Jake Bird Soars to New Heights in the Rockies’ Bullpen

DENVER, Colo. –– Few roles in Major League Baseball are as thankless as being a reliever for the Colorado Rockies.

You pitch in the most hitter-friendly ballpark in the history of the sport. Oftentimes you enter with traffic already on the bases.

By the time the home plate umpire signals to put the ball back in play, you might still be catching your breath because of the 100-yard jog from the bullpen in right-center to the mound. The implementation of clocks has eliminated the once leisurely nature of those moments in between the action. The clocks, of course, don’t care that you’re a mile above sea level.

Jake Bird knows this life rather well.

Promoted in June 2022, Bird immediately earned the trust of manager Bud Black in a lot of medium-to-high leverage situations. Rookies, let alone rookie relievers, don’t usually receive that treatment from the all-time winningest manager in franchise history.

There was an incident with Bryce Harper in 2023 when he emphatically came off the mound following a strikeout to end the inning, something that has always been a part of his game and on-field personality.

“It’s something that I didn’t really realize growing up. Now it’s like, I do it and there’s a camera on me, and then I hear about it and see it later, but it’s always been that way since I was a kid,” Bird said of his enthusiasm.

“I’m the quiet, good student guy all the time. Then when we go out to shoot hoops or play ball, I probably seem like a different guy to some people. Maybe it’s just therapeutic, maybe a little bit of a release for me to let everything out there. That’s the best way I could think to describe it.”

If that’s all you know about him, you don’t know Jake Bird. Give him a second look.

Through all the ups and downs of four seasons in the purple pinstripes, Bird has finished each campaign with a positive bWAR, a rarity for a reliever making their bones in Denver. He was called upon in 70 games during his first full season in 2023 and finished tied for most innings pitched (89.1) by a reliever that season.

Bird is gaining some notoriety in 2025 as a steady hand for a Colorado bullen going through a transition while excelling at the same time.

“I think being around longer definitely helps,” Bird said of the recent success. “Learning more about the game and sometimes you throw everything at the wall — or at least I do, I’m probably crazy in that sense — but occasionally when you do that, you find stuff that sticks. And I think I’m in a good spot right now.”

The 29-year-old leads all MLB relievers with 29 strikeouts over his 14 appearances, and his 2.21 ERA is second-best amongst all bullpen arms with at least 20 innings.

“For myself, it feels good to finally kind of be doing what I believe I’m capable of doing,” Bird said of his success this season. “It also feels rewarding, personally, to do well and have the people that have constantly been helping me out, kind of feel like I can give them a thank you and have it mean something more.”

Those early years were helped by veterans in the bullpen who understood the trials and tribulations of calling Coors Field their home. Carlos Estévez, Daniel Bard and even Tyler Kinley when he was rehabilitating from Tommy John surgery.

Even conversations with players still trying to establish themselves like Lucas Gilbreath and Robert Stephenson during those early parts of the game waiting around in the bullpen gave Bird something extra he didn’t already have.

Collectively, along with the coaching staff, they made an imprint upon Bird that can still be seen to this day, especially when it concerns the uncontrollable nature of pitching at Coors Field.

“[Understanding control] was something that Coach Savage at UCLA preached to us. One of the big ones was to control the controllables,” Bird recalled. “If the umpire does something, don’t let it get to you. That’s out of your control. Just focus on what you can do, and that’s making the next pitch.”

Bird realized after leaving campus and getting selected by the Rockies in the fifth round of the 2018 MLB Draft that a lot of sporting advice can aid with the roadblocks and hurdles of everyday life. 

“I learned to apply the stuff he taught in college to life. It makes things a lot better and a lot easier to persevere through struggles or challenges that may be 10% in your control but 90% out of your control,” said Bird.

“It’s like the John Wooden quote, ‘Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.’ If you do that, you’ll feel good about yourself even if it didn’t work out.”

Rockies relievers have a 2.68 ERA, second-best in the NL, with 76 strikeouts over the last 23 games since April 10 entering a three-game set with the Detroit Tigers. It’s a young relief corps that now counts Bird among the veterans. The rookies and lower service-time players know he’s pitched in more games for Colorado than anyone since debuting in 2022.

“I’m sure like when I was a young player asking older guys questions, I’m sure they didn’t realize that I was really trying to get into their head and see what the routines were like,” Bird said. “Maybe it’s part of that for me too, where I don’t really realize it, but it’s just fun to be around a new group and try and learn and grow alongside them.”

Appreciation from teammates aside, that thankless life as a reliever can always add insult during the often unpleasant experiences of three outs at a time.

Take last weekend’s series in San Francisco. The bullpen was cruising along and limiting opposing hitters to a .211 batting average during a 22-game span. The group hadn’t surrendered a home run in a franchise-record 79.0 innings.

Bird himself was in the midst of a career-best 11.2 inning scoreless streak and had finished April with an 0.95 ERA, the lowest mark for a reliever with the club since closer Wade Davis in 2019. Then, Matt Chapman reset the counters to zero with a grand slam that decided the game and reminded everyone how rough a series at Oracle Park can be for this franchise.

Diamond Details

Originally expected to play for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic before an oblique strain during spring training took him off the roster, Bird is hoping to reprise his role for the first time under manager Ian Kinsler.

“I haven’t talked to anybody about it, but I would love to do it. It’d be a great honor,” Bird said.

“I’m trying to take things day-to-day and pitch-by-pitch right now. Hopefully at the end of the season, if I have a good year and stay healthy, [Team Israel] wants me, and the Rockies would be happy to have me do it.”