Why the 2025 Colorado Rockies are every bookmaker’s nightmare
During the 2024 season, the Chicago White Sox lost a modern MLB record 121 games — a masterpiece of baseball schadenfreude that no living person had ever seen before. Bettors delighted in regularly fading those White Sox and profited handsomely.
Yet, just one season later, another franchise is giving those White Sox (still near the bottom of the MLB barrel themselves) a run at history. Through 50 games, the Colorado Rockies are an astounding 8-42. That’s a .160 winning percentage that puts them on pace to win only 26 games and lose 136, breaking the modern MLB loss record set less than a year ago.
And as with the 2024 White Sox, bettors are fading the 2025 Rockies en masse and avoiding backing them at all costs.
ESPN BET reports that Colorado has attracted the least moneyline bets of any MLB team this season, while the team playing against the Rockies are a top-three most-bet team on almost any given day. For Colorado’s most recent series with the Philadelphia Phillies, the visiting Phillies were the sportsbook’s most-backed MLB team of the day in three of those four games and the second-most backed in the other.
The Phillies ended up handing the Rockies yet another series sweep, and things may not be getting better for the Denver-based squad anytime soon, as they’ll face a gauntlet of the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs and New York Mets over their next three series.
“We need the Rockies on a daily basis,” Caesars Sportsbook lead MLB trader Eric Biggio told ESPN. “Especially if they’re in a standalone spot where there’s not much other stuff going on, we have to really push the price out to a good level to get any kind of money on the Rockies.”
Since reaching a major-league-long odds of -400 on May 4 on the road against the San Francisco Giants, bookmakers have routinely handicapped the Rockies’ opponents in the -300 range, but to absolutely no avail.
The fades on Colorado keep flowing and for good reason. Even as the team draws big plus-odds each night, a $100 bettor would still be down $2,701, according to Covers.com. Thus, betting against them each night becomes a viable strategy for bettors and a terror for sportsbooks.
“This becomes a bookmaker’s nightmare if this continues to go on for a complete year, because there’s nothing we can do about it,” DraftKings head of sportsbook Johnny Avello said. “We can raise the price, but that’s not going to stop anyone if the teams are that bad.”
Even on the road, the Yankees are laying -300 on the moneyline and even a very rare -3.5 run line on Friday night, according to ESPN BET lines. Avello notes his book is routinely rising above the standard -1.5 run line given how poor this Rockies team has been. By DraftKings spreads, Colorado is an MLB-worst 16-34 against the run line, even after being underdogs in every single game.
Given the long moneylines, bettors are starting to get creative with how they fade the Rockies. Coors Field has long been a notorious hitter’s park due to Denver’s altitude, making it a clear target for overs on the total. However, with the 2025 Rockies being very lackluster on both sides of the ball, bettors are looking at lots of runs for just the away team.
“The people recognize, ‘Hey, the Rockies aren’t scoring much, the opposing team is,’ so they’re betting the Rockies team total under and the opponent over,” said Biggio. “It’s not rocket science, but it is turning into a kind of big decision on top of the normal markets for baseball.”
This really came to a head on May 10, when the San Diego Padres came to town and defeated Colorado by a ridiculous score of 21-0. Biggio says that the next day, bettors flooded the market, backing the Padres on the moneyline, run line and team total.
However, then something remarkable happened: The Rockies won 9-3, their seventh win of the season. Biggio says it was a huge win for the book, equivalent to an “NFL Sunday kind of decision.”
“Teams playing the Rockies are regularly among the most-bet MLB teams of the day on both the moneyline and run line, so the rare Rockies win is something of a bright spot,” ESPN BET director of North American sports trading Adrian Horton said over email. “However, those wins don’t outweigh the good days for bettors taking whoever is playing against Colorado.”
Barring a huge turnaround for Colorado, the books are likely making some money back on season win total. Before the campaign, sportsbooks set the Rockies’ win total at a consensus 59.5. That’s low, but notably higher than the White Sox’ historically low 53.5. Caesars and DraftKings both report that a majority of money was on the over, citing preseason optimism and general bettor behavior that gravitates to the over.
