MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 5, 2022

Bud Black

Colorado Rockies

Press Conference

Q. It's been reported that Carlos is signing with the Angels, not official yet. What kind of player is the Angels getting, and what a loss is that for the offense?

BUD BLACK: I think they're getting a very talented pitcher. I think we've seen that over the years with us. And full disclosure, the Angels reached out to me a couple different times about Carlos, and I said, hey, hang on a minute. We're still talking to Carlos too.

Anyhow, I think this would have been a great fit for Carlos to come back. It's a good fit for Carlos with Anaheim. I think they're going to potentially give him an opportunity to close, but they're getting a veteran relief pitcher with a good arm who's got a great attitude, who's a great teammate. And he brings a nice veteran presence to a bullpen that, like all teams, probably needs a little bit of a shot in the arm.

Q. Probably needed bullpen help.

BUD BLACK: I think every team talks about bullpen help, and we're right there as well. Those talks are ongoing. I'm sure, when you guys talk to Billy this afternoon, he'll say the same thing.

We're going to do our homework on a number of free agent pitchers, and we'll explore some trade potential as well.

Q. (Indiscernible) better last year and even better the second half of last year. What changed for him?

BUD BLACK: Second half he was good. I think more -- like any pitcher, I think the quality of the strike was better. Pitching principles, our local guys hear me talk about that all the time. By that I mean, basically first pitch strike, consistency, keeping the ball down when needed, elevating when needed against certain hitters, certain counts, command of the slider and the change, more consistent in the strike zone.

And the second half really -- in the last couple years he's been pretty consistent, but the second half of last year was really solid.

Again, I'll repeat myself, quality of strikes, more strikes overall, better location.

Q. Do you think he has closer mentality?

BUD BLACK: Yeah. I think he got some saves in 2016, the year before I arrived, we've used him in that role a couple times. We've had some really good closers. We had Holland in '17, led the league in saves. We had Davis, led the league in saves in '18. We've had Bard the last two years.

So we haven't needed Carlos to really step up to be that closer, but he does have for me closer potential.

Q. Eighth inning maybe even, how much of a must is it to get someone that's done it before as far as preparing for '23?

BUD BLACK: We were hoping to take a run at Carlos to have him be part of that mix. You've got to remember, if a reliever pitches 50 to 70 games, that means they're not pitching in 100 or 90. So you need somebody else to pitch the seventh or eighth innings. That's where you need the depth in your bullpen to be able to handle the games where you have the lead. Hopefully we'll have much more of those this year.

But a healthy Gilbreath, Lamet, I think, has a chance to emerge. I think Dinelson pitched well for us overall. There's a couple hiccups during his time with us, but I think you look at his outings, he was pretty good playing the game. So I think he's a guy we project to help us in those games in the seventh and eighth inning along with Lucas.

If we're able to acquire another relief pitcher to go to the back end of our pen. And we're hoping and maybe one of the younger guys steps up, Justin Lawrence for one.

Q. I was wondering how close you feel some of those younger guys, especially Lawrence, are to being there?

BUD BLACK: We're going to need them, and it's very possible you look at all teams and you look at all bullpens, I mean, how often do you see a rookie or a second-year or third-year guy really be a force for a bullpen?

I think you look at the Braves a couple years ago, some of the youth in their bullpen, Minter. You look at some of the Dodger bullpen arms and those guys being thrust in late in the game and pitching well. The Giants.

Again, so quality of bullpen piece can emerge from anywhere in any year. So it's just about the performance and some momentum. And Justin's capable of that. Jake Bird's capable of that.

Q. What is the health update of Lucas Gilbreath?

BUD BLACK: He's doing great. He's in Denver going to the ballpark three times a week with our strength guys there and our trainers were there. But he's doing fine. He'll be 100 percent ready to go come Spring Training.

Q. Where do you see Suter?

BUD BLACK: I forgot about Brent, yeah. Not to be confused with Bruce Sutter. That's a good one, Bruce Sutter.

Q. He's also dead, but yeah.

BUD BLACK: Thanks. Hall of Famer. Great pitcher. No, Brent figures to be a piece we can use in multiple, different roles. He can give us length a couple innings. He can come in and get a lefty. His splits are pretty good against lefties. He's versatile, which I like, and that's what he did with Milwaukee. He was a valuable piece for those guys in his tenure there with the Brewers. So I foresee the same thing.

