Rockies fire pitching coach after one lousy season

The Colorado Rockies have fired pitching coach Alon Leichman after just one season, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Keith Law reported. The Rockies hired the 37-year-old last December.

It’s hardly a shock Leichman has been ousted.

Colorado’s pitching staff finished last in the majors in ERA (5.59), SIERA (4.58), strikeout rate (17.5%), WHIP (1.52) and opponents’ batting average (.283). The club’s pitchers were also at or near the bottom in several other categories.

How much of that is on Leichman? How much is on a roster that just didn’t have the arms? This franchise has spent its whole history trying to figure out how to develop pitching at Coors Field. Nobody thought Leichman would fix that in one season.

Still, president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta pointed at the pitching issues last week in his end of year presser. He talked about how starters struggles and the club’s inability to eat innings really caught up with the team. He went on to talk about needing an untraditional approach to solve pitching at altitude and it’s something that his front office is taking on.

DePodesta, likely with some input from manager Warren Schaeffer about the club’s staff and the two will have to add a pitching coach to a long list of things to accomplish in an offseason that could be shortened by a work stoppage.

Pitching may be first on the club’s to do given how deep of an issue it is — and there aren’t many high ranked arms in the club’s improving farm system. But the Rockies need an overhaul, which is why DePodesta is in Denver. And they’ll need results in 2027 if they’re to avoid a record-tying fifth-straight 100-loss season.

This was Leichman’s first job as a big-league team’s lead pitching coach. Before that, he was an assistant pitching coach with the Miami Marlins in 2025 and the Cincinnati Reds in 2023 and 2024. He also spent four seasons as a pitching coach in the Seattle Mariners’ farm system.

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