Well, we believe in exit velocity, bat flips, launch angles, stealing home, the hanging curveball, Big League Chew, sausage races, and that unwritten rules of any kind are self-indulgent, overrated crap. We believe Greg Maddux was an actual wizard. We believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment protecting minor league baseball and that pitch framing is both an art and a science. We believe in the sweet spot, making WARP not war, letting your closer chase a two-inning save, and we believe love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.
Welcome to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB roundtable with Robert Murray, Eric Cole, Adam Weinrib, Zach Rotman and Chris Landers.
The Colorado Rockies have the worst record in baseball, and recently tied the worst 29-game start in MLB history. Will they one-up the 2024 Chicago White Sox, or perhaps catch the 1899 Cleveland Spiders?
Eric Cole: Being a Braves guy that has watched the abomination that is the 2025 Rockies the last couple of days, I am confident that they are the worst MLB team I have seen. So many guys that either look like minor league journeymen or prospects that are not ready yet. They have some young talent, but I don’t see them getting much better this year, especially playing at Coors. Catching the Spiders is a big ask, but I will not be surprised if they threaten the White Sox’s mark.
Adam Weinrib: Yeah, see…the issue with the Rockies is that they play in a home ballpark that’s designed to kick their ass. Their weak pitching staff and strong jet stream will be overwhelmed by every single visiting team. They don’t have a reprieve. At least the White Sox had the creature comforts of home over the course of their harrowing journey. There’s a good chance the Rockies are completely cooked. I’d rather be a Yard Goat.
Chris Landers: Not only are the Rockies bad enough to outdo last year’s White Sox, they also play in a much, much tougher division, and I’m fully willing to believe that they’ll fall short of 41 wins this season based on just how little talent there is on this roster. That said, 20 wins is just such a low bar, one that the Spiders only hit by basically trying to lose every game on an organizational level over a period of many months.
Zachary Rotman: There’s very little on this Rockies roster to get excited about, and as Chris mentioned, this division is brutal. I would not be surprised to see the Rockies win fewer than five of their games against their NL West rivals. I would also not be surprised to see the Rockies win fewer than 40 games. The 20-game bar, though, is realistically impossible for a modern-day team to clear (I think). As bad as the Rockies have been, they’re already a quarter of the way there with five months to go. They’ll win 30+, but anything beyond that is very up in the air.
Robert Murray: I didn’t think the White Sox’ record from last season would be touched by anyone not named the White Sox … and now I’m convinced that the Rockies are going to somehow be worse. Their pitching stinks. Their offense is terrible, and Kris Bryant may never be a useful player again. I feel awful for Bud Black. He’s in an impossible spot in Colorado and may forever be attached to history in the worst way imaginable: having one of the worst records in baseball history.
The Baltimore Orioles might be bad, folks. Do you believe in the O’s despite a rough start?
Eric Cole: I believe that the Orioles’ offense will turn things around, but there has been some real roster building malpractice when it comes to Baltimore’s pitching staff. I have no idea what the Orioles were thinking when they basically sat out the offseason market in terms of adding arms. They aren’t as bad as they have looked thus far, but this isn’t a playoff team as constructed and if they get there somehow, the lack of pitching is going to lead to an early exit.
Adam Weinrib: I think Mike Elias is the best window-closer in baseball. You need a window shut or potential squandered, he’s who you call. As Jeff Passan stated on ESPN this week, it’s not that the Orioles didn’t spend money this offseason; they just decided to spend it all on short-term patches and iffy non-solutions. Tyler O’Neill, fine, though it just hasn’t worked out yet. Charlie Morton? Andrew Kittredge? Gary Sánchez? You don’t need a doctorate in thermodynamics to realize you should’ve just pooled your money and signed Max Fried instead. Unless Baltimore wakes up and decides to follow the path laid out by other champions instead of trying to innovate on their own terms, they won’t be a threatening playoff team, if they even reach the dance at all. And remember: Gunnar Henderson, repped by Scott Boras, won’t be extending! They haven’t taken care of Adley Rutschman yet!
Chris Landers: What is there to believe in, exactly? The O’s success over the last couple of seasons has given everyone the idea that they’re underachieving their talent right now, but … well, go look at the active roster right now and tell me how many games you’d expect that team to win. The rotation currently consists of Charlie Morton, Kyle Gibson, Dean Kremer, Tomoyuki Sugano and Cade Povich. The lineup is currently missing three regulars Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser and Tyler O’Neill. And the worst part is that it’s hard to identify where a solution might come from: Their pitching is more than just a deadline acquisition away from competence, and Grayson Rodriguez isn’t returning any time soon. Baltimore get back to being a solid offense again in time, but it won’t be nearly good enough to overcome what’s happened to this staff.
