The Colorado Rockies made waves around Major League Baseball on Sunday night when news broke that the team had opted to hire Bud Black as the squad’s new manager. The move is a strong one by the Rockies because it sheds some new light on what is hopefully around the corner at 20th and Blake.
First things first, the Rockies addressed their biggest need: Pitching. It was clear throughout the duration of former manager Walt Weiss‘s tenure with the team, and those who managed before him, that they could not figure out a way to handle the pitching staff.
Black, a former Major League pitcher and bullpen guru, is known for his handling of all aspects of a pitching staff, the glaring hole in the Rockies’ climb towards contention.
He played over a dozen seasons in the bigs and was the pitching coach of the Los Angeles Angeles for several years, including the team’s World Series championship run in 2002.
Bottom line is that Black knows how to pitch, and how to coach pitching, something that will greatly benefit the Rockies.
Oh, and he is not afraid of the task of handling a staff at altitude.
“Once the game starts, it’s baseball,” Black told Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro of Afternoon Drive. “It’s nine guys against nine guys. It’s hitters and pitchers and making plays and running the bases. I think that if we outplay the other team, we’re going to be fine … If you make pitches in Coors Field, if you play defense, if you throw strikes, if you hit cutoff men, all those things, good teams can win here. And I think we’re on the verge of being pretty good.
“When you talk about altitude, you talk about rest and recovery,” Black said. “You have to take into account the toll it takes on players as the season progresses. We have to have a critical eye on our pitchers’ arms and fatigue and rest, make sure guys are really taking care of themselves and we’re doing the best we can as an organization to stay on top of those things.”
Now, with pitching out of the way it’s time to talk Jeff Bridich.
The pressure is on Bridich to get this thing turned around. In over two decades of existence the Rockies have failed to win a division title and have not been in the postseason since 2009.
This needs to change, and fast, as the Rockies have way to much talent on all ends of the spectrum to continue to underachieve.
Most of the guys who are on, or are soon to be on the roster, have been groomed within the organization while Bridich his been involved with team operations.
It was his choice to boot Weiss and bring in his own guy to run the show with players he has selected, meaning the pressure is on him to get things right and fix this franchise up. The Rockies are on the verge of becoming something special, and Bridich acknowledged that Black feels this team is closer then people think.
“Bud talked about it, that urgent feeling of belief that is brewing among our players as they look at themselves and they look around the league in the division and go, ‘OK, we should really start to win games and put pressure on ourselves and pressure on the rest of the division and the National League to get back into the playoffs here,'” Bridich told Tracy Ringolsby of MLB.com. “That’s a wonderful place to be, and I think it’s an honest place to be for who we are right now.
“I think Bud realizes that. I think our players realize that. A lot of people in the organization realize that. I think that is part of what was the attractive piece about the job.”
Bridich did his part, so it’s game on for the Rockies.
Last, but certainly not least, is the fact that the Monfort family stepped up to the plate this offseason, giving Bridich the ability to hire a manager who is not from within the Rockies organization.
For so long, it seems like the binding factor behind the Rockies struggles has been ownership, but Mofort’s allowed a power move to be made, and hopefully they are not done making winning a priority.
“I think the buzz is pretty good about our talent, especially the pitching,” Monfort said on Afternoon Drive. “I think some of these pitchers have really broken through and had some great outings, and I think people are pretty pumped about that.”
“Our payroll will be higher this year,” Monfort told Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. “It will be a record this year.”
The fact that ownership has expressed its willingness to spend money in order to improve the team is a huge step in the right direction for the Rockies, and one that has needed to happen for a long time.
At the end of the day, the signing of Bud Black was a power move for the Rockies. They addressed their biggest need, allowed their GM to thoroughly do his job, and took significant strides towards forming a championship contending team in the near future.
Well done, Rockies.