After eight seasons and 40 games, the Colorado Rockies fired Bud Black on May 11. The veteran manager who had served as an MLB manager for 18 years left the team worse than he found it when he took over in 2017. Of course, it wasn’t all his fault, but he couldn’t get the most out of his players.
After back-to-back 100-plus loss seasons, the Rockies were off to a franchise-worst start in 2025 that also ranks among the worst in the Modern Era. After 40 games, the Rockies were 7-33 and on the express track to recording the worst season in baseball history.
Former third base coach Warren Schaeffer was named interim manager and hit the 40-game mark in his young managerial career after Wednesday’s 8-1, rain-cursed loss to the Dodgers.
Since taking over, Schaeffer has four more wins as the Rockies have gone 11-29. Under new leadership, the Rockies are showing improvement in the last 40 games in several statistical offensive categories, including runs scored, batting average, on-base and slugging percentage, home runs and stolen bases.
Rockies 2025 Offensive Numbers By Manager
Manager
G
Record
Win%
Runs
Ave.
OBP
SLG
BB%
K%
HR
RBI
SB
WAR
Manager
G
Record
Win%
Runs
Ave.
OBP
SLG
BB%
K%
HR
RBI
SB
WAR
Black
40
7-33
.175
133
.218
.285
.359
7.70%
26.6%
34
132
18
-2.4
Schaeffer
40
10-30
.250
151
.239
.297
.404
6.80%
26.9%
43
146
25
0.6
It’s only fair to acknowledge that the earlier part of the season is colder, the team always has a shifting roster, and the strength of schedule varies. Any comparison in chunks of games vs. others must be taken with a grain of salt, not to mention the limited amount of control a manager has in roster creation. Managers and coaches, perhaps too often, receive unfair credit for success or blame for failure, but that comes with the job. That being said, the numbers are still interesting.
When it comes to pitching, the numbers have increased a bit two games into the current three-game series against the Dodgers, but they are still trending in the right direction. The starters have notched two more wins and two more quality starts, starter and reliever ERAs are down, and they have three more saves and 16 more holds.
Rockies 2025 Pitching By Manager
Manager
Games
Starters Rec
Starter ERA
Qual. St.
Bullpen ERA
SV
BS
HLD
ERA
Runs
Run Diff
WAR
Manager
Games
Starters Rec
Starter ERA
Qual. St.
Bullpen ERA
SV
BS
HLD
ERA
Runs
Run Diff
WAR
Black
40
4-24
7.09
8
4.12
5
11
6
5.77
261
-128
1.7
Schaeffer
40
6-19
5.55
10
5.17
8
7
22
5.38
217
-74
0.8
During Shaeffer’s time at the helm, the Rockies run differential is -83 compared to Bud Black’s -128 in the same number of games. That averages out to losing games by an average of 2.08 runs per game under Schaeffer and 3.2 runs per game under Black.
Of course, losing is still losing. It sucks, whether you lose by one run, like Schaeffer did in his debut to Texas, or 21-0, as Black did in his penultimate game as manager. The Ls may show up the same in the standings, but one sure is less miserable to watch as a fan. I can only imagine it’s the same for players. But the last 40 games have been significantly better than the first 40, even if the result is only four more wins.
Several Purple Row writers have inked insightful pieces, including Samantha Bradfield writing about how “Schaeffer is the right man for the Rockies in this moment” two days after he was named interim manager, Renee Dechert breaking down “Schaeffer’s coaching pedagogy” on May 27 and Evan Lang demonstrating just this week how Schaeffer is leading a change in pitching philosophy to suit each pitcher better. This is already helping Germán Márquez rediscover his groove.
What’s helped the most recently, thanks to a sweep of the Marlins and winning three of four against Washington, is that the Rockies are much better in June. This month, the Rockies are 9-13 with the nine wins being more than what they had in March, April, and May combined (8-49).
