DENVER — A franchise-record eight straight losses at Coors Field going into Tuesday night's game. The worst bullpen ERA in the major leagues. And, amid a free-fall from first to fourth in a matter of three weeks, playoff hopes that are already dwindling late in the first half of the season.
Are the Rockies (34-38) seeing what everyone else is seeing? At six games back of the first-place Diamondbacks in a division they'll likely have to win to return to the postseason, are they worried they're about to fall into the baseball abyss with no chance of returning until next spring?
"It's tough," manager Bud Black said of the recent slide. "Disappointing," second baseman DJ LeMahieu added. "It's hard to comment on," shortstop Trevor Story said.
But call them fools, call them true believers — neither Black, nor the players within the Colorado clubhouse, have lost faith just yet.
"You know, (my Royals teammate) Dan Quisenberry said long ago, 'Just hang in there until September, and then let's see what happens,' " Black said. "If you're within striking distance, then you'll take your chances at the end."
Is that just a line, or does Black really buy what he's selling? How many wins can the bullpen give away — the Rockies have lost a National League-worst 21 games after leading — before the floor falls out?
I pressed him on it. He started deep into my eyes, as if he were about to recite baseball poetry, and with measured words reaffirmed his position regarding the team's weakest unit. Despite a 5.75 ERA, the manager said, "I think the bullpen's going to be fine. I do."
Jake McGee, who yielded a two-run homer in Monday's 12-2 loss to New York in the series opener — one of nine runs surrendered by the bullpen in just three frames that game, echoed Black's sentiments.
McGee said he and his fellow relievers take stumbles hard but ultimately believe Colorado's course, with a mix of highly-paid veterans and young arms with potential, will straighten itself out.
"It's hard to stay even-keeled, but at the same time, as long as everyone's preparing and everyone's together and everyone's on the same page, we're going to get out of the funk," McGee said. "We're going to get out of it, and when we do, we're going to be stronger than we were before."
Such a statement will likely be read with raised eyebrows by Rockies' faithful, who have been unusually quick to voice their displeasure this season at Coors Field, where Colorado is tied for the fewest home wins in the National League with an 11-20 record.
Whether the chorus of boos has rained down upon first baseman Ian Desmond or, more recently, reliever Bryan Shaw, Black stressed no one wants to get back in the W column more than those on the team's 25-man roster.
"Our guys know what's happening, but you can't put any more pressure on yourself than you normally do as a professional athlete," Black said. "The guys put as much pressure on themselves to perform as anybody — fans, media, whoever."
So, the big issue remains.
If Black is intent on sticking with his current roster — which he's repeatedly said he plans to do, minus a couple bullpen changes when, say, Mike Dunn and Scott Oberg come off the disabled list or Antonio Senzatela is fully healthy and ready to come up from Triple-A — then the Rockies must find a way to win with what they've got.
It might seem like a daunting task to the Twittersphere and to Denver's sportswriting collective, but Colorado players aren't hitting the panic button. Just yet.
"It's tough right now for us with how the team as a whole has been playing, and it's hard to pull yourself out of that hole," left-handed starter Kyle Freeland said. "But the best teams know how to do it, and I believe we can."