The Colorado Rockies are looking for a new pitching coach

The Colorado Rockies are looking for a new pitching coach

Today on Locked on Rockies, a necessary move for the Colorado Rockies as they make a change when it comes to pitching coach. It’s a busy, big, important off season and we can’t emphasize it enough. Know we’ve said it a lot, but a move like this, this just hammers home that point. You are Locked on Rockies, your daily Colorado Rockies podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Rock on Rockies fans. Welcome into the Locked On Rockies podcast for today, the 24th day of October in the year 2025. I’m your host of the Lockdown Rockies podcast, Paul Holden, bringing you your daily Colorado Rockies talk right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, where you can find your team every day. If your team is the Colorado Rockies, you’re in the right spot because that’s what we do around here talking Rockies baseball free and streaming on your favorite streaming services and on the Glockon Rockies YouTube channel where you can be part of the show. You can fire off your Rockies hot takes. You can let me know what’s on your mind when it comes to the Colorado Rockies and help the show grow by interacting right there. Like, subscribing. Sharing the videos always helps. and you can let me know what’s on your mind as we navigate a very big off season that just had another big shakeup as Daryl Scott will not return as the Colorado Rockies pitching coach. We’re going to dive into that and more on today’s episode of Locked on Rockies. Before we go any further, today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the app today. And a reminder, I am Paul Holden, your Rockies fan extraordinaire here on the Locked on Rockies podcast, bringing you this daily Colorado Rockies talk. All right. Um, so this was a move that had to happen, folks. This was something that plain and simple you you you could not allow to continue. And I really actually like this recap of the situation here from MLB Trade Rumors. Uh, this is what Leo Morgan Stern has to say. Uh because Thomas Harding reported the news yesterday a briefly after I had recorded the the podcast. um this news dropped and I think this was some one of the pieces that we needed to hear that it the state of the pitching staff is unacceptable and it’s not only the state of the pitching staff because of the performances uh because of the per performance but it was also because of the pieces used and because the Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt was you know did not bring in necessarily necessarily great talent to give Daryl Scott this and that’s what’s pointed out in this MLB trade rumors piece here, which uh let’s turn to now. In four seasons under Scott, Rocky’s pitchers ranked third last in the majors and adjusted ERA, trailing only the athletics and nationals. Even accounting for park factors, their ERA has been more than 10% higher than league average in each of the past four years. They’ve ranked 30th out of 30 teams in strikeout rate every year of Scott’s tenure as pitching coach, and they haven’t limited walks or hard contact to compensate for all those batters they failed to strike out. Scott can’t take the blame for all or even most of his team’s pitching struggles. It’s not as if the now ousted GM Bill Schmidt ever gave him a ton of talent to work with. Not to mention, coaching in the high altitude of course field is still an unviable task uh even for the most ambitious of pitching gurus. Still, it’s not a good look for Scott that Colorado’s pitching only seem to get worse in every season under his supervision. Several of the team’s pitchers have regressed in recent years, and few have lived up to their full potential. That’s why you don’t get to just forgive Scott here. And in the important context of working with the talent that he was given and the resources and and and information, the data, everything else from the behind-the-scenes stuff that the Rockies were giving him, that’s important context. But that those are also excuses. Your job as a pitching coach and your job is to enact your philosophy, especially when you’re talking about the injuries derailing what what Scott’s plans were mostly for sure when you’re talking about the veteran guys. Daryl Scott, you know, was it could there would be a little bit more pressure here if we were to say, you know, point at immediately and say the regression of Herman Marquez and Antonio Sensitella can be directly related to Daryl Scott’s tenure because they’ve played all these years and they have that with how big and how long those injuries, how substantial those injuries are, you can’t sit there and say that. That that’s a different story. But you can point there and say, “What about Kyle Freeland?” You can’t point there and say, “What about Austin Gomeber? What about what about the bullpen? What about the guy the young guys that we saw this year?” Like like like there are there are multiple examples that you can point to and you can say, “Did Daryl Scott really help in this situation? Did Daryl Scott really do and and and was