Recapping one of the worst starts in sports history

Cy Young, MVP, Silver Slugger, and of course the Coors Crown. These are some of the most prodigious and coveted honors in baseball. But it’s not all sunshine and snowy mountaintops in Colorado, as the worst performer of each series must don the title of Rockiest Rocky. After one month of the season, it’s time to check in on the winners of the crown and determine which Rockies have led their team into battle every series and which Rockies might as well have stayed home. 

The Two-Time Kings of Coors

Ryan McMahon

Our first and most obvious honoree is Ryan McMahon. McMahon was a two-time winner of the award and overall best player on the Rockies this year. McMahon won the first crown of the year batting .429 in the season opening series with three multi-hit games. He followed that up in the home opener against the Rays, propelling the Rockies to victory on the strength of his walk off home run, setting a tone for what has the early makings of a breakout season. As a result of that walk off shot and another strong series, McMahon brought home his second crown of the young season. McMahon’s hot start propelled him into a great start to his 2024 season, and entered Friday with a .316 batting average, four home runs and an .898 OPS. 

Cal Quantrill

Quantrill’s performance has been up and down and definitely not as sexy as McMahon’s, but he too has landed himself two crowns to tie Mac for the team lead. Quantrill received his crowns in back-to-back weeks, twirling six innings of one-run ball against the Phillies before following it up with six scoreless against the Mariners. Quantrill’s latter start came in a dire situation with Rockies mired in a losing streak in need of a competitive start.

Quantrill delivered, providing a stopper-esque performance and giving the Rockies a chance to break the losing streak in extras. Although he’s had a mixed bag of results thus far, Quantrill has been a solid addition to a shaky pitching staff. Through his first starts of the year, Quantrill holds a 5.34 ERA with 17 strikeouts while giving the Rox 32 much-needed innings.