Denver Post sports writer Patrick Saunders with the latest installment of his Rockies Mailbag.
Pose a Rockies — or MLB — related question for the Rockies Mailbag.
I read recently in a national writer’s notes column that the Rockies are supposedly talking to Dayton Moore, the longtime Royals front office executive, about a role with the team. Do you see something like that happening, whether with Moore or someone else? If so, what role would you guess that person would have? Adviser, or maybe president of baseball operations?
— Dave, Fort Collins
Dave, I checked out the column you are referring to by Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Heyman is well-connected, especially to super agent Scott Boras. So I imagine he didn’t write his tidbit without some degree of validity behind it.
However, I’m skeptical. Moore did not return my text, and when I asked Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt if the club is interested in bringing Moore into the front office, Schmidt said, “Not that I’m aware of.”
Here is what Heyman wrote:
“Word is that the Rockies could be interested in hiring former Royals president Dayton Moore in a high-ranking role, but probably not as general manager because ownership is believed supportive of Bill Schmidt. (For the record, Moore said he hadn’t heard that. He has now though.)
“Moore, a rare small-market GM to win a World Series (in 2015 with the Royals), was shockingly let go by new Royals owner John Sherman. (It’s believed Moore’s scouting background wasn’t what Sherman wanted. Like a lot of owners, he seeks even more analytics.)”
You have to keep in mind that those in the baseball industry often use national writers to test the waters or get the word out for some agents.
If Moore does end up in Colorado, I could see him as a fit as president of baseball operations. I’ve long said that the Rockies need outside voices and perspectives. I’ve always thought he was a sharp baseball man.
Patrick, this year it seems like the Rockies are seeing more movement than usual between their minor league and MLB rosters. How can minor league batters effectively prepare for major league pitchers when they are almost exclusively facing minor league pitchers?
Also, I am hoping you have insight into how Bud Black makes decisions regarding when to take out a struggling pitcher. We see Bud leave in pitchers who give up four-plus runs in an inning, whereas other managers, like Davey Roberts, take out a pitcher when he sees a pitcher struggling before the damaging runs are scored. Is it all about not wanting to wear out the bullpen at the expense of losing a game?
— Judy, Denver
Judy, I’m not sure I quite understand your first question. I believe your view is that young players should stay up longer with the big-league club rather than getting sent back down to Triple-A.
But here’s the deal. The Rockies are still trying to win games, so they aren’t going to simply play only their youngsters. It can be argued that the Rockies should just “tank” and deal with a 100-loss season. But the Rockies aren’t going to do that.
Also, some young players benefit from taking their lumps in the majors. They have the mindset and confidence to deal with failure. Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and center fielder Brenton Doyle fit that mold. Others, such as first baseman Michael Toglia, were struggling so much, and striking out so often, that keeping them in the majors was counterproductive. It made sense to send Toglia down. It really is on a case-by-case basis.
Now, if the Rockies move some veterans at the trade deadline — as they should — we’re going to see more young players in the daily lineup.
As for your second question, Roberts has a more talented corps of pitchers than Black, and the Dodgers have a pitcher-friendly ballpark. Black doesn’t have that luxury. He’s got a ramshackle rotation and has to milk every inning he can from his starters. If he didn’t, the bullpen would be completely shot by the All-Star break. As I wrote recently, history tells us that too many innings early in the season by relievers always come back to bite the Rockies.
And consider this: Entering Tuesday night’s game, the Rockies had used 26 pitchers this season, tied for the third-most in baseball with the Angels and Reds, and behind the A’s (29) and Rays (30). The Rockies had already used 11 starting pitchers, tied for the third-most in the majors. The Rockies had used 22 total starting pitchers from 2017-22, in Black’s first six years as manager, the fewest starters in the majors.
Greetings. Great googly moogly, with the apparent collapse of RSNs (Regional Sports Networks) around the country, the future of viewing your hometown team looks in jeopardy. With Altitude and Comcast still at odds showing championship teams, what platform would show the Rockies, and at what cost for a sub-.500 team? What does this do to the value of the Rockies franchise, and other small-market teams? Cheers.
— Robert Emmerling, Limon
Hey Robert, I wrote about this in a previous mailbag. Essentially, things should remain status quo for the time being. The Rockies will remain on AT&T SportsNet for the rest of the season. Then we will see a new setup for 2024, under the Major League Baseball umbrella. That setup might include both streaming and a local TV outlet. Emphasis on might.
Some background: In February, Warner Brothers Discovery announced it would cut off its rights payments to the Rockies, Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates, whose games it airs through AT&T SportsNet. The deadline was supposed to be March 31, but games are still being televised.
However, according to a report last month in the Sports Business Journal, a deal now being discussed would have WBD continue to pay its rights fees and produce/distribute games for the entire 2023 season. At the end of the season, WBD would walk away, and the rights would revert back to the teams.
In Colorado and Pittsburgh, that means that Major League Baseball will be in charge of producing and distributing games next season. MLB has been constructing an in-house, local sports division that will produce and distribute games locally as those rights return to the teams.
I don’t yet know how all of this will affect the Rockies’ revenue, but it’s a huge concern, for sure.
Hi Patrick, has there ever been a study on the Rockies’ hitting for the first half of a road trip vs. the second half of a road trip? Especially after an extended homestand?
If not, I’ve got a theory. Hear me out because I can’t explain this in 50 words or less: We all know at altitude the air is thinner, i.e. less dense. Thus it would stand to reason that breaking balls thrown by a pitcher would tend to break less. And during a homestand at Coors the Rockies batters would get accustomed to this minimal break.
Now they go on the road to ballparks that are always at lower elevations. The air is obviously more dense and thus breaking balls will normally break more. Now the Rox batters have to adjust to the maximum break. And it may take them several games to do so.
If my theory holds true the Rockies’ batting average, OPS, or whatever hitting metric you want to use, would tend to be lower in the first games of a road trip vs the latter games. Your thoughts.
— Dewy, LoDo
Dewy, you’re referring to the dreaded “Coors Field hangover.” It’s real, and yes, the first couple of games of a road trip tend to produce a tepid offense. Several studies, including one by FanGraphs, have documented the team’s struggles on offense when they come from a successful home series where they score a bunch of runs and then go ice cold on the road.
There is plenty of anecdotal evidence, too. Several Rockies players, most notably Charlie Blackmon and former Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado, have told me that there is a huge adjustment from hitting in Denver and then going to Los Angeles or San Francisco.
What can (should!) the Rockies learn from the Nuggets’ recent success?
— Mark Newton, Denver
Mark, that’s a huge question with many layers of answers. I don’t have the time to delve into the topic but it boils down to some very good draft choices, beginning with second-rounder Nikola Jokic and first-rounder Jamal Murray. Some savvy trades, most especially Aaron Gordon. And also, Denver found a coach, in Mike Malone, who had a hand in shaping the roster to fit his vision of how the team would play.
Also, the Nuggets are built to take advantage of playing at a mile-high altitude. The Rockies have never found a formula for consistent success at altitude. Of course, building a winning baseball team is very different from building a winning basketball team.
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