it a was it the was it philosophy or does it go back to that lack of resources and information and all that stuff? The point being Daryl Scott did not help the Rockies improve. And one of the most frustrating things is he was given a lot of time to figure it out. And and again, four years is not enough time to just sit there and crack the code that one that’s been one of the toughest codes to crack in baseball, which is Coors Field, but he did go into this job with a little bit of an advantage. having multiple pitchers that have been successful at Kors Field, having a situation where you have a very exciting prospect like Chase Dolander that’s in your organization and instead of him looking like, whoa, oh, let’s take this guy and let’s start crafting it, you start getting worried about Chase Dolander and what he’s going to be able to do here, that you come away from this season instead of feeling confident in any aspect of Rocky’s pitching outside of maybe a couple arms. We we we have hopes of of of Agnos and Chvhi and and and and and these guys breaking out. Yet this was the the results showed that the that that players didn’t improve under this tenure. We had four years of the Rockies pitching staff getting worse and the the context of the injuries to Herman and Antonio Senzella matter a lot. I I I am fully with you there. But at the same time, that’s still four season. That’s still a significant when you’re talking about the decline, the seven straight losing seasons and the seven straight seasons of things getting worse for the Rockies. Over half of that, the pitching staff was getting worse season after season. And and and and we were supposed to sit here and and again, we were told that things were going to get better. We were told that these guys, just wait, do this. It’s all coming up of these guys were either were these guys were unable to execute their vision and player development when it comes to Daryl Scott and Bill Schmidt and and Bam Bam and all these other and all the the the coaching staff that the Rockies have moved on from. Either they were just not able to communicate their philosophy and approach to these players and it wasn’t working or they it wasn’t they weren’t doing things in the right way. I want to go back to this piece here. I didn’t really phrase that right. I’m I I kind of lost where I was going there. I I’m I’m sorry I didn’t land the plane, but but I just wanted to go back here to to to why just saying corors is not enough here. That’s that’s not an easy. It’s you you can’t just sit here and just say roster and corores. while they’re while while roster is a very very I I do you you do have to look at some of the names and some of the arms that the Rockies have that that the Rockies have used over the past four years especially at the major league level that weren’t the one you know their young guys that they’ve called up but there has been like what is Ryan Felner you know like like like who is he as a pitcher is there anybody on the staff that you’re like that that you’re sitting there like and saying like wow you know like like this this has panned out. The the these guys that the that that the Rockies took a chance on or the Rockies drafted or the Rockies have called up or the Rockies have turned to, they’re they’re doing something here. But that never came to be under in in the last four years. In four seasons under Scott, Rocky’s pitchers ranked third last in the majors in adjusted ERA, trailing only the athletics and nationals. Even accounting for park factors, their ERA has been more than 10% higher than league average in each of the past four years. Sure. So you’re sitting there, that’s a very Corsy type thing. That’s a a young type of thing. That’s inexperienced thing, but they’ve ranked 30th out of 30 teams in strikeout rate every year of Scott’s tenure as pitching coach. And they haven’t limited walks or hard contact to compensate for all those batters they failed to strike out. That is a recipe for the wor one of the worst seasons in baseball history. An absolute disaster for the Colorado Rockies. You you you cannot not strike batters out and also give up hard contact and not a and walk people. Under Daryl Scott, the Rocky’s pitching staff did everything wrong. And and talk about too when you’re talking about late leads blown, when you’re talking about uh you know B games that have gotten out of hand, when you’re talking about the amount of first inning runs, when you’re talking about the consistent games trailed, when you’re talking about highest starter erra by a rotation ever, worst run differential, like a lot of that does fall on Bill Schmidt for for for building the rosters that he had. I and and and and Daryl Scott did have to work with the talent that he was given, but it’s it’s it’s not again, the Rockies were not just bad. They were historically bad. And this falls on everyone involved. And it especially I I think a big part of this, you know, of of who’s to blame for pitching issues over the last few years. Bud Black does not get to have a free pass here. Bud Black was a pitching focused pitcher. He or manager. He