DENVER — The Colorado Rockies had a projected top pick slide to them at No. 4 in baseball’s amateur draft last weekend.

It’s a win, and these days they’ll take any “W” they can get.

At 22-74, the Rockies are in the midst of a historically dismal season. They’re on pace for 125 losses a year after the Chicago White Sox went 41-121, which is the worst mark since baseball adopted a 162-game schedule in 1961. The Cleveland Spiders have the most losses in a season, going 20-134 in 1899.

Colorado’s struggles led to the firing of manager Bud Black in May. Recently, the team announced plans to restructure the front office. Last Sunday, a glimmer of hope for down the road as they drafted Ethan Holliday, an 18-year-old infielder from Oklahoma. His father, Matt, remains an icon in the Mile High City after sparking a magical late run in 2007 (dubbed ” Rocktober “) that delivered the franchise’s only World Series appearance.

Since that time, there have been nearly as many 100-loss seasons (two, 2023 and 24) for Colorado as playoff spots (three, the last in 2018).

Meanwhile, winning is happening in the city all around the Rockies. The Colorado Avalanche hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2022 and the Nuggets earned the franchise’s first NBA title a season later. The Broncos broke an eight-year playoff drought last season behind rookie QB Bo Nix.

“You start getting a reputation,” said Tom Zeiler, a professor of history at the University of Colorado who’s written several books on baseball. “Honestly, if the Rockies turned it around and became a playoff team … they’d look back and laugh about this kind of thing.

“Winning changes everything.”

There just hasn’t been much winning this season, especially at Coors Field. The Rockies have yet to win back-to-back homes games in 2025. They’ve lost 17 straight home series dating to last season. Should they drop two of three this weekend against the Minnesota Twins, it would be the longest home losing series streak in league history, according to OptaSTATS.

“It’s been a year of ups and downs. A lot of downs,” said Rockies outfielder Mickey Moniak, whose team trails the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers by 35 1/2 games. “We’re just trying to learn from everything.”

The team’s 74 losses prior to the All-Star break are the most since 1933 (the first All-Star Game). It’s a mark that had belonged to the White Sox, who were 27-71 last season at the break.

“We’re all in it together,” Colorado first baseman Michael Toglia said. “Everyone’s grinding.”

“We’ve got two options,” Moniak explained. “We can tuck our tails between our legs and hide or we can face this head on and try to grow and try to get better from it.

“I think every person in this clubhouse is choosing the latter.”