The Colorado Rockies announced the firing of manager Bud Black on Sunday, following a 9-3 win over the San Diego Padres. The Rockies have the worst record in Major League Baseball at 7-33.
Colorado wasn’t just losing games, and a lot of them. The team was losing badly, looking completely outmatched on the field. On Saturday, the Rockies lost to the Padres, 21-0. That was part of a week during which Colorado’s pitching staff allowed 10 or more runs in four consecutive games.
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The Rockies’ -128 run differential is last in MLB by a considerable margin, 59 runs worst than the next closest team. An inept offense has also contributed significantly to that figure. Colorado has scored the second-fewest runs in baseball (133) with the third-worst team batting average (.219) and OPS (.646).
Black’s firing comes less than 24 hours after general manager Bill Schmidt supported him following Saturday’s blowout, saying that he thought the team could “turn it around.”
“I think our guys are still playing hard, and that’s what I look at,” Schmidt told the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders. “Guys are working hard every day, they come with energy, for the most part. I don’t think we are at that point of firing Black]. Guys still believe in what we are doing and where we are headed. We are all frustrated.”
Bench coach Mike Redmond, who had held that position during Black’s entire tenure with the Rockies, was also dismissed.
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Third base coach Warren Schaeffer was named interim manager. Prior to joining the Colorado staff for the 2023 season, he coached in the Rockies’ organization for 10 seasons, progressing from high Single-A to Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. Former Rockies manager Clint Hurdle, who was named interim hitting coach in mid-April, will now be the interim hitting coach.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