was and and he had the beginning stuff and instead when he left it was in tatters both in health and in performance. So no, the pitching issues do not fall solely on Daryl Scott. But it is long. I mean, this was another addition or another move the Rockies needed to make as they look to change things. And I’m glad this again, it’s it’s a weird thing to say because it’s a person losing their job and and other people losing their jobs because the bullpen coach isn’t returning either. But this is you you you could not allow this to continue. And and again, the Rockies and and and pitching is going to be a challenge. And just hiring a new a new pitching coach is not going to wave the magic wand to fix it, but you have to get back to being a point where you’re not historically bad. And and in the Bill Schmidt and Daryl Scott era of the Colorado Rockies, they have never been worse as a pitching staff. And that is statistically true. All right, let’s talk about uh why it’s so important for the Rockies to to to find someone find someone that can unlock the strikeout and more coming up next on today’s episode of Locked on Rockies. Before we do that though, got to tell you about the folks that helped make this show possible. That includes Roui. Let’s be real, making excuses doesn’t solve anything. We’ve all heard them before. It’s just stress. I’m tired or it happens to everyone. sometimes. But when it comes to performance, sometimes your body just needs a little extra support. And that’s where Rouiette comes in. Rietti.com offers fast acting doctor prescribed treatments for ED designed to help you stop making excuses and start making moves. Rusette makes it easy to get started. You just connect with a board-certified doctor, 100% online, no awkward waiting rooms, no inerson appointment. If prescribed, your treatment ships discreetly right to your door. The process is fast, simple, and private, and it’s handled by real doctors. Visit rugg.com/locktonmlb to get 15% off your first order. That’s rugg.com/locktonmlb. And don’t forget to use our code locked on MLB to know that we sent you Rouette. Stop making excuses and start making moves. Locked on Rocky’s here back with you all for segment number two of today’s episode of Locked on Rockies. reacting to the news that Daryl Scott will not return as the Rockies pitching coach here this off season. Uh be interesting here. I wonder what the reaction and I wonder what this means too as now the Rock because again the Rockies already moving on from the hitting coach in the season now moving on from their their pitching coach here. Does that mean a managerial search will will actually take place? Do do we know do we think that this actually increases the odds of the uh of the Rockies looking to go into a different direction when it comes to manager or are they going to try to get some sort of uh uh familiarity for the Rockies and go with Schaefer in this situation? So the player cuz he was backed up by the players. Uh was talked about highly about the from the players here as well. And I would imagine probably not too uh overly concerned with the uh the the uh you know not not facing as much pressure I should say as the other two coaches were, right? Or as the other two aspects we talked about there, hitting coach and uh and pitching coach there. Uh, I I’m still of the I’m still of the mindset of they’ll just make him the manager, take the interim tag off. They they’ve they’ve got enough holes to fill here. They can feel confident enough and and feel comfortable with a guy that’s been in the organ. I can’t imagine that Schaefer would be too opposed to to doing things a little bit differently, you know, as we even saw with with some of the approaches and and and some of the things at least in in minute ways. Um, so I again I I think Schaefer is going to be sticking sticking around. Uh, but I wonder what uh you you’ll only get the the the the public side of it, but private. I do wonder what he thinks about here for his chance to kind of build this team and build the staff his way and and and what he would want to do given the full command and the full control here. Obviously there, you know, uh the new president baseball ops GM will have a say in in in that as well and and how the team’s organized, but uh I wonder if uh if Schaefer is sitting here saying that this is my opportunity now to to kind of bring in and and do things more my way and and and and what I think will help this team because this there is no simple answer for this. There’s no pitching coach that’s going to be immediately able to do this. But the Rockies cannot be the worst team at striking out batters anymore. They need to develop their pitchers to be able to strike batters out and get out of jams and get out of situations. The the only weak because again, as we were reading from that MLB trade rumors piece, it is, you know, they’re not getting the weak contact, they’re walking. Those are also problems. But to me, the the the biggest problem out of out of all of those, I guess the the contact one, you know, throwing meatballs and throwing stuff in a place where you get