Again, I'm going back a few years, but the Chris Rusin year in 2017, that type of potential role would be really nice. Rus was good in a number of roles, and Brent can do the same.

Q. Buddy, Ezequiel Tovar came up the end of the year. Just what do you see in him, and what's your evaluation of him?

BUD BLACK: Glad you brought his name up. We're excited about him. We saw him in Spring Training for the first time live. I went to the fall league the previous -- the fall league season before this spring, saw him play there.

Everything that everybody had said about him is starting to really come into fruition. Talented player, both with the glove and with the bat. Had a really good year in Hartford. Arguably the best player in the league up until the point where we had to shut him down with the abdomen injury.

But went to Triple-A, got back into playing shape, came to us probably not 100 percent but still playable. We thought it was important for him to get Big League time, which he did. That was great for him. Hit the homer off Kershaw that last series.

But he showed enough to us in what he did during the course of the year and all our evaluators and player development people think that he is a guy that we should -- you know, we can count on moving forward.

Again, not to put any extra pressure on him. Players put enough pressure on themselves. But we're excited about this young guys. He's a good one.

Q. He's got a lot to prove, right? Would you say he's The Opening day starter at this point?

BUD BLACK: I'd hate to say that, but he's tracking that way. We hope that happens.

Q. He is super young. What kind of patience are you prepared to extend to him if he has a Brendan Rodgers-type first month?

BUD BLACK: Again, if you believe in a player, I think you can be more patient. We'll see how he handles everything, but I suspect from what we've heard about the makeup and the kid, he's going to be able to handle this even if there is some valleys.

I don't want to put a time frame on any performance. We're confident in his ability not only physically, but the mental side as well, to handle the Big Leagues.

Q. With the trade for Nolan Jones, where do you see him possibly fitting in?

BUD BLACK: He's in that mix of players that are going to come to camp and try to win a job. He's another talented player. Toglia, Bouchard, Connor Joe, Montero -- these are guys that have been in the Big Leagues. They're trying to really establish themselves. Nolan's in that mix of guys. He can play a little third. He can play the outfield. He can play some first. So there's some versatility there. He's got some power.

But like all those guys, there's some things he's got to clean up, but he's got a talent. He's got a talent.

Q. Is Charlie a free agent?

BUD BLACK: No. Charlie's with us. Charlie, again, is an integral part of our team in a lot of different ways. He had a strong -- Charlie had some strong months for us.

He was a little bit banged up at the end. He ended up getting knee surgery. I think that affected him a little bit. I think he played through some knee discomfort and a knee that needed to be repaired. I think that put a little dent in his numbers. He'll be back ready to go.

Q. So you think he'll be healthy for Spring Training?

BUD BLACK: Yes. He's doing fine. It was an arthroscopic procedure. He'll be ready. He's doing fine. He's working out now, feeling good.

Q. How do you see your outfield right now?

BUD BLACK: Right now? Pretty much out into last year with Bryant in there for sure.

So all the guys that I mentioned prior, the Connor Joe, Bouchard, Charlie, Bryant, Daza, Grichuk, guys that ended the season with us on the roster. A few of those guys will be fighting for a spot and playing time.

Q. How big is it to get another bat, especially an outfield bat?

BUD BLACK: I think we're always, we're looking for pitching, and it's been noted that we're looking for another outfielder, preferably a left-handed bat because we're a predominantly right-handed lineup.

We have Daza who can play center. We can move Grichuk over there to play center. But if we can maybe get a guy who can play center field as well as the other outfield positions, that's probably something that we're looking for, and that's been documented.

Q. Are you anticipating adjusting to these new rules?

BUD BLACK: I think Spring Training is going to be very, very important for the guys to really lock in on this. We'll have a whole month of games and daily discussions about this. And try to simulate some things even prior to games both on the pitching side and the position player side as far as the pitch clock.

I think the pitch clock thing is going to be the tricky one for everybody. The shift, we'll be fine. All teams will be fine there. We know what's ahead of us. It's going to put a little bit more of a premium on range amongst your infielders.

