The Rockies were MLB's worst team last season, and not much more is expected in 2026 as they open in Miami on Friday.
By Matt Severance Mar 27, 2026 at 9:36 am ET • 5 min read
USATSI Two of the final MLB clubs to play their season openers are the Rockies and Marlins -- the sport's two expansion additions in 1993 -- as they meet in South Florida tonight with a 7:10 ET first pitch. There's probably a bit less enthusiasm at loanDepot park than for the recent WBC championship game held there, but I see some value on a same-game parlay fading Colorado. Something that will happen often this season, and certainly not just by me.
So how bad might the Rockies be? The 2025 club became the first team in modern MLB history to reach 50 losses before gaining 10 wins by starting 9-50 but managed to squeak out 43 victories, avoiding the MLB modern-day record low of 41 wins set by the 2024 White Sox, but Colorado's run differential of minus-424 was the lowest in modern history.
On the bright side, one of the sport's most passive ownership groups at least finally got the memo that change was needed for a franchise that has not sniffed a winning record since 2018, the last time it reached the playoffs.
Manager Bud Black was fired – way overdue – during last season with a 7-33 mark and replaced by Warren Schaeffer, who went 36-86. Apparently that was good enough, as he got the full-time job in November. He had previously served as the team's third-base and infield coach and has been with the organization in a coaching/player development capacity for a decade. The front office also was overhauled.
Schaeffer is the longest shot on the board for NL Manager of the Year at +8000, and I definitely can't say I recommend that, although if he got this team to 70 wins it would be a fabulous job. The team's Over/Under win total is 54.5, and I do think that's too low, as I mentioned in a recent NL win totals story. To reach 60 wins, the Rockies are +190 and that's doable. It would take 20 additional wins to avoid the 100-loss mark, which the team has reached the last three years.
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For the worst record in the majors, and that seems quite likely again, the Rockies are -400. To have the longest losing streak in MLB this season, +170 favorites. It might surprise you to know that Colorado's longest last year was only eight in a row, but the franchise did set an MLB record by losing 22 straight series, a run that began in late 2024 and ended June 3, 2025.
How did it end? With a three-game sweep in Miami (technically it ended by when taking the second game), something I'm sure the Marlins will use as added motivation tonight -- those three victories were 16.7% of the Rockies' 2025 road total. The O/U for longest skid by any club this season is 12.5, with the Over at -150. DraftKings also offers longest O/U by team with Colorado's number of 11.5 as easily the highest. The team's number for longest winning streak is 4.5, easily the lowest. That three-game sweep of the Marlins marked the Rockies' longest run in 2025.
The longest-tenured Rockies player is tonight's starting pitcher in lefty and Denver native Kyle Freeland, who will make his franchise-record fifth Opening Day start. He was a brutal 5-17 last year with a 4.98 ERA. It somewhat tells you how bad a state the team is in right now that it turns to a guy who led the majors in losses in 2025.
While Freeland was rocked last year in a home loss to the Marlins, he got the win in that series sweep finale in Miami on June 4, allowing two unearned runs and no walks over 6.1 innings. Miami's Christopher Morel has two career homers off him in eight at-bats.
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Tonight marks the first-ever Friday night season opener in loanDepot Park history, and I don't rule out the Marlins reaching the postseason for the first time since 2023. The team had a 17-win improvement from 2024 to '25 and didn't get eliminated from the postseason until only a handful of games were left. Miami won't win the NL East but could steal a wild card spot and is +600 for extra baseball (worth a shot) and -1000 for No.
Suddenly, the club has one of the more intriguing young outfields in baseball in All-Star Kyle Stowers, Owen Caissie and Otto Lopez. Stowers was acquired last season via trade from Baltimore but strained his right hamstring late in this year's camp and will open on the IL – probably missing at least a month. That only helps our Under play tonight below. In a breakout 2025 campaign, he singled to clinch the franchise's first walk-off victory on Opening Day.
Caissie was acquired this offseason from the Cubs for starting pitcher Edward Cabrera, and the highly touted Caissie could factor in the NL Rookie of the Year race at +1800. He looked great for Team Canada at the WBC. Even losing Cabrera, the Fish have a good-looking rotation, headed by their longest-tenured player in righty Sandy Alcantara.
The 2022 NL Cy Young winner makes his franchise-record sixth Opening Day start. He struggled big time the first few months in 2025, returning from Tommy John surgery that cost Alcantara all of 2024. The righty ended the season with a 5.36 ERA that ranked as the third-highest among qualifying pitchers but definitely found his groove late, posting a 2.68 ERA over his final eight. He has a 2.57 career ERA in season openers.
Alcantara was 1-0 last year vs. the Rockies with a 3.55 ERA and .196 batting average against. No Colorado batters have particularly good career splits off him and none with more than 10 at-bats.
DraftKings Rockies vs. Marlins same-game parlay (+114)
- Marlins ML
- Alt Under 9.5
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Colorado scored by far the fewest runs on the road in MLB last season with 228, and it should be more of the same not just tonight but all season. The SportsLine Projection Model has the Marlins winning 5.0-4.1 so I'll take the first alt over that number, while the favored final scores at DK are Marlins 3-2 and 4-3 at +1300. Check out other expert picks in the daily newsletter.
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