Mickey Moniak hasn’t doom-scrolled on Instagram, really, in more than two years.
It was toxic, the Rockies right fielder figured, back in his days with the Los Angeles Angels. Comparison the thief of joy, and all that. His notifications are off; wife Sophia owns and controls access to the handle @mickeymoniak. He’s plenty happy that way.
Many of his fellow Rockies, through wilting weeks around Coors Field, have similarly turned to online ghosts. First baseman Michael Toglia hasn’t posted since February. Neither has veteran Ryan McMahon. Catcher Jacob Stallings doesn’t have social media altogether. Limit the feed, and you limit the carnage, the ever-ticking loss total that’s drawn a national story to Denver in a town of Broncos, Nuggets and Avs.
“If you think about the season in totality and big-picture, and that sort of thing, it can get a little overwhelming,” Stallings told The Denver Post before Wednesday’s game. “Just gotta take it a day at a time. And wherever you end up at the season is where you end up.”
For now, that willful ignorance cannot disguise cold, hard, round numbers. After an 9-5 loss to Philadelphia on Wednesday night, these Rockies (8-41) have officially set the mark for the worst 50-game start in MLB history, eclipsing the 2023 Oakland Athletics for a tragic early-season trophy, a game early.
It came wrapped in the same bow, ultimately, as the other 40: a jumbled box of hanging deliveries, head-scratching fundamental mistakes and bats continuing to run cold as the Colorado spring warms up. The Rockies entered Wednesday with a sliver of hope in the young left arm of Carson Palmquist, with interim manager Warren Schaeffer saying pregame he hoped for a “step forward” in the 24-year-old’s second start.
“This is his first time at Coors Field,” Schaeffer said. “I like seeing how he reacts to that.”
Palmquist’s off-balance sweeper impressed on more than one at-bat, twice whiffing Phillies slugger and MLB home-run leader Kyle Schwarber. But things remained largely unchanged Wednesday after a five-run MLB debut.
Out of the gate, a soft four-seam fastball didn’t play against a battle-tested Philadelphia lineup. Trea Turner and Bryce Harper both knocked singles in Palmquist’s first four pitches to set up a two-run first inning. In the third, Turner ripped a 3-1 fastball from Palmquist deep into left-center seats to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead.
Before anyone at Coors had time to think, Harper swatted Palmquist’s next-pitch into the hedges beyond centerfield. Back-to-back pitches. Back-to-back homers.
The promising young lefty stared out at the trees, unmoving, for a few beats. Another start shattered. A home-field debut rocked. A season cratering, down into depths of the earth no club has reached before.
Palmquist eventually trudged off the mound in the fifth with an ugly ledger: 4 1/3 innings, four walks, two strikeouts and six earned runs to bring his two-start ERA to 11.88. He was afforded little help, too, behind him. After those two first-inning singles, Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman — despite sizzling at the plate — chucked a throw to third into left field to score a stealing Turner. In the third, Moniak bobbled an RBI double from Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto, scoring Schwarber to bring Philadelphia’s lead to 6-2.
The Rockies found a silver lining in 34-year-old DH Nick Martini, who launched his first homer of the year off Phillies starter Tajuan Walker in the fourth and followed with a double off the wall in the ninth. Young second baseman Adael Amador continued to impress in this Philadelphia series, too, knocking a second-inning RBI single and leaping to snag a liner and save a run to end the third.
“I think on a day-to-day basis,” Schaeffer said of Amador, “you’re seeing a more confident, free player.”
Realmuto added a two-run shot in the sixth off Rockies reliever Angel Chivilli, extending the Phillies’ lead to six. For the second straight night, the Rockies mounted a slight ninth-inning stand, as the scorching Ezequiel Tovar and Goodman both knocked in runs. But an unfortunately-historic night at Coors was long finished.
Injury updates: In a move quickly buried under a pile of managerial chaos, the Rockies transferred the ailing Kris Bryant to the 60-day IL May 11 amid an ongoing back issue. Schaeffer said pregame Bryant was still “doing his exercises” and “progressing off the field,” but wasn’t back doing any baseball activities. The Rockies, though, are set to receive some infield reinforcements soon. Schaeffer said second baseman Thairo Estrada, who’s been sidelined since spring training with a fractured wrist, will begin a rehab assignment in Triple-A either Wednesday or Thursday.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( With 9-5 loss to Phillies, Rockies clinch MLB’s worst-ever record through 50 games — a game early )
Also on site :