense. While range exists with Jake McCarthy and Zac Veen in the mix, and Mickey Moniak has been steady, thrown balls to wrong bases and other mistakes continue to prove expensive.
Byrnes emphasized that a blend of internal growth and external talent infusion is necessary.
“Some teams, their defense kind of carries their pitching,” Byrnes said. “The Cubs this year, their defense is more their run prevention than their actual pitching. Tampa [Bay] has really good outfield defense — the value they provide is at a premium. There are more plays and more bases that are in play in Colorado.”
Starting Pitching Struggles Early and Late in Games
Adael Amador, excelling in his trial at second base, gave the Rockies an early lead with a home run as the second batter of Sunday’s game. Yet after recording two outs in the bottom of the inning, Hughes surrendered a Colt Keith double and a Greene home run, never found his secondary pitches, and lasted only one more frame.
“Part of being a Major League pitcher is recognizing what you have that day and what you don’t, and working to fight through it to get to where you find whatever it is that you are consistently missing — and getting there quicker,” said Hughes, who fell to 0-8 in his first 12 Major League starts and exemplified one of the club’s core problems on Sunday.
Like Tanner Gordon, who lasted four innings on Saturday, Hughes could not put away hitters with two strikes due to a lack of early sharpness.
“We’ve gotten bitten most in the first and second innings — we give up way too many runs,” said Byrnes, whose team actually leads the Majors in runs allowed in each of the first four innings. “And the third time through the order, we give up way too many runs [6.13 ERA, ahead of only the Athletics’ 6.25]. So that is in our face.”
Byrnes indicated improvement could come from development among pitchers new to the rotation — such as Hughes, Mason Adams, and Gordon — and from identifying experienced arms who can serve as difference-makers. The front office is also examining relief staff models that could better support starters.
Manager Warren Schaeffer’s Approach and Front Office Remedies
Asked how the Rockies move forward, manager Warren Schaeffer struck a positive tone, citing the effort while acknowledging, “sometimes it’s just a bad stretch.”
Byrnes praised Schaeffer’s adaptability, whether maximizing matchups — a strategy that worked during stronger stretches — or adjusting bullpen usage, such as the addition of Jordan Romano prompting a less matchup-dependent late-inning relief corps. Schaeffer publicly backs his players and projects positivity, yet that does not signal a retreat from the ultimate goal.
“He sets a great tone, demands a lot of the players — we’re trying to build winning habits and standards of winning,” Byrnes said. “Even though we’re not winning enough.”
