Colorado Rockies announce pitching staff

Last week, Colorado Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta said to expect coaching announcements in the coming days. Yesterday, he followed through as the Rockies made official their new pitching staff: Alon Leichman (pitching coach); Gabe Ribas (assistant pitching coach); Matt Buschmann (bullpen coach); and Matt Daniels (director of pitching)

Okay, where are the real Colorado Rockies, and what have you done with them?

Actually, this is amazing — and a little disorienting. After years of stagnation, the Rockies are taking steps forward in a fast-moving “Mile High Revolution.”

Yesterday in Orlando, president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta and manager Warren Schaeffer spoke with media about what the hires mean going forward.

“In terms of Rockies history, this is one of the most exciting moments for us,” Schaeffer said. “Four guys that have been brought in that are game-changers, that get players better, have a good feel for the game, know the tech, know the analytics, know how to give guys new arsenals, know how to deal with pitch shapes – the whole gamut.”

DePodesta emphasized their willingness to experiment.

“Part of the reason we are so excited about this group is that they are all very creative and very open-minded,” DePodesta said. “We kicked around a lot of ideas during this [hiring] process that we would like to explore further.”

He added, “I can’t say exactly where it’s going to end up, as of today, but I think we are going to be looking at a lot of different things. There was one thing that (Leichman) asked me in particular. He said, ‘Is this on the table?’ I said, “Absolutely.’ ”

We don’t yet know who will be on the hitting staff, but here are some details on the pitching side.

Alon Leichman – Pitching Coach

Although Leichman, 36, spent 2025 with the Miami Marlins and 2023-2024 with the Cincinnati Reds as the assistant pitching coach and assistant pitching director, I’m more interested in the six years before that when he worked his way through the Seattle Mariners organization.

Actually, let me take a step back.

After growing up in Kibbutz Gezer, Israel, from 2010-2013, Leichman attended Cypress College in Cypress, California, before spending three seasons with UC San Diego.

Leichman was a student and member of the baseball team at Cypress College from 2010 to 2013. After that, he transferred to UC San Diego to continue his baseball career. He graduated in 2016 and later that year worked for the Los Angeles Dodgers to develop pitchers in their instructional league.

He was not there long, however, since six months after graduating, he joined the Mariners. He started as coordinator of organizational learning in 2017 and went on to work as a pitching coach at virtually every level of their system for the next six years. Worth noting: His first job as a pitching coach for the Mariners in 2018 was at their Dominican Academy.

Check this out:

In addition to his MLB work, Leichman has been active with Team Israel and will serve as their pitching coach in the coming World Baseball Classic.

To sum it up, Leichman joins the Rockies as someone fluent in the current technology of pitching and player development. He’s also willing to try new things as this article from Christina de Nicola shows. He’s well positioned to bring the kind of pitching change the Rockies desperately need.

Cool fact: Leichman has a black belt in jujitsu.

Gabe Ribas — Assistant Pitching Coach

In 2002, Ribas was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 14th round of the MLB Draft. He played in the Padres’ system from 2002-2005 (topping out in Double-A) and then headed to Canada where he played in the Canadian-American Associate until 2007.

After that, he turned his attention to coaching. He started as an assistant coach at Northwestern (2007-2009) before going to Holy Cross (2009-2010) and then the University of Northern Colorado (2010-2011). After that, he headed west and was the associate head baseball coach for Santa Clara University from 2011-2017.

That’s where the Los Angeles Dodgers found him. He worked as their pitching coordinator for four years, covering a wide range of fields within player development: performance science, strength and conditioning, and baseball analytics as developing a comprehensive pitching development program. Ribas was there for four years.

After that, in 2021, he became the Detroit Tigers director of pitching until joining the Rockies. He’s 45 years old, and this will be his first job on an MLB staff.

Like Leichman, Ribas’ résumé is that of someone intimately familiar with creating pitching development systems and successful organizations.

Here’s an article from 2024 that gives a sense of how Ribas and his staff helped improve Tigers pitching, and this one describes his hiring in 2021.

Matt Buschmann — Bullpen Coach

Buschmann has MLB experience — albeit short.

A native of Wildwood, Missouri, and former Vanderbilt Commodore, Buschmann was drafted by the Padres in the 15th round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft.

After that, he spent 11 years in the minor leagues with San Diego (2006-2011), Tampa Bay (2012-2013, 2015), Oakland (2014), Cincinnati (2015), Baltimore (2015) and Arizona (2016). It was with the D-backs that he got called up, making his MLB debut when he was 32. He made three appearances with the Snakes, pitching 4.1 innings with three Ks and a 2.08 ERA.

Then, Buschmann turned to coaching. In late 2017, he started with the San Francisco Giants as an assistant director of player development with a focus on run prevention. After that, he headed to Toronto, and from 2019-2022, he was the Blue Jays bullpen coach. (In 2019, he was also the director of pitching development.)

He spent the lasts two seasons as a special advisor of player development for the Chicago Cubs. Buschmann is 41.

Cool fact: Buschmann caught Aaron Judge’s 61st homer while working in the Blue Jays’ bullpen.

Matt Daniels — Director of Pitching

Daniels will have the job of reimagining pitching at elevation from top to bottom — and he has a fascinating résumé. He’s been with the Minnesota Twins from 2023-2025, working as their pitching development and acquisitions specialist.

Before that, he spent four seasons with the Giants (2019-2022) as their coordinator of pitching sciences.

But perhaps most interesting, he came into MLB from Driveline Baseball where he was one of the first full-time employees. He joined in 2014 after graduating as a finance major from the University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley. But perhaps of interest to Rockies fans is the work he did with Adam Ottavino in pitch development. (This article from 2024 is worth your time.)

Takeaways

If there’s any part of the Rockies’ game that needs reinvention, it’s pitching. In their historically bad 2025 season, the Rockies’ rotation posted a 6.65 ERA, the worst for a starting staff since 1913 when ERA became an official stat. 

The Rockies are putting together a team to reimagine pitching at elevation.

With the exception of Daniels, the other three coaches will be in uniform during games, and it’s clear the initial vision is they will work more as a laboratory than a structured hierarchy.

Schaeffer’s primary role, I think, will be to manage personnel — to ensure communication is clear and that information is provided to players in ways that work. He’s already won over the clubhouse; now, he has to coordinate the players with his staff.

It’s been a news-filled month with more to come as the Rockies continue to build their and participate in the Rule 5 Draft later today. In addition to finding a fit for first base, reporting suggests the Rockies are interested in Willi Castro, who has played every defensive position except first base and catcher.

What a time to be a fan of the Colorado Rockies.

Closing thoughts

And with that, look for me to get back on my regular Friday publication schedule.

Also, this news broke late last night:

As always, thanks for reading —

Renee

Rockies Pitch is a newsletter that focuses on Colorado Rockies baseball.

Find me on Bluesky at @ReneeDechert.com or send an email to Renee@RockiesPitch.com