Since then, books have been consistently dropping that total throughout the season, and it currently stands at 39.5 headed into the weekend series with the Yankees. Biggio says it’s the lowest in-season win total he’s ever seen.
During the current monster stretch of the Rockies’ schedule, sportsbooks aren’t likely to get much respite from the beatings they’re taking on a daily basis. However, there is possibly some relief on the horizon. Following this tough section, Colorado gets the NL East bottom-dwelling Miami Marlins and, for July 4th weekend, the Rockies will take on the White Sox in what has to be one of the most strangely anticipated matchups of the season.
“These prices are already out of control as far as what you have to lay to win to win a dollar, so that won’t stop betters from either betting [their opponents] straight or parlaying them,” said Avello. “We have to just weather this storm, though. We can adjust prices, but we just have to wait for a time when maybe they get on track a little bit and win a few games.”
AMES, Iowa — No. 14 Iowa State‘s secondary will be without longtime starters Jontez Williams and Jeremiah Cooper for the rest of the season because of knee injuries.
Coach Matt Campbell announced Tuesday that Williams damaged the ACL in his right knee late in the Cyclones’ 39-14 win over Arizona on Saturday. Cooper tore his ACL in practice last week. The two have combined for 55 starts.
Williams, an Associated Press All-Big 12 second-team pick in 2024, had one interception and two pass breakups this season. He was hurt with three minutes left against Arizona as he dove in an attempt to knock a ball away from a receiver.
“So that’s a situation that really stinks for the kid,” Campbell said. “But man, just how he’s handled it has been uber impressive. And a great human. He’ll be back ready to rock and roll next year.”
Cooper has made 36 starts since 2022 and was an AP All-Big 12 first-team pick at safety in 2023. He switched to cornerback full time this season and had an interception and three pass breakups through four games.
Tre Bell, a transfer from Lindenwood, made his first start for the Cyclones in Cooper’s place against Arizona. Quentin Taylor Jr., who played 26 snaps against Arizona, would be in line to make his first start when the Cyclones (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) visit Cincinnati (3-1, 1-0) on Saturday.
Inspirational thought of the week:
I hear your laugh
And look up smiling at you
I run and run
Past the pumpkin patch
And the tractor rides
Look now, the sky is gold
I hug your legs
And fall asleep on the way home
I don’t know why all the trees change in the fall
But I know you’re not scared of anything at all
— “The Best Day,” Taylor Swift
Here at Bottom 10 Headquarters, located beneath the pile of regret RSVP cards at Rece Davis’ house because his daughter scheduled a fall wedding, now that October has arrived, we know exactly where you will all have been this week. Standing in line with us, waiting for the store to open at midnight Oct. 3 to sell us the first copies of Tay-Tay’s new album, “The Life of a Showgirl.”
Yes, this week the World’s Most Famous Chiefs Fan Not Named Ant-Man drops her new batch of songs, but we also know that as the Bottom 10 faithful camp out on the sidewalk, they will be listening to another playlist of sweet tunes. I’m speaking of the fight songs of Sam Houston, We Have a Problem on Thursday night. Then, the Charlotte 1-and-3’ers, San No-sé State and Colora-duh State on Friday night. All programs that are in their own “Era” of writing “Bottom 10’s Version” of their “Reputation” for “Evermore.”
And while we watch those games, at some point we will realize that it isn’t “1989” and we no longer have to be in line to buy a new record. Or buy records at all. We can download them to our phones. Or as we call them here in the B10CU, the Bottom 10 Cinematic Universe, our pocket computers.
With apologies to the Taylor University Trojans, former Nebraska wide receiver Nate Swift and Steve Harvey, here are the post-Week 5 Bottom 10 rankings.
The Bearkats kruised through their skheduled open date and now koncentrate on krossing the Rio Grande for a kontest kounter to New Mexiko State, who were just konquered by New Mexiko in Albukuerkue.
