(Photo credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images)

The Colorado Rockies are heading for their eighth losing season in a row, but there have been some bright spots for the franchise.

Catcher Hunter Goodman continues to play at an all-star level and right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano is showing to be a shrewd signing. Sugano (5-4, 3.98 ERA) will make his 13th start for Colorado when it hosts the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night in Denver to open a three-game series.

Colin Rea (5-3, 4.59) will be on the mound for Chicago.

Sugano, 36, signed with Baltimore in December 2024 after pitching 12 seasons in Japan and was 10-10 in 30 starts in 2025. The Rockies signed him in February and he has been a steadying piece in a rotation that has dealt with injuries and inconsistency.

Tuesday will be his second career start against the Cubs; in his first outing, which came with the Orioles on Aug. 2, 2025, he allowed three runs on five hits over five innings and didn't factor into Baltimore's 4-3 win.

He'll likely be pitching to Goodman, who is putting up impressive numbers in his second full season as Colorado's top catcher. Last year, he was the team's lone representative at the All-Star Game and finished the year with 31 homers and 91 RBIs.

His 17 home runs this year are on pace to surpass last season's total, but he's also adding another tool -- stealing bases. He has five this season, two in the last week, and feels he can make a difference.

'I'm not going to steal a base every game, but when there's the opportunity, when a pitcher's slow or when they're not really paying attention, I feel like I have the ability to at least take advantage of that,' Goodman told the Denver Post.

Chicago is also dealing with a hobbled pitching staff, and the latest injury came Sunday when starter Jameson Taillon left a loss to San Francisco with a left hamstring strain.

Rea has escaped injury so far while appearing in 13 games -- 10 starts -- in his second stint with the Cubs. He has made nine straight starts and is facing the Rockies for the fourth time in his career. In the previous three outings -- all starts -- he is 1-0 with a 2.60 ERA against them, and his lone win came in Denver.

Chicago will need another good outing from Rea while its offense tries to find a groove. Since May 1, the Cubs are 25th in the majors in runs scored (134), and their .219 batting average ranks among the worst in baseball. They are 7-20 since a 10-game winning streak.

The struggles at the plate are spread throughout the team -- Pete Crow-Armstrong is the leading hitter at .258 -- but veteran Alex Bregman, who signed a five-year, $175 million contract in the offseason, took responsibility for the offensive woes.

'I've had plenty of opportunities with runners in scoring position and I need to be better,' Bregman told reporters after the loss Sunday. 'Plain and simple. I need to be better for this team. They brought me here to play good baseball and I haven't played good baseball. I need to figure it out.'

--Field Level Media