With the Rockies gazing upward at the National League West, manager Bud Black’s vocabulary has been peppered with such words as “learning,” “progress” and “experience.”
It’s the nature of guiding a team that is in transition from a core full of veterans to one working younger players into key roles. And you can be sure that “learning” and “experience” applies to the coaching staff, too.
Black has been through this before. As a rookie manager in 2007, he took the Padres to Game 163 before Matt Holliday’s slide ended their season. The next two years saw a regression, and Black guided the first Major League days of such players as Chase Headley, Will Venable and Nick Hundley. Now, the Rockies’ next wave is just starting to reach shore, and Black has that past managerial experience to help him develop young players at the Major League level.
The desire to win every day sometimes conflicts with player development. Push a rookie too hard too soon, and confidence can crumble. Protect them too long, and they might not be ready for high-pressure situations when needed. It’s a balancing act.
“You learn from years of doing this,” Black said. “What we’re doing as a coaching staff, both on the pitching and hitting side, is that fine line that if you over-coach, that can get in the way of growth. If you under-coach, it doesn’t happen fast enough.
“You’ve got to find that balance of what to say, how to say it and when to say it. We’re going through that now.”
Black praised how the staff -- including hitting coach Dave Magadan, pitching coach Steve Foster, bullpen coach Darryl Scott and bench coach Mike Redmond -- has kept on task even as tough losses have piled up, not letting a mistake define a player, keeping an eye on progress.
“We’re doing it how we should do it,” Black said.
Rockies fans can take solace in this fact: Black’s young players in San Diego became cogs of a surprise contender in 2010, going to the final weekend of the season before elimination.
Sheffield up to the challenge
One young player who is proving capable in high-pressure situations is right-hander Jordan Sheffield. After pitching mostly when the score wasn’t close in April, the 25-year-old Rule 5 Draft acquisition has been used in tie games in the seventh inning or later in his past three outings.
On Tuesday, Sheffield pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning with two strikeouts to keep the score knotted, 1-1.
“We do think he’s a part of our future. … There’s a quality arm,” Black said.
Entering Wednesday, Sheffield had allowed a run in only one of his 14 outings. That came on the only extra-base hit Sheffield has yielded, a two-run homer by Arizona’s Josh Rojas on April 30.
Opponents have batted .133 against him. His fastball has averaged 96.1 mph. He has attacked right-handed batters with his fastball and slider and kept left-handed hitters off-balance with his changeup. He has thrown 23 changeups to lefties without allowing a hit, per Statcast.
“He’s got a feel for the changeup,” Black said.
Injury updates
• Right-handed reliever Carlos Estévez (middle finger strain on right hand) threw 20 pitches in a simulated game Tuesday at Petco Park, Black said. Estévez will pitch an inning Thursday for Triple-A Albuquerque and could be activated if he comes out of that well.
“The ball is coming out great,” Black said. “He feels very good arm-wise.”
• Left-hander Ben Bowden (left shoulder strain) got good news on his imaging tests and should begin a throwing program when the Rockies return home Friday.
“Pretty clean shoulder,” Black said.
• The Rockies are still discussing when to activate infielder Brendan Rodgers (right hamstring strain), Black said. Rodgers is 7-for-15 over five Triple-A rehab games