Rockies vs Rangers Pick: Colorado Moves on With a New Manager (May 13)

• Our Rockies vs Rangers pick goes beyond the usual starting pitchers and lineups, looking at Colorado firing manager Bud Black
• Colorado is the worst team in MLB by a lot, and firing the manager does not change that
• Texas is struggling in its own right and just added Bret Boone to the coaching staff to help with hitting instruction
• The Rockies start veteran Kyle Freeland; the Rangers send Jack Leiter to the mound

Bud Black’s Firing Was a Compassionate Release

It’s mid-May, and the Rockies have not yet won 10 games, so firing the manager is an easy “look we’re doing something” move. In addition, Black was only signed through 2025. Based on these factors, changing managers makes sense. Third base coach Warren Schaeffer takes over on an interim basis.

It could be viewed as giving the loyal Black a compassionate release from this travesty. It’s not going out on a limb to say that Schaeffer won’t do much better with this group.

For the second game of the Rockies’ series in Texas, veteran Kyle Freeland takes the hill.

Except for a few shaky starts, the lefty has pitched reasonably well this season. His ERA is a bloated 6.41, but he fights through 5 and 6 innings regularly. He needs a change of scenery to a good team, and presumably, as the trade deadline approaches, he will get it.

Against Freeland, the Rangers’ Corey Seager is 14 for 23 with 2 doubles and a home run. Marcus Semien is 4 for 5 with a double. Joc Pederson is 3 for 4 with a double.

So, did Bud Black sign Kris Bryant, he of the .400 OPS? Did he decide Michael Toglia, with his .206 career batting average, should be his first baseman?

For the Rockies to play their home games at Coors Field and be so putrid offensively is almost impossible to do. Black, whose area of expertise is pitching, cannot be blamed for this. The team is horrific, and the front office did the likable veteran Black a favor by firing him so early.

Young Leiter is Still Trying to Find His Way

Although the Rangers have been struggling for about a month and recently brought Bret Boone in to help with coaching the hitters, they are well within striking distance of first place in the mediocre AL West.

Their young pitching is a key to their season. Kumar Rocker is out with a shoulder injury, and his Vanderbilt teammate Jack Leiter has been getting banged around in recent starts. Leiter takes the start against the Rockies.

In his last two starts, Leiter has thrown 9.2 innings and given up 10 earned runs to the Mariners and Red Sox. His ERA is up to 5.09. The only member of the Rockies he has faced is Mickey Moniak, who is 0 for 2.

It’s not hard to deduce why Boone was brought in as a different voice to work with the hitters. Key bats Semien, Jake Burger, Adolis Garcia, and especially Pederson have been woeful. Unlike the Rockies changing managers, a different voice might actually make a difference for the Rangers.

Rockies vs Rangers Pick: New Manager, Same Results for the Rockies

There’s not much to say about the Rockies other than they need to reboot the whole thing and start over. If they do that, Black wasn’t going to be managing the team beyond this season anyway, so why not fire him now? It’s a rudderless organization whose woes will continue in Texas as they lose to the Rangers.