Excessive groups: Rockies and Royals

The Colorado Rockies and Kansas Metropolis Royals are nearing the top of a season they might each prefer to overlook.

The Rockies may end the 2023 schedule with a triple-digit determine within the loss column. (In the event that they keep away from reaching 100, they’ll undoubtedly get shut.) The Royals haven’t any such uncertainty. They already know that this would be the seventh 100-defeat season of their 55-year historical past.

There have been happier occasions, after all. Colorado is simply 16 years faraway from the only real World Sequence look because the franchise’s creation in 1993, whereas the Royals nonetheless savor the world championship they gained simply eight years in the past.

These ballclubs — the Rockies and the Royals — are the themes of at this time’s take a look at the acute performances of a pair of groups through the Trendy Period, the interval between 1961 and the current. I’ve been working my approach by the alphabetical order of workforce nicknames on successive Fridays, resulting in this thirteenth installment in my 15-part collection.

Rankings of every franchise’s greatest and worst performances are based mostly on workforce scores (TS), that are plotted on an equalized 100-point scale, permitting us to make direct comparisons of golf equipment from completely different seasons. (Click on right here to study extra concerning the TS components.)

These are the years at each extremes for at this time’s golf equipment:

Greatest yr for the Rockies: This was a easy alternative, provided that Colorado secured its solely Nationwide League pennant in 2007. The Rockies gained 14 of their last 15 video games to clinch a wild-card berth, then rolled by the primary two rounds of the playoffs with a 7-0 report. Their momentum was derailed by the Boston Crimson Sox, who swept Colorado within the World Sequence. Left fielder Matt Holliday led the membership in homers (36), RBIs (137), and batting common (.340). First baseman Todd Helton batted .320. Pitcher Jeff Francis completed with a 17-9 report.

Worst yr for the Rockies: Colorado has by no means misplaced greater than 98 video games in a season, a report that it’d break in 2023. However these rankings exclude the present yr, thereby leaving 2005 because the worst squad in franchise historical past with its 67-95 report. Helton paced the workforce with a .320 common, exactly what he would hit two years later for the NL title workforce. And Francis once more led the pitching workers at 14-12.

Greatest yr for the Royals: Kansas Metropolis has gained a pair of world titles in its historical past, however TS considers the 2015 champs to have been the higher workforce. The Royals walked away with a 12-game margin within the American League Central, then went 11-5 within the postseason, which they capped with a five-game World Sequence victory over the New York Mets. Heart fielder Lorenzo Cain batted .307. Designated hitter Kendrys Morales drove house 106 runs. And left fielder Alex Gordon topped the membership with an on-base share of .377.

Worst yr for the Royals: Kansas Metropolis touched backside in 2005, the identical yr that Colorado suffered its worst season. A horrendous 6-18 April set the Royals on monitor to complete 50 video games beneath .500 at 56-106. Designated hitter Mike Sweeney nonetheless managed to trend a .300 common. And 21-year-old pitcher Zack Greinke confirmed some promise regardless of his 5-17 report.

Look beneath for the ten high and backside seasons between 1993 and 2022 for Colorado or between 1969 and 2022 for Kansas Metropolis. Comparable rankings for all different Main League Baseball golf equipment could be discovered within the print version of Baseball’s Best (and Worst) 2023 Yearbook.

Every workforce is listed beneath with the yr in brackets, adopted by regular-season win-loss report, postseason outcomes (if any) in parentheses, margin between runs scored and allowed per sport, and Trendy Period percentile.

These are the postseason abbreviations: P signifies {that a} membership made the playoffs, L signifies that it gained a league championship, and W signifies that it gained the World Sequence.

The Trendy Period percentile is the share of all 1,656 major-league golf equipment from 1961 by 2022 {that a} given workforce outperformed, based mostly on TS comparisons.

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• 1. Rockies [2007], 90-73 (LP), plus-0.63 margin, 95.0% in period

• 2. Rockies [2009], 92-70 (P), plus-0.55 margin, 84.2% in period

• 3. Rockies [2010], 83-79, plus-0.33 margin, 67.0% in period

• 4. Rockies [2018], 91-72 (P), plus-0.21 margin, 66.9% in period

• 5. Rockies [2017], 87-75 (P), plus-0.41 margin, 64.4% in period

• 6. Rockies [1995], 77-67 (P), plus-0.01 margin, 61.5% in period

• 7. Rockies [2000], 82-80, plus-0.44 margin, 56.4% in period

• 8. Rockies [1996], 83-79, minus-0.02 margin, 54.6% in period

• 9. Rockies [1997], 83-79, plus-0.09 margin, 51.1% in period

• 10. Rockies [2006], 76-86, plus-0.01 margin, 46.3% in period

• 1. Rockies [2005], 67-95, minus-0.75 margin, 6.0% in period

• 2. Rockies [1993], 67-95, minus-1.29 margin, 8.0% in period

• 3. Rockies [2012], 64-98, minus-0.81 margin, 9.4% in period

• 4. Rockies [2020], 26-34, minus-1.30 margin, 14.1% in period

• 5. Rockies [1999], 72-90, minus-0.75 margin, 14.9% in period

• 6. Rockies [2014], 66-96, minus-0.39 margin, 16.9% in period

• 7. Rockies [2015], 68-94, minus-0.66 margin, 17.4% in period

• 8. Rockies [2022], 68-94, minus-1.08 margin, 17.9% in period

• 9. Rockies [2019], 71-91, minus-0.76 margin, 18.7% in period

• 10. Rockies [2004], 68-94, minus-0.56 margin, 19.1% in period

• 1. Royals [2015], 95-67 (WLP), plus-0.51 margin, 95.2% in period

• 2. Royals [1980], 97-65 (LP), plus-0.71 margin, 92.4% in period

• 3. Royals [1985], 91-71 (WLP), plus-0.30 margin, 92.1% in period

• 4. Royals [1977], 102-60 (P), plus-1.06 margin, 90.3% in period

• 5. Royals [2014], 89-73 (LP), plus-0.17 margin, 83.6% in period

• 6. Royals [1976], 90-72 (P), plus-0.63 margin, 81.5% in period

• 7. Royals [1989], 92-70, plus-0.34 margin, 79.9% in period

• 8. Royals [1978], 92-70 (P), plus-0.67 margin, 77.9% in period

• 9. Royals [1975], 91-71, plus-0.38 margin, 76.4% in period

• 10. Royals [1982], 90-72, plus-0.41 margin, 73.7% in period

• 1. Royals [2005], 56-106, minus-1.44 margin, 0.9% in period

• 2. Royals [2006], 62-100, minus-1.32 margin, 1.8% in period

• 3. Royals [2004], 58-104, minus-1.14 margin, 1.9% in period

• 4. Royals [2009], 65-97, minus-0.96 margin, 6.9% in period

• 5. Royals [2010], 67-95, minus-1.04 margin, 9.2% in period

• 6. Royals [2022], 65-97, minus-1.05 margin, 9.6% in period

• 7. Royals [2018], 58-104, minus-1.20 margin, 10.3% in period

• 8. Royals [2007], 69-93, minus-0.44 margin, 13.5% in period

• 9. Royals [2002], 62-100, minus-0.95 margin, 13.7% in period

• 10. Royals [2019], 59-103, minus-1.10 margin, 13.9% in period