Have you seen that meme of Cookie Monster drumming his fingers on the table, impatiently waiting to go bonkers on a yet-to-arrive tray of cookies? Yeah, that’s us, waiting for the Oct. 11 Pillow Fight of the Week of the Year of the Century Mega Bowl, when the Minutemen travel to face State of Kent, who are 1-3 after taking the week off. But before that, UMass hosts Western Not Eastern Michigan, while Kent will be getting run over by the Sooner Schooner like a snake trying to cross an Oklahoma freeway.
In Westwood, they said bye to their coach, then they had a bye week, then they lost at Bottom 10 Wait Listers Northworstern, then they raced USC back to Los Angeles, both wondering why they said bye to having all those games closer to home in the league they said bye to too.
Speaking of the Artist Formerly Known But Soon To Be Known Again As The Pac-12, the Beavers became the nation’s first five-loss team after a near-win over undefeated Houston Not Sam Houston. Now they travel east to face Appalachian State in Boone, North Carolina, where I once camped with the Boy Scouts and had all of our food stolen by actual beavers.
There are those who might try to convince you that Penn State’s White Out didn’t work the night they played Oregon, but it did. Watch James Franklin’s postgame news conference when he was asked about his record against top-10 teams. He totally used virtual Wite-Out to paint over the word “narrative” and change it to “factual.”
I was roasted over mesquite, and rightfully so, for omitting Oklahoma State from these rankings one week ago after it lost to Living On Tulsa Time at home and then fired Mike “I’m a man! I’m 58!” Gundy. It was a mistake. I was in denial. But I was snapped out of that trance of disbelief by all of the DMs and texts from Stillwater phone numbers saying that I had to have Oklahoma State in here this week or lose all credibility, including one from what my caller ID listed as “Gundy, M.”
The Spartans Not Trojans are one of a whopping four Mountain West teams stuck at 1-3, but won, er, lost out for this spot over the other three because: A. They actually played a game last weekend; 3. They lost the Pillow Fight of the Week to neighbor and fellow Bottom 10 Waiting Lister Stanfird by one point; and fifthly, they can probably sneak up on New Mexico this weekend because the Lobos have spent all week with upset tummies after spending a week eating from college football’s new greatest rivalry trophy, the Chile Roaster.
I feel very strongly that we as a nation aren’t making a big enough deal out of this new chile roaster trophy for New Mexico-New Mexico State. pic.twitter.com/ls0s5X1ETA
— Ryan McGee (@ESPNMcGee) September 28, 2025
The Other Other Huskies are one of a whopping six #MACtion team stuck at 1-and-something, but won, er, lost out for this spot over the other five because: 1. They actually played a game last weekend; C. They lost to San Diego State, which isn’t terrible, but the final score of the game was 6-3; and secondly, we wanted a chance to hype this week’s Pillow Fight of the Week, when they host My Hammy of Ohio, which is now 1-3 after beating Lindenwood, a school you’ve never heard of unless you are a big Pierre Desir fan.
The Red Wolves are one of a not-as-whopping but still not small three Fun Belt teams stuck at 1-and-something, but won, er, lost out for this spot over the other two because: I. They actually played last weekend; IV. They lost to our old friends and former Bottom 10 stalwart ULM (pronounced “uhlm”); and XL. That Week 2 loss to now-head coach-less Arkansaw by 42 points is aging about as well as that bottle of gas station chardonnay that I accidentally left under the seat of my truck all summer.
My hometown team is one of a totally-not-whopping-but-still-seems-like-a-lot-for-one-conference-after-only-one-month-of-football three Just American teams stuck at 1-and-something, but won, er … OK, yeah … I’m tired of this bit too. Almost as tired as the Niners fans will be of watching US(not C)F run up and down the field on Friday night. The good news? Shortly after the game ends, they can ease their pain by listening to Tay’s new album.
Waiting list: State of Kent, UTEPid, Muddled Tennessee State, Northworstern, FA(not I)U, Bah-stan Cawledge, Clempson, Flori-duh, Georgia State Not Southern, Colora-duh State, No-vada, Stanfird, My Hammy of Ohio, South Alabama Redundancies, Give Me Liberty Or Give Me 1-4, Akronmonious, Baller State, a college football world without Sam Pittman in it.
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