Bud Black is coming back.
The Rockies announced Tuesday that the manager would return for his ninth season. He has agreed to a one-year contract through the 2025 season.
“While our recent results on the field did not meet expectations, we believe this team is heading in the right direction with the growth of very talented young players,” general manager Bill Schmidt said in a statement. “Our organization is committed to giving our fans the winning team that they deserve. We believe the foundation we’re building with our core roster and our farm system, along with Buddy’s skills, experience, and knowledge are instrumental in achieving our goal of playing games in October.”
Despite fielding one of the worst offenses in franchise history, the Rockies did not fire hitting coach Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens. However, the club did not retain bullpen coach Reid Cornelius or assistant hitting coach P.J. Pilittere.
Black’s former contract expired at the end of the season and given that the team had suffered two straight 100-loss campaigns and had posted a losing record for six consecutive seasons, there was speculation he might not return.
But the 67-year-old Black wants to be part of what he believes will be a brighter future with a younger, evolving roster. He’s hoping the Rockies can mirror the Royals, who lost 106 games last year but made the playoffs this fall.
“I think anything is possible,” Black said on the final day of the season. “I’m optimistic.”
Black believes shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and center fielder Brenton Doyle are All-Stars in the making, loves the team’s defense and was encouraged by the performance of a rebuilt bullpen in the final five weeks of the season. But the manager still faces a big challenge. En route to a 61-101 record, the Rockies had one of the worst pitching staffs and worst offenses in franchise history, with strikeouts again a major concern.
“The consistency of the starting pitching has to be there … and our pitching was not that, especially earlier in the year,” he said. “It was too variable and didn’t lead to stretches of good pitching that would have enabled us to win some games.
“Offensively? We’ve talked about it ad nauseam. The strikeouts? We’ve talked about that. We need better contact. Maybe the roster changes. Maybe. But if a lot of the guys who are here come back, they have to cut the strikeouts down.”
Colorado tied with Seattle for the highest strikeout rate in baseball (26.8%), while their 1,617 strikeouts were just eight fewer than the Mariners. The Rockies’ strikeout rate and total strikeouts were both the highest in franchise history.
The affable Black, who takes pride in his ability to communicate with players, staff and media members, has a 537-657 record in Colorado. He’s the only man to lead the Rockies to the postseason in back-to-back years, in 2017-18.
He’s won more games than any manager in franchise history. But he’s also lost more games, largely because the talent-lacking club, depleted by injuries, dropped 103 games in 2023, followed by 101 games this season. It’s the only two times in 32 years the Rockies have lost 100 games.
Only four other managers have been with their current clubs at least as long as Black has been with the Rockies, and all four of them — the Rays’ Kevin Cash, Dodgers’ Dave Roberts, Braves’ Brian Snitkey, Diamondbacks’ Torey Lovullo — have had more recent success than Black.
Black, 67, was hired by the Rockies in November 2016. He took over for Walt Weiss, who left the club after the 2016 season ended when his contract expired.
The Rockies were 75-87 in Weiss’ final season, their best record since 2010. But Black faced a tough task trying to turn the Rockies into a playoff contender. The Rockies had not had a winning season since going 83-79 in 2010 and had not been to the postseason since ’09.
The longtime player, coach, and manager arrived in Colorado with a rich pitching background. Despite the challenges of pitching at Coors Field, Black helped develop a strong rotation in 2017-18 that featured young pitchers German Marquez, Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela.
“I’ve watched as this young pitching has come up,” Black said when he was hired. “I’m excited about this group of players and this franchise and where it’s headed. There’s a couple of teams we need to chase down, which I think we’re gonna.”
Black adopted a tougher-than-the-rest attitude about pitching at altitude.
“You need talent, but also need guys who are mentally tough,” Black said during his first spring training with the Rockies. “We have to find and draft guys who are resilient, who’ll bounce back from a bad outing at Coors, and guys who don’t care about their ERAs.
“We have to have guys who will overlook the individual line stats — guys who truly don’t care about that — as long as they outpitch the other guy and we win.”
Related Articles
Rockies see light in 2025, but will strikeouts, poor pitching block vision? “I’m excited about what’s next.”
Grading The Week: CU Buffs star Travis Hunter would look amazing in orange and blue. One problem: Broncos are playing too well to draft him
Rockies pitching prospect Gabriel Hughes ready “to make it so I can’t be ignored” after comeback from Tommy John
Savannah Bananas coming to Coors Field as baseball phenomenon makes Denver debut
Rockies Mailbag: Weighing Bud Black’s future with the team
Black, the seventh manager in team history, was hired to turn around the team’s fortunes on the mound, but he inherited a team that included star infielders Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, and DJ LeMahieu, and outfielders Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Gonzalez.
For Black’s first two seasons, the club thrived, earning a wild-card playoff spot in both 2017 and ’18. He finished third in National League Manager of the Year voting both seasons. The Rockies posted a winning road record in both years, marking only the third time in franchise history the team accomplished that.
The Rockies lost the wild-card playoff game to Arizona in 2017. In 2018, Black’s team nearly dethroned the Dodgers in the National League West but lost the division crown in a one-game playoff. Colorado won the wild-card playoff game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field but was swept in three games by Milwaukee in the National League division series.
The team went steadily downhill after that, especially with LeMahieu’s departure after the 2018 season and the Rockies’ controversial trade of Arenado to St. Louis in February 2021.
Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.