The bigger bases, we know it's 4 1/2 inches closer. So the teams that have a little bit more team speed might be more prone to run or pursue that a little bit more aggressively.

We'll have to address some things with our pitching staff as far as their times to the plate. We feel good about the catchers as far as their ability to throw. Our arm strength with our catchers are, I feel, in a good spot. Our catchers didn't have a great year defensively, but that can change from year to year.

Our pitchers will make some adjustments with their times to the plate to combat the 4 1/2 inches. But the pitch clock is going to have to -- is something that I think the whole league, the whole is going to have to go through Spring Training with some focus.

I think the pitchers will handle it, but the hitters having to be in the box with eight seconds left with the starting at 20 or starting with 15, all that time out of the box, fixing gloves and kicking cleats and looking at the third base coach, that's going to speed up on them. But those Spring Training games will be very, very important.

Q. Is that something you emphasize is guys going into their off-season, hey, look, work on your routine now so we can come into Spring Training and have it?

BUD BLACK: I don't think you can really simulate that in the off-season. We'll talk about that a lot when we get to Spring Training, and guys will have to adjust. It will be something the guys know they'll have to do, and it will become something that will be a high priority for them.

Q. I know that you're not just a pedestrian in the off-season. You're involved with Bill in a lot of decisions and have a voice in the room. He's a GM with an amateur scouting background obviously. He's the one who signed all the prospects. You're a manager who has to put a lineup on the field. Have you found yourself, this winter especially, maybe lobbying for like maybe it's worth giving up some younger prospects for especially pitching help?

BUD BLACK: I think at the core Billy is a good baseball man. He understands value. He understands players.

I think the broader answer to that question is he understands the perspective of trades and what they mean and movement of the players, so he's not averse to moving young players. That's just my sense.

But he also, I think, because he scouted a lot of these guys, he feels strongly about them in a lot of ways. But he's not adverse to making us better immediately if there's something that makes a lot of sense.

Q. And from your perspective, are there -- does it make sense, especially with the juncture you're at now. You're going to need pitching, let's be honest.

BUD BLACK: Well, yeah, but a lot of times, in theory, it's easier said than done. These are things we talk about all the time, about players. All 800 Major League players and 4,000 Minor League players. We're talking players all the time. If something make sense, I'm sure Billy will pull the trigger.

Q. I know that San Diego holds a special place in your heart. What did you make of the playoff run they went on last year?

BUD BLACK: It was a great, great finish for them through September. It was a great Wild Card race there through September with the Padres and Brewers and the Phillies.

The Mets and the Braves looked like they were going to lock a spot down, but the Padres pulled away. They played some of their best baseball at the end. I think the pitching showed up. Snell and others pitched really well in September. Hader was really good at the end. I mean, it was great for San Diego.

Again, I wasn't here, but I have a lot of close friends and people in the area that were telling me that the city was energized. They were super excited about the team, which again, it was a fun team. We saw them 19 times. They have good players.

We saw how the city responded when they came and played home games at Petco for the first time in a long time. It was a good feel for the city, and it was a good feel for baseball here in San Diego.

Q. Just looking at the pitching, Freeland, Marquez, what do you need to see from them for them to have some consistency?

BUD BLACK: That's the thing. And they'll be the first to tell you, again, on the positive they went to the post and made all their starts. They logged innings. But there was too many -- the valleys were a little bit too deep. We have to smooth those out. There were some high points for them both, some great games, some great runs. But we need them, again, to make all their starts.

Every team needs their best starters to make all their starts because you want to keep running your best guys out there all the time. But there's some things that we've identified that are going to help them, and I'd rather not share them with you. We'll address those. We've already started to address them so far in the wintertime, and we'll address them as we get closer to Spring Training to help those guys.

Q. Antonio on track for early?

BUD BLACK: He should be May, but he's doing fine. He's hitting all his markers.

Q. McMahon played a little more second base -- not a little more. We saw him play some second base last year and in '21, obviously Rodgers is there. Montero can play third base. Jones can play third base. Might there be a little bit of a logjam, in a sense, in the infield?

BUD BLACK: Again, I think it warrants us to get Montero over to first base, get Jones in the outfield, just to give us the versatility, right? So many things can happen during the course of the season, whether it's health or performance.

