According toreports by Ken Rosenthal and Keith Law of The Athletic, the Colorado Rockies have chosen to part ways with pitching coach Alon Leichman after just one season. The organization has yet to officially confirm the move.
Leichman, 37, was brought in by the Rockies last December as the Rockies filled out a new major league and organizational pitching coaching staff under new president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta. He was hired along with assistant pitching coach Gabe Ribas, bullpen
coach Matt Buschmann, and director of pitching Matt Daniels. It is currently unclear if Ribas, Buschmann, and Daniels will remain with the team in 2027 after the termination of Leichman.
The Rockies hired Leichman as part of an effort to revitalize the team’s pitching, which had long been a sore spot over seven consecutive losing seasons. He had previously served as an assistant pitching coach and assistant pitching director with the Cincinnati Reds in 2023 and 2024, as well as with the Miami Marlins in 2025. Leichman has also worked with the Seattle Mariners organization and coached for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic.
Leichman inherited a Rockies pitching staff coming off of a miserable 2025 season. The Rockies had a league-worst team ERA of 5.99 while ranking dead last in strikeouts, WHIP, batting average against, hits allowed, and home runs allowed.
Under Leichman—and after bringing in free agent starters Tomoyuki Sugano (菅野 智之), Jose Quintana, and Michael Lorenzen—the Rockies got off to a solid start. In March and April they held a team ERA of just 4.19 with 249 strikeouts. The team also experimented in different ways, such as having Leichman call pitches from the dugout, and utilizing multiple long relievers and openers. Unfortunately, that was the last time the Rockies held a combined team ERA under 5.00 for the rest of the season.
The Rockies finished their 2026 season—their fourth consecutive season with 100 or more losses—once again with the worst team ERA in baseball at 5.59 and the fewest strikeouts in the league. Where they especially struggled was the rotation. Rockies starters were worth a staggering 6.28 combined ERA over 757.2 innings and were especially bad in the second half.
The team’s bullpen fared better with a 4.80 combined ERA in 664 innings of relief.
Now the Rockies enter the off-season with a new item on their to-do list: Find a new pitching coach as they continue to try and unlock quality pitching at 20th and Blake.
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