Rockies’ Michael Lorenzen Running Out of Answers Amid Brutal Start

Michael Lorenzen and the Colorado Rockies have a problem are their hands.

Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

There’s simply no way of sugarcoating this: Michael Lorenzen has been awful in a Colorado Rockies uniform.

Acquired during the offseason out of free agency, Lorenzen was supposed to be one of the stalwart arms in the Rockies’ pitching rotation in 2026. The front office, led by newly minted president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta, had good reason to believe this when signing Lorenzen. Through 11 seasons in MLB, he’d put up a 4.08 ERA with six different teams. Why couldn’t he replicate that same success in Colorado?

It appears, at least for now, that the Rockies were wrong in that assessment. Insanely wrong, to be more precise.

Through 11 games — 10 of which have been starts — and 48 2/3 innings, Lorenzen has accumulated a jaw-dropping 7.03 ERA. He’s allowed a league-high 76 hits, has let up 17 walks, and has hit three batters.

For comparison, Lorenzen hit just six batters all of last season. His ERA+ — an adjusted metric where 100 is average that evaluates a pitcher’s effectiveness while adjusting for external variables like ballpark dimensions and the league’s overall offensive environment — is at a career-low 67, and his WHIP is an absurd 1.911. Sometimes the numbers don’t tell the complete story. With Lorenzen, they most certainly do.

Coors Field Has Become Lorenzen’s Biggest Problem

Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

After allowing seven runs over 4 2/3 innings to the Atlanta Braves in what resulted in an 8-6 defeat for the Rockies, nobody was more upset with his production so far this season than Lorenzen himself.

“To be this deep into the season and have these types of results on a consistent basis is unacceptable,” Lorenzen told reporters after the game (via MLB.com). “I have to do a better job of giving our team a better opportunity to win these games. You saw them fight late in the game.

“If I have a bad start and give up four runs, we have a good shot. But if I have a terrible start and give up six or whatever it may be, it doesn’t help the team at all.”

The main reason for Lorenzen’s inflated stats is his inability to figure out Coors Field. While he possesses a respectable 4.26 ERA through his six appearances on the road, his 10.03 ERA in Denver certainly catches the eye.

Colorado Rockies pitcher Michael Lorenzen (24) delivers a pitch on the road. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Whether it’s the elevation, which has bitten countless pitchers attempting to navigate Coors Field, or some other unknown factor, Lorenzen just can’t seem to give his team a chance to win at home, and that’s simply not going to cut it for a pitcher that the Rockies entrusted with this much responsibility at the beginning of the season.

The person who knows that best is Lorenzen. He knows that the perilous conditions at Coors Field aren’t an excuse for how bad these performances have been. He knows that for him to earn the eight-million-dollar contract the Rockies gave him, he’ll have to pitch better. The results simply have to improve, no matter the location.

“I don’t care if it’s Mars, I need to figure it out,” Lorenzen said (via MLB.com).

That undoubtedly is correct.