Three Takeaways From the Rockies' Wild Series Win Over Pittsburgh

TJ Rumfield's breakout series, good and bad pitching and crazy endings defined a fantastic weekend of baseball in Colorado.

Jun 20, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies right fielder Jake McCarthy (31). Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

TJ Rumfield is One of the Best Bats in Baseball

The Rockies' rookie first baseman continued to impress over the weekend. Rumfield hit two more home runs and drove in at least one run in every game, accounting for five total over the three games. He does everything right at the plate; he's up to 13 homers and 45 RBI on the season, he hits the ball to all fields and he rarely strikes out. Don't take my word for it, though; take a look at the stats.

According to Baseball Savant, Rumfield ranks in the 87th percentile in batting run value and 81st in fielding run value. What has made him so good as of late is a recent power surge combined with an 86th percentile strikeout percentage.

While his stats probably won't be quite good enough to be an All-Star this season, Colorado has one of the best all-around first basemen in the league, and he's just a rookie. Rumfield, 26, is young enough to be a building block for the future and will hopefully only grow as his career progresses.

Pitching Depth Remains Priority No. 1

Colorado Rockies pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Tomoyuki Sugano has been a fan favorite in his first season in Denver; he improved to 8-4 on the season with a six-inning, one-run performance in Saturday's 2-1 win over the Pirates. Sugano outdueled Paul Skenes, last year's Cy Young winner, in a thrilling matchup.

Go-to reliever Antonio Senzatela had another strong weekend; he earned the win on Friday and lowered his ERA to a team-best 2.23. Senzatela, a Rockie since 2017, has been wonderful in his first season coming out of the bullpen. Aside from those two, however, Colorado's pitching staff has posted poor numbers.

Michael Lorenzen continued to struggle, giving up four runs and earning the loss in his five and a third innings pitched on Sunday. His advanced stats rank amongst the worst in the entire league, and he will likely not return next season. Kyle Freeland had a great start in this series, but his ERA sits at 7.36 this season as his velocity and metrics continue to drop.

In addition to inconsistent performances from the starters, the bullpen simply hasn't been good enough this season. Juan Mejia, Victor Vodnik and Zach Agnos have all been heavily relied upon and have disappointed in their appearances.

The pen has the worst ERA in the league, and it only contains one lefty arm. That arm is Brendan Bernardino, and he has had a surprisingly strong year in the purple pinstripes. He leads the team in appearances with 36, though, and is 34 years old. It's clear the Rockies will need to acquire more southpaws soon.

Of Colorado's thirteen qualified pitchers, only one is above league average in pitching run value (Senzatela). Freeland and Lorenzen are both in the bottom one percent in that statistic. As a collective, the Rockies have the worst ERA and batting average against in the league.

Not to pile on too much, but the focus should be almost exclusively on pitching acquisitions as the MLB Draft and trade deadline approach. The offense has surprised this year; it ranks 12th in the league in runs. What Colorado needs is young arms as the franchise builds for the future.

Rockies-Pirates at Coors Delivers Again

Pittsburgh has been tortured in Denver the last two seasons. Every Rockies fan remembers last year's series at Coors. The Pirates blew a 9-0 first inning lead in last year's historic, 17-16 rubber match loss to Colorado that was highlighted by Brenton Doyle's walkoff home run. A year later, Pittsburgh made more losing history in the Mile High City.

The Pirates are the only MLB team in the last 50 years to have the tying run on 3rd with 0 outs in the 9th inning 2 games in a row but lose both games.

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) June 21, 2026

On Friday, Senzatela came in for the ninth and denied Pittsburgh the game-tying run, as Braxton Fulford's late RBI double proved to be the difference. Saturday was even wilder, as Jake McCarthy's inside-the-park home run and Rumfield's eighth inning single put the Rockies ahead. Then, Jaden Hill was thrown into the pressure cooker and managed to hold off the Pirates, escaping a bases loaded, one out situation in unconventional fashion.

Pirates lose after Billy Cook is called for interference after making contact with Kyle Karros's glovepic.twitter.com/fAPnkJLeAX

— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) June 21, 2026