The Colorado Rockies are 4-25 after suffering an 8-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night. It was the team's eighth straight loss and they are currently on a historically bad pace. If they continue at their current pace they'll only win 22 games, which would be the second-worst season in baseball history behind the 1899 Cleveland Spiders who went 20-134.
The Spiders were 7-22 through their first 29 games.
With a current winning percentage of .138 the Rockies are on pace to set a modern-era record for losses. The 2024 Chicago White Sox, who broke the 1960 New York Mets' record for most losses in a season with 121, started 6-23.
The good news is that there really are five full months remaining in the season and the Rockies have a chance to turn things around. Or maybe short of that, not compete for one of the worst records in professional baseball history.
They're already 15.5 games out of first and since they're in the same division as the Los Angeles Dodgers, it's seems likely that the Rockies will set a new record for most games out of first. The 2018 Orioles finished 61 games back. The1942 Phillies finished 62.5 games out of first. The 1909 Boston Doves finished 65.5 games back. The aforementioned 1899 Spiders finished an astonishing 84 games behind the Brooklyn Superbas.
The Dodgers, who lead the NL West, are currently on pace to win 108 games. Even if the Dodgers slow down and the Rockies speed up, there is going to be a 60-something game difference in the standings at the end of the season.
If there's any good news here it's that the Rockies are only three games behind this year's edition of the Chicago White Sox. Those two teams are scheduled to play a three-game series that starts on the 4th of July. Good seats will most likely still be available.
More MLB on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Colorado Rockies Start Season on Historically Bad Pace.