Rockies hire Ethan Katz as club’s new pitching coach

The Rockies announced the hiring of a new pitching coach on Monday, naming Ethan Katz to the job

Nov 2, 2026, 5:40 PM

Watch: Is the Colorado Rockies’ rebuild finally headed somewhere? | Shapiro and Piro | 28 mins

The Colorado Rockies announced the hiring of a new pitching coach on Monday, naming Ethan Katz as the man who will take over one of the worst situations on the mound in Major League Baseball.

Two weeks ago, the Rockies fired Alon Leichman after just one season in the same job. 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.

President of baseball operations Paul DePodesta pointed at the pitching issues last month 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.

So it’ll be Katz tasked with the Rockies new direction. And there aren’t many high ranked arms in the club’s improving farm system. So for a year over year improvement something radical will have to change.

Katz joins the Rockies from the Houston Astros where he spent the 2026 season as the assistant pitching coach after spending five years with the Chicago White Sox as the club’s pitching coach. He has worked in the Angels and Giants organizations as a coach. But he first worked for the Rockies as a player, where he was a pitcher coming out of the 26th round of the 2005 Draft. He spent four years in Colorado’s system.

The Astros had one of the worst ERAs in the sport last year at 4.45 but the staff of mostly less heard of players carried the team to the postseason behind a bunch of strikeouts. Katz also should have the patience to see this thing through after coaching the White Sox, who had been nearly as bad as the Rockies — until this season — in the 2020s.

For the Rockies, pitching is at the forefront of the issues in their goal to avoid a record-tying fifth-straight 100-loss season in 2027.