Veteran Pitcher Kyle Freeland Reveals Different Feeling Surrounding 2026 Rockies

There is a different feeling entering 2026 for Colorado's ace pitcher.

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After losing 119 games, it didn't take much to figure out that there needed to be some big changes with the Colorado Rockies going into the offseason. It was a third straight 100-loss season for the Rockies, and there needed to be some changes.

Those sweeping changes began in November when Paul DePodesta was hired as the president of baseball operations. He hired Josh Byrnes as his general manager and removed the interim tag off manager Warren Schaeffer.

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There were players who lobbied for Schaeffer to return as the manager following the season in September, but when a new front office comes in, anything is possible.

One veteran who has been through the good times and tough times is Kyle Freeland. The left-handed pitcher is one of the leaders in the Colorado clubhouse, and he recently spoke on the 2026 season and changes that have been made. Again, you didn't need to be a rocket scientist to know that some rather big changes were needed.

“We needed a large change, or else this would have continued to repeat over and over again,” Freeland said to Thomas Harding of the Rockies Beat. “We might have better years than others, but ultimately, it didn’t really look like it was going to be good.”

Kyle Freeland Excited With Offseason Changes and 2026 Rockies Season

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Just front office changes alone seem to have rejuvenated the 33-year-old Freeland. He will headline a starting rotation that will be looking to bounce back from a historic bad 2025 campaign, and he has bought into the moves made so far this winter.

“With the ideas and the changes that we’re making, I’ve been speaking to our younger guys and letting them know this is a very big breath of fresh air,” said Freeland. “Having guys come in, wanting to completely change how we’re doing this and take this in a completely different direction, I’m bought in.”

The Colorado native went 5-17 last year for the Rockies with a 4.98 ERA in 162.2 innings with just 124 strikeouts. He will be back for a rotation that added Michael Lorenzen as a free agent this winter, but they will also be relying on some of the younger arms in their organization.

This is going to be a rather big season for Freeland in terms of his future. He is entering the final year of his current deal, but a $17 million player option kicks in if he throws 170 innings in 2026. He has reached 170-plus innings just twice in his career, the last time being in 2022.

Regardless, Freeland is entering spring training in February with a breath of fresh air and what feels like a fresh start for a team that has nowhere to go but up this season. A different feeling in Denver right now is a good thing.

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