Rockies GM reaffirms support for Black despite horrific start

No Major League Baseball team in the modern era has ever been worse through 38 games than this year’s edition of the Colorado Rockies, and that horrific start comes on the heels of the first 100-loss seasons in club history.

But despite the poor form, Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt reaffirmed his support for manager Bud Black in a conversation with The Denver Post on Saturday.

“I think our guys are still playing hard, and that’s what I look at,” Schmidt told the Post. “Guys are working hard every day, they come with energy, for the most part.

“I don’t think we are (at that point of firing Black). Guys still believe in what we are doing and where we are headed.”

ROCKIES HAVEN’T QUIT ON BUD BLACK

That’s a small victory, and yes, it’s among the least you can ask from professionals, but it is there despite the debacle this season has become.

The latest example of that came in Friday night’s 13-9 loss to the San Diego Padres, one that saw Colorado dig a 13-2 hole for itself before rallying for five runs in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth.

The Rockies’ late-game revival reached the point where San Diego manager Mike Shildt had to insert closer Robert Suarez — something he didn’t expect to do one inning earlier when he opted for the lesser arms in his bullpen to try and close out what had been a laugher.

Another manifestation of progress has been the Rockies’ improved strikeout rate at the plate since bringing Clint Hurdle back as hitting coach last month in place of the dismissed Hensley Muelens.

“I think Clint has done a good job,” Schmidt told the Post. “He’s been a positive with the young kids … even some veteran guys. We are getting a little bit away from the mechanics and more about what’s going on between the ears. We are seeing better at-bats, and we’re cutting the strikeouts down a little bit.”

But all that is of little salve to a battered fan base that has watched its team lumber to a 38-game start that matches the 1988 Baltimore Orioles for the worst since 1901.

“It’s almost like a perfect storm,” Schmidt told the Post. “But people don’t care (about that), we have to play better. I feel for ownership, I feel for the fans.”

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