Rockies 2025 Results by Month
Month
W
L
RS
RA
RD
W-L%
Month
W
L
RS
RA
RD
W-L%
March
1
3
9
16
-7
.250
April
4
22
87
157
-70
.154
May
4
24
85
191
-106
.143
June
9
13
103
131
-28
.409
A new vibe, one that centers on establishing relationships, collaboration, and perhaps more innovation than is typical in an old-school franchise driven by the tried-and-true methods of below-average baseball, is helping the Rockies slowly dig out of the Grand Canyon-sized hole they dug themselves into.
Whether or not Schaeffer will lose the interim tag and earn the manager job remains to be seen. On Thursday, perhaps the first of more front office changes came when the organization announced that Greg Feasel, president and chief operating officer, will step down from his position at the end of the 2025 season, and Walker Monfort was named executive vice president.
The move might not really be the “new set of eyeballs” that Charlie Monfort seemed to be calling for, as another internal promotion and one with the last name Monfort doesn’t exactly signal change, there are still rumblings of more changes to come this season or at the end of it. They have already started in the front office and perhaps will extend to the field before the trade deadline or after the season.
Just maybe, the Rockies are starting to make baby steps in the right direction.
★ ★ ★
On the farm
Triple-A: Las Vegas Aviators 14, Albuquerque Isotopes 11
The Isotopes scored five runs in the final two innings, but it wasn’t enough to pull off a comeback on Thursday night in Las Vegas. Yanquiel Fernández hit a three-run homer to put Albuquerque up 3-1 in the top of the second, but the Aviators tied it up in the bottom of the frame. Austin Nola added an RBI double and Zac Veen hit a run-scoring single, but Las Vegas kept adding to its lead and went up 11-5 after six innings. Sean Bouchard connected for a solo home run and Trevor Boone hit a two-run homer before Aaron Schunk hit a sac fly and Fernández hit a two-run double to cut Las Vegas’s lead to three, but they couldn’t get any closer.
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 2, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 1
McCade Brown gave up a solo homer in the first inning, but threw four scoreless innings after that, holding the Fisher Cats to one run on two hits with six strikeouts and no walks to improve to 2-0 on the season. Carson Skipper and Welinton Herrera each threw two scoreless innings of relief to preserve the win. In the bottom of the first inning, Benny Montgomery tied it up when his single scored Kyle Karros. Bryant Betancourt hit a sac fly to score Jose Torres in the third inning for what ended up being the game-winning run. Betancourt, Torres and Jose Cordova led the offense with two hits apiece.
High-A: Spokane Indians 12, Hillsboro Hops 2
Spokane scored seven runs in the second inning and continued to add to it on a 13-hit night that included a three-run homer from Braylen Wimmer and an RBI double from Charlie Condon. Caleb Hobson added a two-run blast in the fifth. Alberto Pacheco improved to 6-5 on the season after holding the Hops to one run on six hits with five strikeouts in six innings. Francis Rivera threw two scoreless frames while Alan Perdomo pitched a scoreless ninth in the win.
Single-A: Fresno Grizzlies 5, Stockton Ports 3
Derek Bernard hit a two-run homer and Robert Calaz recorded a sacrifice fly to put the Grizzlies up 3-0 in the first inning and they never looked back in Thursday’s win. Roynier Hernandez drove in two more runs with a single in the fourth inning to put Fresno up 5-1, adding just the insurance it needed. Jackson Cox gave up one run on five hits in four innings with three strikeouts, while Zack Morris got the win after giving up two runs on four hits and four strikeouts in the next four innings. Tyler Hampu threw a perfect ninth for his third save of the season.
★ ★ ★
Colorado Rockies announce promotion of Walker Monfort to Executive Vice President | Purple Row
Dick Monfort’s first change to the front office in Colorado’s record-breaking season of losing is to promot his son, Walker to executive vice president. He will train under current President and C.O.O. Greg Feasel, who will step down at the end of the season.
Troy Renck argues that the Rockies should bring in a mentor to bring a new perspective for Walker Monfort to learn from or else the Rockies could end up in an eternal loop of “mediocrity,” which honestly sounds better than the historically bad levels the team is at right now.
★ ★ ★
Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!