Bud Black will be back for his 9th season as the Colorado manager
Despite six-straight losing seasons, including a pair of 100-plus loss seasons, the Rockies are sticking with their coaching staff, but just in a smaller form in 2025.
For the third-straight season, the Rockies coaching staff looks much like it did the year before. While manager Bud Black, bench coach Mike Redmond and first base coach Ron Giddeon head up the crew for the ninth-consecutive season, there are small changes in 2025 with bullpen coach Reid Cornelius being replaced by Dustin Garneau and assistant hitting coach P.J. Pilittere leaving. Both decisions to cut ties with the coaches after three seasons were made in October when Garneau got the promotion from catching coordinator. Neither Garneau or Pilittere’s position was filled.
Cornelius is now the pitching coach for the Cincinnati Reds Triple-A affiliate Louisville Bats, while Pilittere will now be the hitting coach for the San Francisco Giants Triple-A Sacramento River Cats.
The coaching staff is listed below, followed by how many years they have been in the role:
- Manager: Bud Black, 9th season
- Batting coach: Hensley Meulens, 3rd season
- Pitching coach: Darrell Scott, 4th season
- Infield and 3B coach: Warren Schaeffer, 3rd season
- Bench coach: Mike Redmond, 9th season
- 1B coach: Ron Gideon, 9th season
- Bullpen coach: Dustin Garneau, 1st season
- Assistant hitting coach: Andy González, 4th season
- Bullpen catcher/Major League Operations Assistant: Aaron Muñoz, 10th season
- Assistant bullpen catcher/Game Planning Manager: Kyle Cunningham, 7th season
Without much change in the ranks, this article will focus on Black’s legacy and Garneau’s new position.
Black is Back
Bud Black, who was hired prior to the 2017 season, set some records for the Rockies last season. By the end of 2024, he had totaled 537 wins, surpassing Clint Hurdle as the team’s all-time win leader. He also earned his 657th loss, which also leads the franchise. Black’s .450 winning percentage ranks No. 5 out of seven in Colorado managerial history.
Black started his tenure with a bang, taking the Rockies to consecutive postseason appearances in 2017 and 2018. In 2017, the Rockies lost to the Diamondbacks in the NL Wild Card Game. The next season, the Rockies beat the Cubs in the Wild Card Game, but went on to lose to the Brewers in the NL Division Series.
Since then, Black hasn’t come close to a .500 season, let alone the playoffs. The 2019-2021 seasons saw three-straight fourth-place finishes in the NL West before falling to fifth place in the past three seasons.
Black has a great reputation around the league as a nice guy, baseball lover and good pitching coach for young players. That hasn’t resulted in wins, but unlike some, he’s shown the ability to work under the at-times heads-scratching operations of Dick Monfort’s front office. He also has a good rapport with seemingly everyone, including the media. Most managers who get worse over time are no longer managers, but that’s not the case for Black.
There are only two managers with longer tenures in their current roles than Bud Black — Dave Roberts for the Dodgers and Tampa’s Kevin Cash. Roberts, who was hired prior to the 2016 season, is 851-516 (.627) and has taken L.A. to the postseason in all nine seasons with four National League pennants and two World Series Championships. Kash, who was hired two years before Black ahead of the 2015 season, has an 819-699 record (.540) with the Rays, including five postseason appearances and one American League pennant.
Atlanta’s Brian Snitker and Arizona’s Torey Lovullo are also entering their ninth seasons with their respective teams. Snitker has led the Braves to seven-consecutive playoff appearances including a World Series title in 2021. Like Black, Lovullo has two postseason appearances in his tenure, but his record includes an NL pennant in 2023.
Call to the bullpen
Garneau is hardly new to the Rockies. He served as the catching coordinator for the past two seasons before being promoted to the bullpen coach position. He was also drafted by the Rockies in 2009 and played for Colorado for three seasons from 2015-17. He also played for the A’s, White Sox, Angels, Astros and Tigers over eight seasons where he built a reputation as a solid catcher and a below-average hitter with a career average slashline of .205/.285/.375 with 15 home runs and 54 RBI in 168 games.
Garneau will now oversee each pitcher’s warmup session in the bullpen and work with Darrell Scott to offer advice on mechanics and pitch selection. He’ll have a lot to do in trying to right the relief ship as the Rockies bullpen posted a 5.41 ERA in 2024, which was worst in MLB. Garneau, only 37, does have a promising crew of young arms, along with veterans like Tyler Kinley and Lucas Gilbreath, who will hopefully be back after missing most of the last two seasons due to injuries.
Closing thoughts
There are always articles about managers on the hot seat entering each season. Black has been on these lists the last few seasons, but only for people who look at numbers and the Rockies downward trend. In the isolated front office of Colorado that can seem to lack logic, Black remains. In 2019, Black got a three-year contract. He’s been moving forward on one-year deals since.
While it’s not fair to blame Black for all of the Rockies problems, he is part of a system that is not built to compete and has a roster that can’t be expected to do so. Monfort and Co. fear the unknown and don’t want to be challenged, so Black works well. Until that changes, or until Black, 67, wants to move on or retire, the job seems to be his as long as he wants.
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