The Colorado Rockies has hired pitching guru Bud Black as their new manager, showing signs that they are now serious about winning the World Series. The ex-Padres chief is excited in becoming the Rockies new manager.
The Denver Post reports that Black, 59, gives Colorado a manager that they never had before. He is a manager that will be disappointed if his team doesn't play in the World Series someday.
Black doesn't care that the Dodgers and Giants have owned the National League West. What he wants is for his team to be in the playoffs in 2017 and beyond.
"There are a couple of teams we've got to chase down, which I think we're going to do," Black said after he was introduced as the Rockies' seventh manager. We're going to do everything we can to get back to where this team was in '07, and that's the World Series.
According to the official website of the Rockies, Black said he has seen the Rockies from its inception from the other side for the past nine seasons, except for last year. He is excited about the "group of players" and where the franchise "is headed."
Black also expressed excitement to work with a young and talented starting rotation of pitchers, which includes hard-throwing right-hander Jon Gray and Tyler Chatwood, who posted a 1.69 road ERA last season. Rockies bullpen, though, ranked last in the Majors with a 5.13 ERA last season.
Aside from a talented pitching rotation, Black also inherits a team that scored the most runs in the NL last season. The team scored 845 runs, second only to the Red Sox' 878 in the Majors.
Black believes that they can someday play in the World Series and he can't wait for that. "Because it definitely can happen," he said.
