Rockies Notebook: Warren Schaeffer’s optimism, lineup construction and Germán Márquez

DENVER, Colo. –– Dave Roberts didn’t play for a team with a losing record until his ninth season as a player. As a manager, his worst season finished at 20 games over .500, and that includes a Los Angeles Dodgers season where 102 contests were lopped off the schedule during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

In the other dugout this week was interim manager Warren Schaeffer and a Colorado Rockies organization hurdling towards their third consecutive 100-loss season.

“I was fortunate that I didn’t experience much of that,” Roberts said of Colorado’s current situation. “I think that Schaeff is trying to keep some things going. It’s a different vibe.”

Schaeffer was promoted from third base coach following the firing of Bud Black on May 11.

Since taking over the Rockies, the 40-year-old has gone 11-29 (.275) following Wednesday’s 8-1 loss to the Dodgers. While that might not seem like something to brag about, it’s a marked improvement over the 7-33 (.175) record before he took over.

The month of June has seen the Rockies offense click in a way it hadn’t during the first two months. Colorado currently leads the Majors in slugging (.471), extra-base hits (82), doubles (43), triples (10) and total bases (344). Their .792 OPS is the highest in the National League this month entering Wednesday.

Seven wins on the road, never an easy feat for a franchise that typically struggles to find victories away from Coors Field, is tied for the third-most in baseball this month. 

A three-game set against the reigning World Series Champions is providing an invaluable litmus test for Schaeffer. As far as he sees it, every series is an opportunity for evaluation. 

“I was eager to see us play the Diamondbacks, too. The Diamondbacks are a really good team that provide different threats – more legs-wise, very solid top five offense,” Schaeffer explained. “I look forward to us playing the Dodgers. I looked forward to us playing the Mets, too. These are all teams that are good teams, but we don’t back down from anything.”

Colorado is 8-47 (.145) against team at or above .500, and the only team yet to achieve double-digit wins. Against clubs under .500, they are a much more palatable 10-14 (.417).

Since comparison can often be the thief of joy, it’s less than advisable to measure your organization against the Dodgers when trending toward the worst MLB record in the modern era. Looking at a powerhouse with seemingly endless resources in every aspect of their organization, it could feel downright depressing to make any comparisons.

Schaeffer, not one to back down from improbabilities, doesn’t see getting to where Los Angeles is as being impossible. You can’t deny that from where the Rockies are right now as an organization, the Dodgers are insurmountable, right?

“No, I disagree with that,” Schaeffer said. “We need to look in the mirror, including myself, and see where we need to get better, what we need to do and move forward with it. But we need ideas and a plan and just the whole nine yards. We can get there, absolutely we can get there. We might have to do it differently. There’s no doubt. But this definitely can happen. In my opinion, it will happen.”

Lineup Rationale

Colorado has used 72 different lineups in their 80 games. That might seem like a lot, but the 1993 expansion club used 144 in 2024 and the previous season saw 153 different orders. 

Schaeffer first moved Brenton Doyle out of the leadoff. Jordan Beck, who’s batted first 30 times this season, has now found a home hitting third over the past three games. Tyler Freeman moved to the top thanks to his .487 OBP this month, second-best in MLB.

Regardless of all this shuffling, Schaeffer prefers to keep things settled.

“I love having a set lineup,” Schaeffer said. “I think it’s extremely valuable, I’ve said this before – to have a lineup that is consistent for the boys to show up and they know where they’re playing, when they’re hitting. We’re just in a position right now where we’re trying to find that.”

Colorado has a 2-3 (loss)/3-2 (win) record with Freeman batting first, while a lineup started by Beck (7-23) and Doyle (6-26) has not fared quite as well. It’s a small sample size, but results like this may be an important indicator for a franchise searching for wins, no matter how they get it.

On The Márq

The path to normalcy can be a long one for those who undergo Tommy John surgery. For some, they never make it back. 

Germán Márquez, who underwent the procedure to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in May 2023, returned for one outing in July 2024 before a setback sidelined him once again.

Though he spun six shutout innings in his season debut at Philadelphia, Márquez struggled over his next six outings. The longest tenured member of the Rockies posted a 12.38 ERA and went 0-6.

Over his last nine games, starting with his performance on May 11 against the San Diego Padres less than 24 hours after a humiliating 21-0 loss that was deemed the final straw by the front office for manager Bud Black, things began to trend upwards for the 30-year-old.

“I think it’s his use of both fastballs, the four-seam and the two-seam – the correct usage,” Schaeffer surmised. “And also the curveball, for sure. And just for him getting more comfortable out there, like we always talk about, coming back from Tommy John, continually getting better.”

Márquez cruised through his first three innings on Tuesday before two errors by Michael Toglia contributed to a six-run fourth inning. Four of the runs were ruled earned before a scoring correction Wednesday morning wiped the slate clean. His 6.26 ERA became a 5.79 ERA overnight, literally.

“I was mad last night because I made six outs (in the inning) and this morning I was like, ‘Oh, that’s nice,’” Márquez said the scoring change.

His outing against the Dodgers marked the first time he has struck out at least six with no walks since June 12, 2022 at San Diego.

Diamond Details

Ezequiel Tovar (left oblique strain, June 3) is still “a ways off” from returning, according to Schaeffer. The 23-year-old has missed 19 games so far this season. Entering the year, he had only missed 14 over the past two seasons combined.

Kyle Freeland (low back stiffness) is expected to be activated from the 15-day IL on Friday when he’ll make the start at American Family Field against the Milwaukee Brewers.

A rain delay of one hour and 27 minutes ended Chase Dollander’s night prematurely in the sixth inning with two outs to snap a career-long streak of two consecutive quality starts.

With a two-hit performance on Tuesday to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, Freeman became the first Rockies player with at least 26 hits and a batting average over .400 through any 21-game span since C.J. Cron, Aug. 3-27, 2021 (30 H, .405 AVG). The 26-year-old added two more knocks on Wednesday to bring his slash line to .406/.488/.551 through 22 games in June.