The Colorado Rockies are coming off perhaps their toughest stretch of the 2025 schedule, and the results are telling.

Beginning Aug. 26, the Rockies played 19 consecutive games against teams that were in the hunt for either a division title or a wild-card spot. In those 19 games, Colorado went 4-15.

It’s clear the Rockies still have a sizable journey ahead if they’re going to compete with teams built for the postseason. As the franchise has seen a Colorado-record 13 players make their MLB debuts this season, it’s no surprise the Rockies are focused on weathering growing pains rather than planning for another Rocktober.

Those young players and their development, however, ranging from pitcher Chase Dollander to infielder Warming Bernabel, are key to Colorado’s return to relevancy.

“We need to be the best developers at the big-league level. Because of our draft-and-develop mentality, we need to be better at that than anyone,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer said.

Colorado has long said it is a draft-and-develop organization. With the Rockies having the 23rd-highest active payroll among MLB’s 30 teams (and the lowest of any National League West team), it’s about growing talent from within as much now as ever before. Bringing along younger players, as well as those with more service time, who aren’t being paid high salaries will require the Rockies to focus on making sure those players turn into major leaguers while in the farm system — and continue to get better once they arrive in Denver.

“I just know that players, especially in today’s game, are very hungry for knowledge,” Schaeffer said. “That’s how they prepare themselves is a hunger for knowledge. They have a hunger for getting better. The best players in the game do. ‘Tovie’ (Ezequiel Tovar) wants to be coached the hardest he can be coached, and Andy (Gonzalez, the third base coach who works with Colorado infielders) does a great job of that.

“We need to be known across the league as a developing organization where players all around the league say, ‘I want to go to Colorado, because I know I’m getting better.’”

The Rockies, however, must consistently show that they can indeed be that organization.

Mickey Moniak, an outfielder in his first season with the Rockies after spending time with the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Angels, has noticed accountability from within the clubhouse, even during the franchise’s worst season in terms of wins and losses.

“Each and every guy in this clubhouse takes equal blame,” Moniak said. “We’re all here and no one wants to be in this situation. But you can see through the year that we’ve progressively gotten better as a team. That’s a testament to the guys in here getting comfortable and gaining experience, but also a testament to the way (Schaeffer) has led the team.”

Watching to see if the lessons learned this season impact next year will be something to observe when spring training and the 2026 campaign begins. Colorado has had impact players one season take steps backward in the past, with the shining example being Nolan Jones. Jones hit 20 homers and stole 20 bases in 2023 but played himself out of the organization with a poor 2024.

Moniak is in the same neighborhood as Jones’ 2023 right now, posting a career-high 21 homers heading into Tuesday’s series opener against the Miami Marlins. His OPS+ of 113 is just off a career-high as well.

Moniak is under team control through the 2028 season, meaning he could be a part of Colorado’s plan next year and beyond. However, he and Hunter Goodman, Colorado’s All-Star catcher who leads the team in homers, RBIs and OPS+, are two examples of players who have surprised in 2025 but must continue to improve for next season.

So often when player development is discussed, it’s often focused on players who are seen more as the future than the present. Schaeffer believes the Rockies must adjust their focus to have it always include all players at all levels to keep up with MLB powerhouses around the league.

“It cannot stop when a player gets here, no way,” Schaeffer said of development. “And that’s a big emphasis that we had this year. The development cannot stop once these guys get to the big leagues. We have 15 guys with less than a year of service time. Their development needs must continue. It’s not even a question.”