A common turn of phrase in sports during tough stretches is to simply acknowledge that a team needs to just “play better.” It’s quick and to the point and just vague enough to hopefully appease the worried fan base. However, like many half-baked recurring sketches on “Saturday Night Live,” the phrase can be overused and lose its luster.
That’s been the case for the Colorado Rockies, especially over the last seven seasons. As the team fell apart year after year, questions were raised about how to climb
out of the cellar. Yet the people in a position to make active changes for improvement seemed always to boil things down to “the players need to play better.”
Yes, the Rockies have always needed to play better, but the words rang hollow in the chasm dug out by their own hand. It felt like the players were being thrown under the bus constantly while the front office and coaching staff refused to acknowledge their role in the failures.
But spring training feels different this year, and the Rockies are trying to begin the climb toward becoming a competent, competitive organization. It feels as if the team is finally putting some weight and tangibles behind the idea of “playing better.”
The Front Office “Playing Better”
Things really start at the top with Walker Monfort’s ascension to Executive Vice President of the organization. With his father, Dick, having stepped back to focus on the labor disputes for the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Monfort the Younger has had the chance to shake things up and institute a new vision forward.
“I think one thing that I would attribute to the past, you know, half-decade that we’ve been through,” Walker told DNVR Rockies in December, “we’ve probably lost sight of innovation and lost sight of just continuing to evolve our process.”
That inability to evolve, particularly over the last seven seasons, is a major cause of the team’s stagnation. As the league embraced the advantages of technology and analytics, the Rockies were stuck playing a brand of baseball with a mentality and information that were cutting-edge back in the day but outdated and archaic in the modern game.
To make matters worse, it wasn’t just the Rockies being ignorant and slow to adopt the new trends, but they actively fought against them.
Jake Mintz of Yahoo Sports reported in December that sources had described an atmosphere outright opposed to modern technologies that have become commonplace around professional baseball. Two separate sources recounted a story from the beginning of the 2024 season, when the team prohibited players at multiple levels from throwing bullpens in front of trackman units that capture and display pitch data in real time. Players shared a story of having to trick an intern into providing a password so they could access game data.
It’s no coincidence that the Rockies decided to bring in Paul DePodesta to serve as the President of Baseball Operations. Positioned directly on the front lines of the analytical rise in Major League Baseball in the early days of his career, DePodesta has thus far been forthcoming about the need to improve development through the use of modern technology and analytics. A look at multiple job boards shows that the Rockies are still looking to hire people for an expanding analytical department.
The front office has acknowledged the Rockies need to “play better” and is putting forth a plan to do exactly that.
The Coaching Staff “Playing Better”
For those on the outside (and some on the inside), naming Warren Schaeffer as the manager of the Rockies after his interim stint was a bit of a head scratcher. After all, he managed his way to a 36-86 record after taking over as interim manager in mid-May. The main criticism seemed to be that the Rockies should go out and get an experienced and well-seasoned manager who would teach the young kids how to win. A Bud Black type, if you will.
However, those of you who followed every excruciating game in 2025 came to realize the good that Schaeffer was doing and could continue to do as a manager.
Schaeffer is bought into the vision of DePodesta and the front office and understands the need to improve the product on the field. There is no set way to win at Coors Field, so Schaeffer and DePodesta approached the coaching staff in the same diverse way as the front office. Bring in coaches with a variety of experiences and expertise, and let them collaborate and try out new ideas.
Alon Leichman, the Rockies’ new pitching coach, is the marquee example of that approach. He understands pitching analytics quite well, and is also supported by assistant pitching coach Gabe Ribas and bullpen coach Matt Buschmann. From the beginning, they have been clear about their approach to pitching to make this team better and it is best summarized as throwing strikes and expanding pitch arsenals.
On a more basic level, the best example of coaching trying to “play better” is this nearly 15-minute video the club sent out to the media in the early days of spring training, in which Rockies first base coach Doug Bernier runs through a simple base running drill with a group of outfielders.
As Bernier makes clear in the video, the Rockies are trying to emphasize the fundamentals of the game. We always wonder what coaching actually looks like for a big league team and this video is evidence of what the Rockies are doing to teach and develop players. I found it a refreshing video and loved that something as simple as taking bigger leads led to some profound realizations for the players.
That is where better coaching leads to “playing better.”
The Players “Playing Better”
At the end of the day, there is some credence to saying that the players need to “play better.” However, you can’t just say that and then simply hope it comes to pass. The players need the support and tools to improve, but they still have their own role to play.
This will be the greatest test for the 2026 Rockies as they are now being presented with new philosophies and resources to utilize their talents. It’s up to them to take advantage and produce results. A willingness to adapt has been a common theme in spring training. Pitchers, old or young, are excited to experiment and learn new pitches. Some, like Zach Agnos, were already developing a sinker in the offseason before Leichman’s approach to suggest he try one. Jose Quintana and Tomoyuki Sugano, who both have successful careers over a long time period, are open-minded to learning new pitches and striving to improve across the board.
Ryan Ritter has proven capable of “playing better” by embracing the challenge of learning more defensive positions and has impressed with better contact at the plate. Kyle Karros bulked up over the offseason and has placed himself in the perfect position to claim the starting third base job, thanks to adjustments at the plate to make better contact. Hunter Goodman has welcomed the opportunities to work on his defense in camp because improving his receiving and game-calling abilities is of the utmost importance for him.
Across camp, players are showing a lack of complacency and are looking for opportunities to improve in any aspect of their game that they came. Schaeffer talks about winning in the margins, and the players are responding to that mandate.
There is a real chance the on-field product’s efforts will lead to “playing better.”
Conclusion
For the first time in a long time, it feels the Rockies are trending in the right direction. There is still plenty of work to do, but the decree of “playing better” doesn’t feel like an empty promise. Rather, it feels like a tangible goal with plans in place to achieve it.
They have always talked the talk, but now, they are looking to walk the walk and put “playing better” into practice.
Who’ll win awards in ’26? Here are the top contenders in each division | MLB.com
The Rockies aren’t likely to contend for any of the major awards in 2026, so while it may feel like a pity pick, Charlie Condon was tabbed for Rookie of the Year from the National League West.
Agnos impressing in Rockies camp with new pitches, mindset | MLB.com
As I alluded to in the main article, Agnos spent the offseason working with his brother on tweaking mechanics and developing new pitches. Leichman had suggested he try a sinker to which Agnos responded he had already been throwing one over the offseason. Agnos is off to a strong start in spring training and is in the mix for a bullpen spot.
Who the Rockies Already Know Will Be on the Opening Day Roster | Rockies on SI
It’s fun to focus on the position battles in spring training, but what about the presumed locks for Opening Day?
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