DENVER (AP) — All the losing nearly reduced lefty Kyle Freeland to tears as he recently chatted about the woeful state of his hometown team.
It's a gloomy situation that has the Colorado Rockies off to a 7-33 start — one of the worst in major league history — and led to the firing Sunday of manager Bud Black.
Freeland wears his feelings for his city — to the team he grew up rooting for — on his sleeve. More specifically, his right arm, where there are tattoos of the elevation (5,280), area code (303) and an outline of the mountains. The losses weigh heavily on him.
Change arrived in the Mile High air when Black, the franchise’s all-time winningest manager and the only voice that many of the Rockies players have ever known, was let go.
Now, it’s Warren Schaeffer’s turn to navigate the Rockies away from a season that’s careening toward infamy. The Rockies have the worst start since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles began 6-34. Colorado is on pace for 134 losses a season after the Chicago White Sox went 41-121 — the worst since baseball adopted a 162-game schedule in 1961.
Promoted from third-base coach to interim manager, Schaeffer inherits a team that’s second-to-last in runs — despite playing home games at hitter friendly Coors Field — and first in strikeouts. The pitching staff has surrendered the most runs in the big leagues and fanned the least amount of batters.
“It’s on all of our shoulders,” Freeland said of the turnaround. “We need to be better, and we need to continue to progress forward.”
The firing of Black came a day after a 21-0 loss to the San Diego Padres. The news was announced late in a 92-87 loss by the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 against Oklahoma City at nearby Ball Arena.
Schaeffer brings energy and exuberance to the Rockies clubhouse. He’s been Colorado’s third base and infield coach since the 2023 season. Prior to joining the big league team, he spent 10 seasons as a manager and coach in the Rockies’ minor league system.
“Just really how he communicates and relates with players, his connection to players,” general manager Bill Schmidt said of what Schaeffer brings to the role. "I think just a different voice here — we’re at that point where we needed to do that.”
It’s an uphill climb for the Rockies to avoid a third straight 100-loss seasons. They have to go 56-66 the rest of the way. They’ve won back-to-back games just once and have three separate 8-game losing streaks.
“Have the memory of a goldfish,” first baseman Michael Toglia said.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch knows full well what it’s like to go through a historically rough season. He was a catcher on the 2003 Detroit team that finished 43-119 under manager Alan Trammell.
“I apologize to Tram every year that I was part of the 119-loss team,” cracked Hinch, whose Tigers have the best record in the American League this season.
He felt for the plight of Black and the Rockies over a recent series before Black was fired. The losing taught Hinch to appreciate the good days.
“No one cares about what you’ve been through. It’s all about that day’s game,” Hinch explained. “It’s hard to get to this level, and even if you endure the hardest of seasons, you’re still one of the best to play. Or you’re one of the best to coach. Or you’re one of the best to manage. That can’t be lost because you have a bad season, or you have a grueling season.”
Freeland was emotional last week after a start on the mound in which he allowed nine runs (five earned).
“Keep believing in us,” Freeland said of his message to Rockies faithful as he choked up.
For infielder Ryan McMahon, it’s about trusting the process.
“I know how to show up and play baseball. That’s the way I’m wired,” McMahon said. “That’s the way a lot of these guys are wired. The record is what it is at this point. It doesn’t affect the game tonight and doesn’t affect the games after that.”
The Rockies haven’t been to the postseason since 2018. Their only World Series appearance was 2007, when they were swept by the Boston Red Sox. Their manager then was Clint Hurdle, who’s now the interim bench coach under Schaeffer.
“I’m obviously in a unique situation, being from here. I grew up with the Rockies. It does mean a ton to me," said Freeland, who broke into the majors under Black in 2017. "I’m going to be probably more proud of us as a group getting this (turnaround) done than me being a Denver kid, being able to get this team to a postseason or to a World Series.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Pat Graham, The Associated Press
