Whatever Bud Black is whispering, they’re not listening.
Remember when Black was hired as Rockies manager before the 2017 season and sold as a pitcher whisperer?
Colorado had been grooming a bunch of young, live arms in Jon Gray, German Marquez, Tyler Chatwood, Tyler Anderson and Jeff Hoffman, with Kyle Freeland on the way. They just needed a sage, wise voice to get them in line and on track.
And it worked. Black steered the Rox to the franchise’s first back-to-back playoff berths in ’17 and ’18 on the strength of that young rotation and on a rock-star infield with Arenado, Story and LeMahieu.
But to the kids on the Grading The Week staff, Rocktober feels more like 15 years ago than five.
And to be frank, as the Rox hit the 100-loss tape for the first time, we’ve been struggling all week at coming up with more than one starting pitcher under 29 years old whom Black and the Rockies have actually made better since 2019.
Bud Black, developer of pitchers — D-
German Marquez? No.
Kyle Freeland? No.
Peter Lambert? No.
Austin Gombert? No.
Connor Seabold? Chris Flexen? Noah Davis? No.
Other than maybe Ryan Feltner, can you name a young starting pitcher the Rox have made better in the last four seasons?
Neither could the GTW crew.
And that’s a pity, because that’s where this thing has to turn it around, if it’s to turn at all.
The Rockies have to grow their own arms and they have to hit on them. Period.
Veteran starters will veto trades to Denver because of Coors + altitude + sluggers’ park. Veteran starters will not sign as free agents unless they’re overpaid through several noses.
Among the organization’s top 10 prospects, as ranked by MLB Pipeline, only one — righty Chase Dollander (No. 3), drafted out of Tennessee a few months ago — is a pitcher.
The Dodgers have four arms in their top 10. The Padres have four. The Giants have six.
The future lies there. If Black can’t get the kids to buy in, maybe another voice will.
Deion Sanders vs. the World — B
Coaching is a fraternity, kids. Coach Prime showed up late to the frat house and became the life of the party in record time. College coaches have egos, too. The Prime Wave — which includes his families’ media/friends’ media/allies and former teammates in the national media — has built up some enemies. And in record time.
FS1’s Keyshawn Johnson said earlier in the week that Oregon assistants got such a thorough 411 on the Buffs, they were blown away at “how much information was being given” to the staff.
That said, great scouting reports don’t get Power 5 teams stomped by 36 points all by themselves.
The Ducks were going to win last weekend’s Pac-12 opener 11 times out of 10. Everybody knew the Buffs would go as far as Shedeur Sanders, an unknown at the FBS level, and as far as the CU offensive and defensive lines would take them. Sanders has exceeded most outsiders’ expectations immediately, largely because the Buffs pocket looks even shakier than the prognosticators had feared.
Then again, how hard is it to put together a scouting report on the Buffs? It’s a Big 12-esque, pass-happy, quick-tempo, finesse, fast roster, defense optional. Run the ball up the gut and you’ve got a shot. Make them run it up the gut and they’ve got no shot.
There. Was that so hard? Are the GTW kids half as clever as Dan Lanning now?
CBS affiliates dumping Broncos games — D
When you’ve lost Montana, have you lost Broncos Country? According to 506Sports.com, every CBS affiliate in the state asked if it could replace Denver-Chicago with Miami-Buffalo for Week 4. And they weren’t alone. In Big Ten Country, the 0-3 Bowl between the winless Broncos and Bears was reportedly dumped, by request, by every Michigan CBS affiliate, as well as affiliates in Green Bay, Wis.; Wausau, Wis.; Des Moines, Iowa; Fargo, N.D.; Mankato, Minn.; Cape Girardeau, Mo.; and Kirksville, Mo. (Dolphins-Bills will air instead.)
Remember how you’ve been telling friends and family in other states how unwatchable the Broncos have become? They’re on your wavelength now, folks.
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