DENVER -- Warren Schaeffer gazes out at the Coors Field playing surface from the first-base dugout as thunder echoes and rain falls on the tarped infield before the beginning of the Rockies’ final homestand. It’s reflection time for the interim skipper and his ballclub as its 2025 campaign draws to a close.
And the passing storm is an appropriate metaphor for what he believes lies ahead of the Rockies.
“The future is bright,” he says.
Optimism only goes so far, especially for a team that has set a franchise record for losses (110) amid a seventh consecutive losing season. The results need to be there, too. This season, they haven’t been. Colorado’s 6-5 loss to the Marlins on Tuesday night was another reminder of those shortcomings.
But since Schaeffer took the reins of his young, inexperienced ballclub a little over four months ago, he’s started to see a break in the clouds, reasons to set his sights high. He knows the bleakness of this year is difficult for many to look past, but the strides that have been made can’t be measured by the mere 34 wins the Rockies have managed under him.
It’s the steadily improving quality of play from a youth-laden roster -- with an average age of 26.4 that ranks third youngest in the Majors -- that is actively learning to navigate through the current deluge that Schaeffer points to.
“The progress has been from the young players continually getting better and learning themselves,” he said. “ … These are guys that are part of our future who have continually gotten better as the year has gone on.
“[That] will pay dividends in the future. You’ll look back on this time and say this was a necessary time to go through as a young player.”
Hunter Goodman and Mickey Moniak have found their footing after early-career struggles. Chase Dollander and Tanner Gordon have logged valuable innings in the rotation. Seth Halvorsen, Juan Mejia and Victor Vodnik have shown bright potential in the bullpen. A franchise-record 13 players have debuted this season and have received plenty of runway to contribute.
Kyle Freeland, one of the few elder statesmen, shares Schaeffer’s clear-skied vision of the future. The Denver native knows his hometown team is capable of better -- he’s seen it before.
“There’s definitely glimpses [of the future] from our young core of guys who put a foothold into the big leagues this year and a little bit last year,” Freeland said. “They’ve done a good job. You do see those glimpses of doing things right. Playing good baseball on their terms. With that comes getting everyone in this clubhouse rolling.”
The first seven rain-sodden innings of Tuesday’s contest, which featured a 61-minute delay due to rain and lightning, was indicative of just how much work the Rockies still need to do.
Freeland made it through five solid innings before the Marlins jumped him for three runs in the sixth to chase him from the game. The Rockies’ bats certainly didn’t help his cause, as they were silenced by Marlins starter Eury Pérez, who held them to just one hit.
But things quickly turned around in the final two frames.
Brenton Doyle robbed Dane Myers of a home run in the eighth before Moniak blasted his third homer in his past two games in the bottom half to cut the Marlins’ lead to three. The Rockies plated two more runs and had the tying run on third with two outs in the ninth before Goodman lined out to third baseman Connor Norby to end the game.
That late-game resurgence hasn’t been uncommon for the Rockies, especially since the start of the second half. But it’s a testament to the resilience Colorado has shown, its ability to weather the storm.
“We’ve been in a lot of these games, we’ve battled back from big deficits late in games,” Moniak said. “We’ve come out with wins in some of them, we’ve come up short just like tonight in a lot of them. I think that’s the confidence Schaeffer instills in us and the belief that we have. But it starts at the top.
“The next steppingstone would be to win more of these games, and I think we’re capable of doing that. It comes with experience, and a lot of guys in this room just need a little more experience and to get a little more comfortable and the talent will show.”
Will the Rockies reach the level Schaeffer envisions for them? Only time will tell. But for him, the signs of progress are abundant.
He urges Rockies fans that sunnier times are ahead.
“I hope they’ve seen progress over the year, I really do,” Schaeffer said. “I hope they’ve seen progress in terms of the way we play the game. There is a core group of young players that is being formed that are getting better on a daily basis. Hopefully, they can see that. We will be better next year, with some adjustments here and there. The future is bright here. Some people may not be able to see that at the moment, because we’re in such a deep ditch. But I know that the future is bright.”