Rockies: All the losing nearly reduced lefty Kyle Freeland to tears as he recently chatted about the woeful state of his hometown team. It’s a gloomy situation that had the Rockies off to a 7-33 start ahead of Monday night’s game — one of the worst in major league history — and led to the firing Sunday of manager Bud Black. Freeland wears his feelings for his city — to the team he grew up rooting for — on his sleeve. More specifically, his right arm, where there are tattoos of the elevation (5,280), area code (303) and an outline of the mountains. The losses weigh heavily on him. Change arrived in the Mile High air when Black, the franchise’s all-time winningest manager and the only voice that many of the Rockies players have ever known, was let go. Now, it’s Warren Schaeffer’s turn to navigate the Rockies away from a season that’s careening toward infamy. The Rockies have the worst start since the 1988 Orioles began 6-34. The Rockies are on pace for 134 losses a season after the White Sox went 41-121 — the worst since baseball adopted a 162-game schedule in 1961. Promoted from third-base coach to interim manager, Schaeffer inherits a team that’s second-to-last in runs — despite playing home games at hitter friendly Coors Field — and first in strikeouts. The pitching staff has surrendered the most runs in the big leagues and fanned the least amount of batters. “It’s on all of our shoulders,” Freeland said of the turnaround. “We need to be better, and we need to continue to progress forward.” The firing of Black came a day after a 21-0 loss to the Padres. The news was announced late in a 92-87 loss by the Nuggets in Game 4 against the Thunder at nearby Ball Arena. Schaeffer brings energy and exuberance to the Rockies clubhouse. He’s been the Rockies’ third base and infield coach since the 2023 season. Prior to joining the big league team, he spent 10 seasons as a manager and coach in the Rockies’ minor league system. “Just really how he communicates and relates with players, his connection to players,” general manager Bill Schmidt said of what Schaeffer brings to the role. “I think just a different voice here — we’re at that point where we needed to do that.” It’s an uphill climb for the Rockies to avoid a third straight 100-loss seasons. They have to go 56-66 the rest of the way. They’ve won back-to-back games just once and have three separate 8-game losing streaks. “Have the memory of a goldfish,” first baseman Michael Toglia said. The Rockies haven’t been to the postseason since 2018. Their only World Series appearance was 2007, when they were swept by the Red Sox. Their manager then was Clint Hurdle, who’s now the interim bench coach under Schaeffer.

Guardians: Shortstop Brayan Rocchio was optioned to Triple-A Columbus on Monday. Rocchio, 24, was hitting just .165 with eight RBIs in 35 games this season.