Last Wednesday, I reviewed the Rockies’ history of coaching and staff changes. It wasn’t an all-inclusive list, but the timing was opportune. To my surprise, the Rockies fired hitting coach Hensley Meulens and replaced him with interim hitting coach Clint Hurdle. Now, as much as I would like to take credit for inspiring the Rockies to try something, they had already had those conversations and come to a decision the Monday before I wrote that article.
This week, in the wake of Meulens’ dismissal, let’s check in on the status of the notable coaches (and front office folks) and speculate whether or not more changes could be in store this season for the Rockies.
Let’s start with the man on everyone’s mind: Bud Black.
Black, 67, is now in his ninth season as manager of the Rockies. After overseeing back-to-back playoff runs in 2017 and 2018, he has presided over six straight losing seasons and the extreme likelihood of a seventh this season. He is the longest-tenured manager in franchise history and has the most wins, but he is also the man at the helm for the worst stretch in the team’s existence.
The blame can’t be put entirely on Black, after all, he isn’t the one putting together the team and the players on the field have performed, but there is a share of blame that could be placed on the skipper. There is a certain disconnect that can be seen between Black’s veteran preference and ideology when it comes to baseball that clashes with the current state of the Rockies organization.
With the Rockies off to yet another one of the worst starts in franchise history, it’s hard to believe that his job is still secure as it appears to be with the Rockies
“Buddy’s done a good job — it’s a tough situation going through right now,” general manager Bill Schmidt said. “I think he’s been a positive influence. Our guys come to play hard every day, and that’s what I’m looking at. As I said, I’m looking for the growth to continue to develop, and Buddy is the right person for that.”
It’s a stark difference to when Black was fired 10 years ago by the San Diego Padres in 2015. The Padres had overhauled the roster thanks to general manager A.J. Preller in an effort to compete. On June 15, they sat firmly in third place with a record of 32-33, and Preller made the decision to fire Black.
“It wasn’t one magic thing. I made the decision last night and I slept on it,” Preller said. “At the end of the day, this was the direction we wanted to go. I’ve evaluated him overall for eight months when I was looking at everything. I’ve seen inconsistencies, ups and downs. This team is not bottoming out or playing poorly. Just too much inconsistency. We have not played to the level we are capable of.”
Black was the Manager of the Year in 2010 for the Padres, but four straight losing seasons and only two winning seasons in his nine-year stint as manager there proved too much for a team desperate to become a contender.
Will history repeat itself with the Rockies? My gut says no, but beyond 2025 the Rockies may finally be willing to look elsewhere for answers.
Being the pitching coach for the Rockies is not only a difficult job, but a thankless job, and one that I’m sure isn’t the envy of baseball. Still, it’s a position that has to be highly scrutinized.
Darryl Scott has been in the Rockies system as a pitching coach/coordinator since 2009 before becoming the big league bullpen coach in 2019. Under his supervision, the bullpen had two of the worst seasons in franchise history, so he naturally got promoted to pitching coach after the 2021 season.
Since 2022, the Rockies have ranked last in baseball with a 5.40 ERA and 18.2% strikeout rate and are near the bottom with a 9.0% walk rate. Again, Scott isn’t fully to blame; injuries have hurt the roster, and the Rockies generally just haven’t had much talent to work with on the mound.
Still, it can’t be ignored that they have a 5.18 ERA on the road since 2022, negating the blame to be entirely on Coors Field, and the starters alone have a 5.55 ERA and are the only team in baseball in that span to have less than 100 wins as a staff and more than 200 losses (96-222).
If things continue to go downhill this season, and with an influx of young starters on the horizon, a new pitching voice may be needed at some point.
Lastly, let’s just check in on the general manager.
Since Schmidt took over as the permanent GM at the end of the 2021 season, the Rockies have had some of their worst seasons, including the first 100-loss seasons in club history. Schmidt has had an excellent career in scouting and identifying young talent, but none of that talent has translated to the big league roster.
He is set on the identity of being a “draft-and-develop” type of organization, but the history of the club’s success in that area tells a different story. He rarely does anything of significance in the trade or free agent market, which leaves the Rockies constantly bargain bin shopping and simply hoping the players they have will play better.
Since Schmidt is considered an officer of the club, he’s not subject to a contract term limit, so it’s his job until he doesn’t want it any more or owner Dick Monfort fires him. I don’t see either of those happening anytime soon unless things get truly bad enough that Monfort steps in. Seeing how Monfort stays loyal to his people despite how bad things are, I don’t expect Schmidt to be in danger anytime soon.
Should there be any more on-field coaching changes, I’m less inclined to expect them mid-season. If anything changes could come after in August when the Rockies will already be well out of the race and the Trade Deadline has passed. Otherwise, we’ll simply look to the offseason and endure what we can in 2025, with a slight hope that change will come for the 2026 season.
Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 6, Reno Aces 4
It was a strong night offensively for the Isotopes as they threw out 10 hits in the game, taking an early lead and adding on some insurance in their eventual victory. Albuquerque scored four in the top of the first, never relinquishing the lead as they added a run in the fifth and a run in the ninth. Owen Miller had a solo home run in the fifth as part of his two-hit game, while Austin Nola had three hits and Warming Bernabel had a pair of hits and drove in three runs. Carson Palmquist started on the mound and battled his command, allowing four walks, but navigated four innings, giving up two runs on three hits with six strikeouts.
Double-A: Somerset Patriots 7, Hartford Yard Goats 3
It was a rough night for Blake Adams as he lasted just one inning in his start, giving up five runs on five hits. Evan Shawver and Alec Barger each pitched two innings of relief and gave up one run to give the Patriots seven runs. Offensively, the Yard Goats had seven hits and scored all three runs in the sixth when Jose Torres hit a sac fly to score Kyle Karros (who had a double in the game). GJ Hill knocked a double to score Benny Montgomery, and Juan Guerro scored on a wild pitch.
High-A: Spokane Indians 17, Eugene Emeralds 5
It was an offensive explosion for the Indians as they scored 17 runs on 15 hits. Jared Thomas, Skyler Messinger, and Braylen Wimmer each had three hits to lead the way offensively. Messinger had five RBI on the night and had a three-run homer. Cole Messina also had a three-run homer in the game. Michael Prosecky started on the mound and gave up three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts over his five innings of work.
Low-A: San Jose Giants 9, Fresno Grizzlies 0
It was a tough night offensively for Fresno as they mustered just five hits with Nolan Clifford responsible for two of them, including a double. They only struck out five times and walked once, but went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Ismael Luciano started and took the loss, allowing six runs on eight hits over 3 2⁄3 innings, but only two runs were earned as the Grizzlies committed three errors in the game.
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