Zachary Rotman: I believe that this offense will be elite when it gets healthy and guys like Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman get going, but their starting rotation makes this team impossible to believe in. This rotation needed work before the injuries, and now, it’s an embarrassment. Relying on the likes of Charlie Morton and Kyle Gibson never made sense, and neither did refusing to make a big splash either in free agency or via trade. Mike Elias is paying the price for refusing to go all-in, and at this point, it’s getting tougher to believe in this team ever getting back to the level they played at the last two seasons.
Robert Murray: I don’t believe in them at all, and it’s why I think Mike Elias’ seat in Baltimore deserves to be warm. Their young core on offense is the best since the Chicago Cubs had Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo and others coming up. But they have failed to invest significant resources in the pitching staff and when they have invested, it’s been cheap free-agent bandaids or awful trades. Oh, and by the way, we see the Braves and other teams sign players to extensions early to get value. There’s risk in that, of course. I get that. But not a single extension for a key young player is going to make it almost impossible to keep that young offensive core together. I want to believe in the Orioles! They had all the makings of a juggernaut, especially on offense. But instead it’s been a huge failure.
The Kentucky Derby is this weekend, which got me thinking: Make up a creative baseball-related horse name. Go!
Eric Cole: Man, there are a lot of baseball phrases that work here. Has to be 1-3 words probably and catchy. I prefer funny names, but there are some opportunities for some stately options as well. Give me “Eephus” just because I want that yelled as horses are coming down the stretch.
Adam Weinrib: As someone who interviewed Alex Bregman and Walker Buehler’s shared horse, March of Time, this is very much in my purview. What about “Filly Fans,” as in “Filly Fans is headed down the stretch faster than an iceball hurled at Santa Claus!”? Or a Bob Uecker tribute, “Juuuuuust a Bit Horsehide”? Or we could just go with a familiar old chestnut, “Old Chestnut”?
Chris Landers: I mean, Filly Phanatic is right there, but if you want a bit of a deeper cut, may I present: Hoof Bonser.
Zachary Rotman: What about Grand Slam? There’s a Grand Slam in golf, and a Grand Slam in tennis, so it’d only be right to have that in horse racing too.
Robert Murray: Can I go with something that Adam said? No? Damn. I’ll go with Triple Crown, though upon further research, he was a horse that competed in the Kentucky Derby in 1974 (finished 17th).
If the season ended today, Aaron Judge would be the unanimous AL MVP. Who has been the best player in MLB so far this season, non-Judge division?
Eric Cole: It has to be Corbin Carroll, right? He doesn’t have the crazy batting average and OBP numbers Judge does, but they are tied in homers and his all-around game has helped Arizona a lot this season. I could see Bobby Witt Jr. challenging Judge at some point once the big fella cools down and Witt Jr. hits for more power, but Carroll is the pick for me right now.
Adam Weinrib: Trent Grisham. Or maybe No. 22 in pinstripes, that jersey we all have from last season, now occupied by … you know him, you love him, Ben Rice?! Earnestly, I’ll pick Fernando Tatis Jr. with a slight edge over Carroll, just because I’d rather see No. 23 striding to the plate confidently in the clutch. I’m also going to mention Pavin Smith, just because I’m so excited to be able to include him here while being only pretty ridiculous, not completely ridiculous.
Chris Landers: I really wanted to pull the trigger on Pete Crow-Armstrong here, but for as exciting as this start has been, I’m still not fully sold on the bat just yet. So give me Fernando Tatis Jr., who’s not only hitting the cover off the ball (his .463 xWOBA is behind only Judge and Pete Alonso) but has also blossomed into one of, if not the, best defensive corner outfielders in the sport. That ability with the glove gives him a slight edge over Carroll for me right now.
Zachary Rotman: As a Mets fan I really want to go with Pete Alonso, and think he’s honestly fairly close, but the answer to me is Corbin Carroll. He can change any given game at the plate, on the base paths, and his defensive metrics are quite good as well. His 2.1 fWAR leads all non-Judge players, and that’s for a reason. He is an unbelievable player and an utter joy to watch.
Robert Murray: Thank you, Chris, for not choosing Pete Crow-Armstrong. Because he’s my pick. His defense is spectacular. His offense is emerging. I can see why the Cubs tried extending PCA - the numbers that were reported were all wrong, though - and if he continues at this pace, he’ll be a very expensive foundational player in Chicago. What a fun player. (Why did the Mets trade PCA for a couple months of Javier Baez again?)
Robert Murray notebook: Mets mistake, Orioles reinforcements
The Mets' trade to send outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong to the Chicago Cubs for Javier Baez was baffling in the moment, and now looks even more foolish. He appears destined for stardom.
The Orioles need to look for rotation reinforcements sooner than later. Their rotation, especially after Kyle Gibson's horrendous performance against the Yankees, has never looked worse.