punished, that I guess could could be an argument for for for biggest deal. But I think the Rocky’s inability to put batters away I is is one of the biggest reasons they have been so horrendous in in the run differential. And and I think you’re you’re you know I’m you’re watching the World Series and or the or the playoffs and and you’re talking about pitchers and and and these games where the managers are going in or the pitching staff’s going in there and they know that this lineup is weak against specific pitches and they just will hammer those and they’ll do the you know they they’ll hit a bunch of them or at least we I saw it in the ALCS. Teams made adjustments and it doesn’t work that whole time. But but but that’s the type of stuff when I look at that where it’s just like man there’s there there are cohesive pitching game plans put out and this happens for every game. I understand that. when you see it on the postseason, when you see it, you know, really executed that way, it just kind of reminds you that dang, like you you can really, if you have a plan and you execute that plan, if it’s got the information, if if you’re saying this plan can be successful, this is how we’re going to get more swing and misses against this team. This is how we’re going to be able to strike them out, which I think, you know, teams probably did against the Rockies this year. that just helps you uh in in in in so many situations. And and I just think that when you when you are able to build game plans centered around, you know, the strikeout or or getting batters just get I you know, I guess it’s it’s hard to say if it’s just centered around strikeouts or just getting them out. That’s I I I just think that that might be one of the puzzle pieces of pitching at Kors. Hyper specific matchups every time you’re there. and for going on the road too. Okay, when I’m at home and I think we saw some some some some kind of splits of this for for for some Rockies pitching. I I haven’t looked into the the numbers or anything, but okay, at home I don’t have as much movement. I can’t get I I don’t get as much snap. I don’t get as much break. How am I going to adjust? And how am I going to be able to find these other weak spots in these lineups or these batters that I know we’re going to face coming up? What can I do? Can I Can I pump fast ball? Can I can I try to try to try to ramp up try to hit a little more velocity on on fast balls and try to pump them, you know, in some tough spots to hit? Can can should the rock, you know, can I be a little bit more risky and and go for the high heat and just try to blow people away upstairs or throw sliders upstairs even with the minimal movement? Can I have it with enough velocity and break high in the zone that makes it diff difficult to hit to get the strike out there? I it’s kind of a long- winded way of just saying I I think the the the real big clarity picture here of how to be the successful pitchers at Kors Field is being a staff that can strike batters out. Doesn’t you don’t have to be the best strikeout staff. You’re and with the course with the park factors, you’re probably never going to be able to be that. But if you can be an above average strikeout team that is able to hit your spots and especially limit walks, that is going to be I think part that that will cut the run differential down. the contact obviously and and and I think if you if you if you increase in those areas the strikeouts which is swinging misses or or of you know and whiff rates and things like that or of course watching pitches and if you limit the walks that’s going to bring down those hard hit balls the balls in play the the the the contacted balls down. So, I I I I just I think bottom line, the new standard for the Rockies, strikeouts have to be part of the equation. It it it cannot just be pitch to contact, all that stuff. You have to be able to put guys away. And and and there’s there’s a lot of ways to do that. But I I think that that needs to be one of the the the core pieces of of the next Rocky’s pitching coach approach. Chase Dolander is going to be at his best when he can blow people away and when can he when he can execute his stuff to the best of his abilities. So if he needs to since he has so since field he can’t get the same action, what else can you do to help him get you? How else can he maximize that? What can he do to adjust there? to still strike people out. Why the Rockies run differential and why they were so pitiful on offense is because of the is is because in large part because they strike out a ton. So, I don’t know. Let me know. I was uh how am I overvaluing the strikeout here? Am I am I thinking too much of of of the of the significance of it? Should it should the Rockies continue to focus on weak contact, relying on the defense? I just think that that’s inevitable. Being good at defense and and and limiting hard contact and limiting balls in play is just is just got to be part of the standard anyway, especially as, you know, pitching continues to get to this, you know, be in such a spot where it seems like they have the advantage over offenses in baseball. But but to continuously be so bad at striking out and and striking people out and to not have that weapon in your in your in your uh in your uh utility belt. That’s tough if you ask me. All right, let’s put a bow on this uh with a fall le with some updates with some numbers from the fall league here and uh just uh head on off into the weekend talking rocks. Join us on the other side. Before we do that though, got to tell you about the folks that help make this show possible. That includes FanDuel. 