Rockies show how they plan to live and die by aggressiveness in 2026

MIAMI -- Juan Mejia pugnaciously strolling off the mound after escaping an eight-inning jam by striking out the Marlins’ Owen Caissie in Friday night’s season opener could be interpreted as the first impression of a promised new era of Rockies baseball.

Mejia’s strong arm made an impression late last season. Buoyed by three scoreless performances for an ultra-expressive Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, Mejia -- who threw the final two innings of a solid Rockies pitching performance -- let some emotion loose.

“[The WBC] was amazing, and the vibes were 100 out of 100,” Mejia said, with pitching coach Alon Leichman interpreting. “Thank God for giving me that. It was awesome.”

But making aggressiveness a part of a team’s DNA often means being fine with it backfiring. For that reason, the Rockies had no problem with the key play in the 2-1 loss to the Marlins at loanDepot park.

The strategy was to be aggressive with any chance Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara offered.

There was just one opportunity.

In the fourth, Jake McCarthy -- acquired from the Diamondbacks during the offseason primarily because of his speed -- led off with a bunt single and stole second. But Marlins right fielder Austin Slater fielded Hunter Goodman’s hard single and made a pinpoint throw to the plate for the first out of the inning.

After going a Majors-worst 43-119 in 2025 to extend a run of losing seasons to a club-record seven, Colorado made massive changes in the front office and with its in-game strategy -- with a mantra to be bold.

"You’ve got Jake McCarthy’s speed -- you try to score a lot on that ball,” manager Warren Schaeffer said.

A rousing victory would have been preferred. But the Rockies at least made some gung-ho baby steps.

Mejia, who turns 26 years old on July 4, debuted last year on April 24 and 68 struck out in 61 1/3 innings while going 2-2 with one save and a 3.96 ERA. It was a strong enough impression that the Dominican Republic invited him to be part of its seasoned squad.

“There were a lot of guys in that locker room with a lot of experience, and they helped get me through it,” Mejia said. “That experience is going to help me have a good year with the Rockies.”

After some harrowing pitching numbers in 2025 -- a 6.65 starter ERA that was the worst since ERA became a stat in 1913, as well as a 5.12 bullpen ERA -- the Rockies revamped coaching and game plans.

Friday was the regular-season unveiling of the Rockies’ use of a plan that Leichman was part of last season as the Marlins’ assistant pitching coach. Leichman signaled pitches to catcher Goodman from the dugout, with the pitcher having veto power. The one-night result was promising.

Starter Kyle Freeland labored in the Marlins’ two-run second and left after 4 1/3 innings because of a high pitch count (81 pitches, 53 strikes), but two runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts was good enough to turn the game over to the bullpen. Jimmy Herget (1 1/3 innings), Brennan Bernardino (a key left-on-left grounder from Slater) and Mejia limited the Marlins to three combined hits the rest of the game -- and threw 44 combined pitches.

Connor Norby doubled off Mejia to open the eighth and moved to third on Heriberto Hernández's groundout. But Mejia stared down two left-handed hitters -- Xavier Edwards on a foul pop and Caissie on the strikeout that triggered celebration.

“That Classic experience really helped me,” Mejia said. “In that moment, I was like, ‘Hold on. Take a deep breath. Don’t give in here.’”

Colorado's offense tried the same attitude.

The Rockies had the right player on base. Last season while with the Diamondbacks, before the Rockies acquired him in a January trade, McCarthy tied for the eighth-fastest average Sprint Speed in the Majors per Statcast, at 29.9 feet per second.

“I figured it was going to be a close play at the plate,” McCarthy said. “It was a line drive. I let it go through because I didn’t want to get doubled up. I went back and watched it. Obviously, [Slater] made a good play. But anytime you’re out on a bang-bang play, there’s always something you could have done better.

“When it comes down to one run, it’s a little frustrating. But we’re going to keep taking risks on the basepaths.”

After McCarthy was thrown out at the plate, the Rockies loaded the bases, and Jordan Beck drove in a run with a two-out infield single. But Alcantara fanned Brenton Doyle for one of his five strikeouts.

The steps this year may be small as the team builds toward what it hopes is a winning future.

But the Rockies vow that those steps will not be tentative.