PHOENIX — Bud Black tosses out baseball truisms almost daily.
“That’s baseball,” the Rockies manager loves to say about the quirks of the grand old game.
Here’s another favorite: “Every day is a test.”
For a Rockies’ offense that struggled to find its identity and produce some power last season, the test began Thursday night in the season-opener against Arizona right-hander Zac Gallen, one of the best pitchers in the majors. The test will continue Friday night against right-hander Merrill Kelly, the wicked second punch of the D-backs’ one-two combo.
“This is a good challenge, for sure,” Black said Thursday afternoon before the Rockies took on the defending National League champions. “These two guys pitch. Their stuff is a little bit different, but they have a really good feel for their stuff. The thing that stands out to me is that they have poise and they know how to pitch.”
The Rockies must cast out many demons to improve from last year’s 103-loss season to take a step forward. Their .249 average and .310 on-base percentage were the lowest in franchise history, while their .405 slugging was the second-worst.
Colorado’s 1,543 strikeouts were the most in franchise history, and its efforts to clean up the swings and misses didn’t pan out. According to Baseball Savant, the Rockies’ 50.2 swing percentage and 32.1 chase percentage were both the second-highest in the majors behind the White Sox.
Black and hitting coach Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens emphasized plate discipline throughout spring training. Early in camp, Meulens said he was “embarrassed” that the Rockies led the National League in strikeouts in 2023. The lack of home runs compounded that flaw. The Rockies’ hit 163, tied for the fourth-fewest in the majors.
“When you don’t hit homers, and you compound it by striking out, something’s got to change,” Meulens said.
Black knows that the K-rate needs to come down, and the walk rate — at 7.4%, it ranked 26th last season — needs to go up.
“It’s got to improve, for sure,” Black said. “We underperformed last year. We’ve got to up the on-base percentage — that’s critical for teams to score runs. We’ve got to lift our average and we’ve got to lift our walk rate.
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“We’ve talked a lot about how to get there. With us, it starts with our chase rate. I’ve said it endlessly. Expanding the strike zone has been a point of emphasis in conversations and coaching and player interactions as far back as last year. So we have to get that done.”
Center fielder Brenton Doyle, who won a Gold Glove as a rookie last year, is a player the Rockies have targeted as a major project. Although he hit just .203 with a .250 on-base percentage last year, he also launched 10 home runs and stole 22 bases. The potential is there for him to become an impactful offensive player, but he must reduce his strikeout rate, which at 34.9% was the highest in the majors (minimum 400 plate appearances).
“The one thing you can’t teach is power,” Meulens said. “He’s got raw power and he’s a big kid. He’s strong and fast, and, hopefully, you will see more power if he makes more contact.”
Doyle worked this offseason with Kevin Lachance, a hitting instructor with Complete Game, a baseball academy in northern Virginia. Lachance recently joined the Dodgers organization as a hitting coach.
“This offseason was big on working on my early barrel connection, which is part of the swing right before the barrel (of the bat) gets into the zone,” Doyle said. “I was working to keep it tight and efficient.”
Black likes the progress he’s seen from Doyle, who slashed .280/.321/.300 in the Cactus League and struck out at a 24.7% clip.
“Offensively, he made great strides over the wintertime and in spring training,” Black said. “Now, we’ll see if it can carry over into the season.”
Black was talking about Doyle, but the Rockies’ entire offense will be tested early and often in 2024.
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