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Thanking you all the all the uh Blue Jays fans tuning in and uh checking out the pod here. We had a real big episode this week. So, of course, y’all have been very supportive of the show. Really do appreciate that. Really appreciate all of y’all. Uh, quick update from the Fall League here. This is from Purple Row and Samantha Bradfield. Charlie Condan, Jiren Thomas, and Brilen Whmer are representing the Rockies in the Hartford Yard Goats here. And it’s going pretty well. Condan 341, 420, 477 in 11 games. Whmer 243, 378, 270 in 12 games. Thomas 296 321 593 in seven games. Condan is the number two ranked uh prospect on purple row. Thomas the eighth ranked prospect on purple row there. Uh Thomas wants to limit the punchouts he says during the strike uh during this and then Conan just wanted to keep building momentum. Those home both of the uh both uh let’s see Connor and Thomas have one homer a piece and they’re both grand slams. really like to see that stat line for Condan as uh he he had a a screaming end to the season there as he continues to be a very when you’re talking about something to start watching here when we’re getting closer to spring. He’s going to be a guy that’s going to be watching and and and it it’s again it’s it’s man this there’s there’s an there there should be some excitement building here. This isn’t the number two this accord you know purple row number two prospect in the system really high rated guy a guy that that has this power potential at a position that that you desperately have been have been struggling with the the story of Charlie Condan is going to be one to continue to watch here going forward uh throughout the off season and uh through as we navigate through spring as well. Uh but uh let’s see here we go. I want to see if there was uh anything else there, but uh just a couple of uh quotes from them about playing in the in the fall league. It’s cool because it’s a lot of guys that you’ve played against and a lot of guys that you’ll continue to play against for the rest of our careers, Conan said. So, for some of that, it’s about creating relationships with some of those guys and just learning the ins and outs of each other’s games. It’s cool to see the competition and who we can be. It’s huge, echoed Thomas. And not only from a players perspective, but also from the coaching side and getting different brains together and hearing different lingo that you haven’t heard. This fall season has been good. It’s been really fun. The biggest thing that Thomas has taken away from the other coaches is just to continue what I’m doing. I’ve heard a lot of these of that this past couple of weeks. I had a pretty good year in 2025. So, just continuing to grow and continuing what I’m doing well and limiting those punchouts is going to be her uh huge. You are learned so much from all these people from different orgs into different coaches. So, it’s all been good. I I I really just think that the I mean this is something that I I just love how much we’re hearing from from different perspective and it’s no surprise of course with with this being the Fall League. Uh but uh new new just new new ideas, new philosophies, new approaches, new possibilities, new hopes uh could be uh could be could be flowing into the organization. I shouldn’t say flowing penetrate pen I don’t know the Rocky’s organization and the players exposed to new ideas new philosophies and uh hopefully it opens the door to a good thing but we’ll believe it when we see it but folks that is going to do it for us today here on the Locked on Rocky’s podcast. Thank you so much for making us your first listen of the day. We’re free and streaming on your favorite streaming services and on the Locked On Rocky’s YouTube channel where you can be part of the show. You can fire off your Rocky’s hot takes. You can let me know what’s on your mind when it comes to the Colorado Rockies. For your second listening of the day, go check out Locked on MLB and Locked on MLB Game Night. And if you need more Colorado sports coverage, Locked on Broncos, Avalanche, Nuggets, and Buffs, all free and streaming on your favorite streaming services and on YouTube as well. So go check them out there. All righty folks, until next time, I’m Paul Holden saying so long from the Locked On Rocky’s podcast.

Darryl Scott will not return as the pitching coach of the Colorado Rockies after four years of the tough performances from the Rockies pitching staff. Will the club be able to find someone who can help the rotation rebound?

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