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Rockies Are First Team To Achieve This Unwanted Feat in MLB This Season

Originally posted on Colorado Rockies on SI
By Kenneth Teape | Last updated Aug 21, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The Colorado Rockies have been playing their best baseball over the last few weeks, looking to move further and further away from some unwanted history.

Earlier in the season, it looked like a foregone conclusion that they would set the single-season record for losses. It was set last year by the Chicago White Sox with 121 and at points, the Rockies were on pace to shatter that mark. They were 9-49 entering June, which was a .184 winning percentage. In 2024, the White Sox’s winning percentage was .253.

That was a brutal early hole to climb out of, being out of playoff contention before the summer even started. But, from June on, Colorado has been playing at a much better clip. They had a .385 winning percentage that month and a .375 winning percentage in July. Not world-breaking numbers by any means but a massive improvement from where they were the first two months.

In August, things have been put together even more. The Rockies have won two out of three contests to start their four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. That makes them 9-10 this month, playing a much more competitive brand of baseball.

Rockies Are First Team Eliminated From Winning Division Title

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On Wednesday, Colorado picked up an impressive 8-3 victory over their National League West rivals. They got to starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani, who surrendered nine hits in four innings of work, resulting in five earned runs being scored. Alas, even with that victory, the Rockies achieved something no team wants to be known for in a season.

Sox-Yanks rivalry is back on pic.twitter.com/8QLa89Y2tR
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 21, 2025

Entering play on Aug. 21, they are officially the first team to have been eliminated from winning a division title. A fourth consecutive last-place finish is the likely outcome for the Rockies this year. Since its inception in 1993, the franchise has never won a division title. The best finish they have had is second, which has been achieved four times, most recently in 2018.

Mired in a lengthy rebuild, there is at least what looks to be a light at the end of the tunnel in the distance. Some productive young players are emerging in their lineup this year, such as recent productive rookies Warming Bernabel and Kyle Karros. Catcher Hunter Goodman was an All-Star. Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and left fielder Jordan Beck have both been productive as well.

Having a core to build the roster around would be great for the Rockies moving forward. They added another high-upside youngster in the 2025 MLB Draft, selecting shortstop Ethan Holliday No. 4 overall. Now, if Colorado could just figure out the pitching side of things, they could really start moving in the right direction.