A Few Early Observations on New Rockies Manager Warren Schaeffer
He’s had the job less than a week, but can fans infer anything?
When Warren Schaeffer became the Colorado Rockies manager on Monday, the Rockies had a 7-34 record. Anyone who expected the team to suddenly began transform into a winner was disappointed as the Rockies have dropped three more games under his stewardship, being swept by the Texas Rangers in Arlington.
Schaeffer told Thomas Harding on Monday that his first goal was to help players “loosen up”: “My message is we’re going to go out there and play free – and see how you can play by playing free,” adding, “Because I think there’s a lot of tightness going on out there. I can see it with my own eyes.”
He’s also focused on player development.
“We’re in a situation where we can’t afford not to develop,” Schaeffer said. “We have to get better. Everybody in that room agrees with that 100 percent. The veterans need to get better. The young players need to get better. The coaches need to get better. We need to get better, collectively.”
No one expected overnight change, but here are a few subjective observations.
• Schaeffer’s taking a measured approach — Some fans expected immediate adjustments: More prospects playing! Changes to the batting order! DFA’s of unproductive veterans! So far, that has not been the case. Instead, Schaeffer has stuck largely to Bud Black’s management approach with some interesting differences. (More on that in a moment.)
In taking a conservative approach, I would argue Schaeffer is trying to accomplish a couple of things. First, he’s trying to stabilize an unstable team reeling from losses, and the first way to create stability is to inject predictability. Initially, keeping with a familiar lineup is one way to do that.
Second, he’s trying to build trust with players, both those he’s known since their time in Triple-A Albuquerque (e.g., Michael Toglia, Brenton Doyle, Hunter Goodman, and Jordan Beck) and those he did not work with as prospects (e.g., Ryan McMahon, Kyle Farmer, Mickey Moniak, Jacob Stallings). Frankly, I’ve come to see this as a kind of “spring training” in which Schaeffer allows players opportunities to show what they can do.
It’s not sweeping change — and sweeping change is not what this Rockies team needs right now. Gradual change, though, I would expect to unfold going forward.
• Roster changes are coming — The Rockies are about to get a number of players off the Injured List, which means roster disruptions are inevitable in the near term. For example, Tyler Freeman, Aaron Schunk, and Ezequiel Tovar are all on rehab assignments in Albuquerque. While there are questions about whether Tovar will be ready to play on Friday, the general consensus is that Freeman and Schunk will. Their return will necessitate a number of roster changes (e.g., Warren Miller and Alan Trejo will probably be DFA’d).
Add to that, the Rockies expect to see second baseman Thairo Estrada activated in the near term, which probably means Adael Amador is headed back to Triple-A.
With the coming roster moves, it only makes sense to stay with the familiar until the larger disruptions later today.
• Schaeffer is using the bullpen differently — We’re clearly in small sample-size territory here, and when facing the Rangers, Rockies starters Chase Dollander and Kyle Freeland stayed in long enough to minimize bullpen stress. However, Jake Bird threw only one inning, which is usual given Black’s tendency to use him in long relief. Actually, so far, no reliever has pitched more than one inning, save a bit of overlap in the Wednesday night game.
Also, Schaeffer chose to call in Ryan Rolison to make his MLB debut in a bases loaded eighth inning. Of the move, he said since Rolison was a lefty, it made sense to pitch him there, and, also, it was time to see what the reliever could do in a tight spot.
• Evaluation is coming — I’ve decided to give Schaeffer a bit of time to implement his system though I expect changes will be gradual in an attempt to establish stability. But I do think there will be changes. What those look like will reveal Schaeffer’s plan going forward and give us a sense of his viability as the Rockies permanent manager.
This week on the internet
This is where I usually try to include something fun and Rockies-centric, but given Bud Black’s firing last Sunday, there’s not much to choose from in Rockies social.
But I did appreciate this, which the Rockies social media team posted immediately after the Padres blew the Rockies out of Coors Field on Saturday night:
Well played.
What I’m Reading
• Schmidt optimistic about Rockies' trajectory moving forward | MLB.com — I mean, what else is he going to say. But I’m starting to think that this may be Schmidt’s last year in his current capacity.
• Rockies are worst team in MLB history through 42 games, and it can get worse | Fox Sports — Get ready to learn more about the 1904 Senators (now the Minnesota Twins).
• Former Rockies manager Bud Black will look good in Dodger blue | Mile High Sports — So, I’m wrong a lot in my predictions, but I really don’t see the Los Angeles Dodgers finding a space for the Rockies former manager.
• Tarik Skubal is picking up where he left off | SB Nation — When the Detroit Tigers played the Rockies last week (which seems like a lifetime ago), I got to ask Skubal a few questions. Here’s what I learned.
Closing Thoughts
And that’s it for this week.
I’ll be eager to see how the Rockies fare in the coming days as Warren Schaeffer implements his system. I don’t expect the Rockies to suddenly become “good,” but I think perhaps they’ll be less awful. When a team is on track to be historically bad, it will take the wins where it can.
As always, thanks for reading, and feel free to share this with a friend.
Renee
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Rockies Pitch is a newsletter that focuses on Colorado Rockies baseball. Find me on Bluesky at @Renee.Dechert.com.
