Rockies’ Bud Black on returning for ninth season: “I want to be part of the solution”

Bud Black could have retired to his home near San Diego to devote his time and energy to his five grandchildren.

After all, Black has accomplished plenty during his 45 years in professional baseball. He has two World Series rings, one as a pitcher with Kansas City in 1985 and one with the Angels as their pitching coach in 2002. He’s managed 2,556 big-league games, 1,362 with the Padres and 1,194 with the Rockies. He was named National League Manager of the Year in 2010 with the Padres.

Yet, at age 67, he’s itching for at least one more season guiding the Rockies. Yes, those Rockies, who’ve lost 204 games over the past two seasons on Black’s watch.

All of which begs the question: Why return to manage a team that many baseball pundits and frustrated fans forecast as an NL West cellar dweller again in 2025?

“I’m invested in this team and this organization and I want to be part of the solution to see this through,” the ever-positive Black said last week during a phone interview. “More than anything, I think we are heading in the right direction, as far as our talent is concerned.”

Black loves talking baseball but hates talking about himself. Still, he’d like fans to understand why he’s returning for his ninth season in Colorado.

In 2017-18, he led the Rockies to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history. But since then, the Rockies have endured six consecutive losing seasons. He wants to turn that around ASAP.

“When I first got there, I just cared about ’17, that one season, and then take it from there,” he said. “Now that I have been here this long, I want to see us cycle back to where I think we can get to. I think that talent base is there.

“I think we are moving into a good spot, and a lot of it has to do with the pitching, I think that’s a big part of it. The talent of the pitching within our system is as good as it’s ever been. That’s the biggest thing that’s exciting to me.”

In 2024, Colorado starters combined for a 5.47 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP, both the worst in the majors. But Black is confident that a veteran rotation, possibly spiced with some help from the organization’s top prospects, will turn things around in ’25.

“When I came here in ’17, we had a veteran-laden bullpen and then went out and got proven closers like Greg Holland and Wade Davis,” Black said. “But our rotation was young when I got here. Jon Gray was in his second year and German Marquez, Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela were all rookies.

“Now it’s the inverse. Our bullpen is young and we have guys with a lot of service time as starters. We have Marquez, Freeland, ‘Senza’ all back, in addition to Austin Gomber, Cal (Quantrill) and Ryan Feltner. If all goes well, and they make their starts, we could have a solid rotation.”

The Rockies also have righty prospect Chase Dollander, and lefties Sean Sullivan and Carson Palmquist, knocking on the big-league door.

“It’s not inconceivable one of those kids could break camp with us,” Black said. “Our depth is evident. We have college pitchers from good programs who are a little further along in some areas than in the past and are getting a look because of their talent, their stuff, and their skill set. That’s what’s encouraging.”

Black is also jazzed about the ’25 bullpen.

“We have a lot of young talent and it showed up late (in the season) for us,” Black said. “Now, I know, that the sample size is very small, but I’m optimistic. Plus, we have some starters who could maybe end up in the bullpen.”

Colorado relievers posted a 5.41 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP, both the worst in the majors. The 80 homers relievers served up were tied with Cincinnati for the most in the National League.

But with the bullpen youth movement in full swing for the season’s final six weeks, there were encouraging signs. Six rookie relievers — right-handers Angel Chivilli, Jeff Criswell, Seth Halvorsen, Jaden Hill and Victor Vodnik, and lefty Luis Peralta — combined for a 3.84 ERA, with 12 saves and 8.59 strikeouts-per-nine-innings over a combined 143 appearances.

Vodnik’s nine saves were second-most among rookie pitchers and second-most by a Rockies rookie reliever in franchise history (Carlos Estevez had 11 in 2016).

“It bodes well for the future,” Black said. “All these guys that have come up are doing a nice job keeping the ball down, for the most part. They’ve avoided walks, they’re changing speeds and using their secondary pitches. Plus, they have velocity. So it’s promising.”

The offense, which posted the worst batting average (.242) and struck out the most times (1,617) in franchise history, remains a Rubik’s Cube. Despite that, the club retained hitting coach Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens. Black and general manager Bill Schmidt still believe Meulens is a good coach.

Still, Black’s frustration with the inept offense was apparent during the season. He said it’s incumbent upon the individual players to make changes, become more productive and strike out less. Colorado’s 26.8 strikeout rate was tied with Seattle for the highest in the majors.

“What has to happen is that each player has to incrementally improve,” Black said. “There is an old saying that I use often: ‘The individual commitment to the team effort is what has to be paramount.’

“So, if every player improves on his strikeout rate, we’ll be a better team, offensively. If a guy’s strikeout rate is 32%, can he get to 28-29%? If a guy is at 25% can he get it 21%? If every player commits, then you have a pretty big change. That’s the mental side of it. Then we can go about making physical changes with their approach.”

Center fielder Brenton Doyle is Colorado’s shining example of a player who vowed to make changes and then did it. As a rookie in 2023, Doyle hit .203, had a .260 on-base percentage and struck out 35% of the time.

Black doesn’t expect, or need, every player to revamp their swing during the offseason as Doyle did, but he wants a lot of young players such as shortstop Ezequiel Tovar (28.8% strikeout rate) and Michael Toglia (32.1%), as well as veteran Ryan McMahon (28.7%), to alter their approaches and cut down on the Ks.

“For us, a lot of it goes back to the commitment of putting the ball in play with two outs, we have to do better that,” Black said.

Toglia is a player Black believes is heading in the right direction. In 152 plate appearances in 2023, the first baseman struck out 32.9% of the time. He barely trimmed that to 32.1% in 2024, but he nearly doubled his walk rate (6.6% to 11.8%) from 2023 to ’24.

“Michael’s driven to improve the traditional number — batting average and on-base,” Black said. “He’s committed to making improvements there. And that goes back to cutting down the strikeouts. If he does that, he’s going to have success, because when he hits the ball, he hits the ball hard.”

That’s evident by the 25 homers Toglia launched this past season.

A year ago, the Rockies were coming off a franchise-worst 103 losses. This fall, they’re coming off 101 losses. A two-game improvement is a drop in the bucket, but Black sees a big difference between the two clubs.

“I think the team is in a much better spot than it was a year ago,” he said. “I know that our pitching will be better next year. Pitching is so important for yearly success and sustained success. To win, you have to pitch, especially at our ballpark. And we’re going to be better.”

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