Tomoyuki Sugano didn’t have a great time throughout his first full season stateside in Major League Baseball with the Baltimore Orioles.

Not only was he allowed to hit free agency following a campaign that saw him allow the most home runs in the league, but he was picked up by a team, the Colorado Rockies , that notoriously doesn’t develop pitching very well. It should’ve been a death sentence. In reality, it’s been the exact opposite.

While Sugano’s performance through the early going of 2026 hasn’t uplifted the Rockies to the top of the NL West — far from it, actually — it has given the club a tiny bit of hope that pitchers can enter Coors Field and thrive .

Or does it?

On paper, Sugano’s 3.41 ERA over 37 innings is the shining beacon on the Rockies’ pitching staff. Take manager Warren Schaeffer’s word for it.…