​The Colorado Rockies’ bullpen has already shown several different looks in 2026.In April, it was one of the most valuable relief groups in baseball while handling one of the league’s heaviest workloads. In May, nearly the same workload produced one of the worst ERAs in the majors. June was not much better, and this time, the underlying numbers largely agreed with the damage. Then July arrived, and the bullpen started preventing runs again.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat is not a straight line, but it is still progress.The improvement from 2025 has not come from a sudden surge in strikeouts. Colorado’s bullpen has reduced its walk rate from 3.94 to 3.72 per nine, cut its home-run rate from 1.41 to 1.12, and lowered its ERA from 5.18 to 4.93. That cleaner combination of fewer free baserunners, better damage prevention and slightly improved run prevention has helped move the group from minus-0.4 fWAR last season to 2.7 fWAR through July 12th.The bullpen has provided better value than it did in 2025, but it has also remained temperamental. Its best stretches have looked sustainable enough to matter, while its worst stretches have arrived quickly and often in clusters.Statistic20252026 through July 12thIP631.0409.0ERA5.184.93xERA4.614.70FIP4.904.36xFIP4.604.50K/97.867.88BB/93.943.72HR/91.411.12BABIP.313.318LOB%69.6%69.7%fWAR-0.42.7The strikeout rate is almost identical. The strand rate is essentially unchanged, and the bullpen’s .318 BABIP is slightly higher than last season’s .313.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe larger changes have come through fewer walks and fewer home runs. Those gains have lowered the bullpen’s FIP by more than half a run, from 4.90 to 4.36.The 3.1 fWAR swing is best understood as the result of those improvements, along with more useful innings from Antonio Senzatela, Brennan Bernardino, Jimmy Herget, Juan Mejía and Chase Dollander.The expected ERA is actually slightly higher than it was in 2025, so this is not proof that every underlying problem has disappeared. Colorado still allows plenty of traffic, and its strikeout production remains below league average.What has changed is the number of workable looks and the value created when those looks have held together.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMonthIPERAxERAFIPxFIPK/9BB/9HR/9fWARApril125.13.594.013.904.029.123.381.081.7May123.16.354.784.454.927.373.721.090.7June97.16.015.785.194.906.844.251.39-0.5July (7/1/2026 – 7/12/2026)23.22.144.173.464.266.464.940.760.7After 21.0 relief innings across five March games — three against the Miami Marlins and two against the Toronto Blue Jays before the calendar flipped — April established the bullpen’s ceiling.Colorado’s relievers threw 125.1 innings during the month, the third-most in baseball, and led the majors with 1.7 fWAR. Their 3.59 ERA ranked sixth, while their 4.01 expected ERA ranked 10th.This was not merely a bullpen protecting a few late leads. It was a group regularly covering