Colorado Rockies' Antonio Senzatela Continues Historically Shaky Start to Season

The Texas Rangers got to Antonio Senzatela right off the bat on Wednesday, ushering the Colorado Rockies veteran into the history books in all the wrong ways.
Arlington, Texas, USA; Colorado Rockies pitcher Antonio Senzatela (49) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field.
Arlington, Texas, USA; Colorado Rockies pitcher Antonio Senzatela (49) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. | Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

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Antonio Senzatela worked his way out of jams to a historic degree in his first few starts of the year, but he hasn't been getting nearly as lucky as of late.

The Colorado Rockies veteran gave up a two-run home run and a bases-loaded walk just in his first inning against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday. By the end of his outing, he had allowed eight hits, four walks and six earned runs in 4.2 innings of work.

Senzatela dropped to 1-7 on the season when the Rockies lost 8-3, taking hold of the MLB lead in both losses and hits allowed. Through nine starts, he owns a 6.39 ERA, 1.992 WHIP, 4.5 strikeouts per nine innings and a -0.5 WAR.

According to Underdog Fantasy's Justin Havens, Senzatela is the first pitcher to allow at least 74 hits with fewer than 25 strikeouts over a nine-start span since Aaron Harang did so in 2015. He is the first to achieve the odd feat to open a season since Carlos Silva had similarly slow start in 2006.

Senzatela averaged 28 appearances a year between 2017 and 2021, not including when he made all 12 of his scheduled starts during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign. He went 36-35 with a 4.84 ERA, 1.408 WHIP, 103 ERA+ and 7.0 WAR in that span before tearing his left ACL in 2022 and undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2023.

Between Aug. 18, 2022, and March 28, 2025, Senzatela made just five starts in the big leagues. The 30-year-old has far exceeded that mark in just over a month this season, even if the production hasn't been pretty.

Related MLB Stories

  • FALTER DODGES TROUBLE: While Bailey Falter walked five batters against the New York Mets on Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Pirates still won 4-0 thanks to his ability to pitch out of jams. CLICK HERE
  • WEAVER MATCHES MARIANO: Luke Weaver notched his fourth save of the season Wednesday night against the Seattle Mariners, bringing the New York Yankees reliever's ERA down to 0.45 and his WHIP down to 0.600. CLICK HERE
  • BOCHY CLIMBS WINS LIST: Bruce Bochy continued to build out his Hall of Fame resume on Wednesday, crawling up the all-time leaderboards as the Texas Rangers defeated the Colorado Rockies. CLICK HERE

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer covering baseball for “Fastball on SI.’’ He previously covered UCLA Athletics for On SI’s All Bruins site, and is a UCLA graduate, with his work there as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for On SI’s New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Sam lives in Boston.

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