Michael Lorenzen Sees ‘Awesome Opportunity’ to Pitch for Rockies

Michael Lorenzen sees nothing but untapped potential when it comes to pitching for the Colorado Rockies in Denver.

Kansas City Royals pitcher Michael Lorenzen. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The thin air in Denver has been more than enough to scare off even the best pitchers in baseball from joining the Colorado Rockies.

Try as Colorado may, it's been difficult to get big name free agents to sign on the dotted line to pitch at Coors Field. Last season certainly Didn't help. The pitching staff ended up with a 5.99 ERA, which was the worst in baseball. Their rotation ERA was also the worst in baseball. With 119 losses, Colorado narrowly avoided tying for the worst record in Major League Baseball history.

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But the Rockies must start somewhere. And they've started with a new regime that includes president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta, general manager Josh Byrnes and new full-time manager Warren Schaeffer.

DePodesta and Byrnes have spent the offseason assembling a pitching coaching staff that they believe can help solve the mystery that is pitching at Coors Field. But the franchise also needs pitchers that believe they can get it done there.

When Colorado signed Michael Lorenzen to a one-year deal in January, they signed a believer. He said as much to DNVR Rockies in an interview at spring training.

Michael Lorenzen Sees Potential in Denver

“Colorado is untapped when it comes to the pitching side of things”

Michael Lorenzen talks about tackling the challenges of pitching at elevation as the primary reason for signing with the Rockies⬇️ pic.twitter.com/haZMIkajly

— DNVR Rockies (@DNVR_Rockies) February 13, 2026

Lorenzen said he loves the idea of being on the front lines of figuring out how to pitch at Coors Field with success, calling it “untapped.”

“I say it all the time — Colorado’s untapped when it comes to the pitching side of things and how awesome it is to be at the forefront of that,” Lorenzen said. “That's exciting to me, you know, to be one of the first guys to come in and try and figure this place out. Obviously, the front office and the coaching staff that they've brought in is right on board with that. So, to have that support group to be able to help me through that and me be able to bounce ideas off them, it's an awesome opportunity.”

Lorenzen may see a kindred spirit in the Rockies. When he made his Major League debut in 2015 with the Cincinnati Reds, he was a starter. But for the successive six seasons, he was mostly a reliever for the Reds.

It took leaving for the Los Angeles Angels in 2022 as a free agent to become a starter again. In 2023 he went to the All-Star game for the Detroit Tigers, was traded at the deadline to the Philadelphia Phillies, and threw a no-hitter in his second start for his new team.

Lorenzen was looking for a chance to continue as a starter. The Rockies were looking for a veteran who believed in what they were trying to accomplish. It could be a successful marriage for both parties, especially if the organization's leadership can figure out how to have successful pitchers at Coors Field consistently.

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