Those are -- I don't know whether they're logjams, but Jones and Montero are still young players. Montero showed signs in the Big Leagues, showed a little power, showed signs, but there's some things that he has to clean up too to be more consistent.

We haven't seen a lot of Jones, but it's better to have those guys in and near the Big Leagues and still working their way to becoming bona fide Major League players than have them farther away.

Anything can happen. Again, with Mack, his versatility to go to second is a benefit for us in case something does happen to Brendan. If something happens to Mack, we feel good about who's behind him.

So the depth is getting closer as far as the replacement value, which is a good thing. That's starting to happen a little bit more throughout our system. There's still a little gap in some areas of talent.

We've all talked about our talent at the lower levels, Fresno and Spokane and some of those guys, some talent in the Double-A. So it's starting to get a little closer, which the previous couple years it hasn't been there. But it showed up a little bit this year.

Q. What do you see from Kris Bryant? Have you talked to him much?

BUD BLACK: We text. He's doing fine. Healthy, normal off-season. There's some things that he needs to do, I think, moving forward as he gets to near 30 years old or 30, in the off-season. He's aware of this. To give him the best chance to stay healthy and stay on the field.

But he's in a good spot, and he's working.

Q. A guy like him who's done a lot other places, has his own routine, how much did coming to Colorado, different atmosphere, maybe playing into what happened to him?

BUD BLACK: I think the lockout and not being able to be around Spring Training, be around -- you know, maybe not get the full off-season program that you normally do affected a lot of guys. I think it might have affected Kris.

I'm still getting to know him. Like all players, he might have put a little too much pressure on himself to come in new and perform. I suspect those things are all behind him now.

Q. As you've said, the quality of pitching can be difficult. You look at your starting rotation, beyond those guys we've talked about. What do you see -- out of those guys, who do you think is a good bounce-back candidate if they struggled, or guys who are developing and could get better?

BUD BLACK: We talked about a little bit of the gap that we have. Two guys that haven't come like we hoped was Rolison and Peter, and that's injury based. I think those two guys, if healthy, can provide us some depth. I think those two guys are key, right? Because if you talk Freeland, Marquez, Senzatela come May, Urena, Gomber, Feltner, we feel pretty good about those guys, and Senzatela coming behind those guys.

But after that, it's Peter and Rolison, who should be healthy and ready to go in Spring Training, but they'll be on some sort of limited availability -- I don't want to say availability, but we have to monitor -- they're not going to bang out 180, 200 innings this year. So we're going to have to monitor some of their work.

Those are the two guys that I think we're really keeping an eye on. And we saw Noah Davis. He'll start in Spring Training. He'll be in the mix. He pitched pretty well in Double-A to get himself on the radar.

Q. You talked about separately needing to upgrade offensively and also --

BUD BLACK: I don't know we need to upgrade. I think we've got to perform to our expectations.

Q. But like adding a left-hander maybe with some power, for instance, whatever. Although we've seen kind of around the league teams have lately -- I don't know if it's enough to be a trend, but focusing more on defense, the toughest center fielder in the league. Is that, looking at your roster, the best place to add offense, or is that just a philosophy?

BUD BLACK: If you look at the ability to how you win games, I think run prevention is critical too. So if you get really a great defender, that helps. And I think overall team defense has to improve. We didn't play great team defense last year, and we talked about that.

Our hope is that we get more consistency offensively from most of our players. Bryant should help, him being in the lineup. The catching position, Diaz was really good in '21, tough year last year. We talked about Rodgers' tough April. McMahon was pretty consistent. Daza was good. Charlie was a little variable. Iglesias provided average, a little bit on base. We think Tovar can do some things too.

Cron was good in the first half, really good, tough second half.

So we have the ability, because the guys have done it. We need it over a six-month period of consistency. If we can add another bat and go along with just improvement of the guys we have, that should happen. And we play better defense. That can change a lot.

Q. Can you afford, I don't mean financially, but is there room for a defensive center fielder that you don't even have to worry about it?

BUD BLACK: Yeah, maybe. That could help us. He's got to be really good defender. Yeah, that's a fair question.

Q. Do you feel like with your infield defense, obviously there were some struggles at times last year, but you look at the group out there, could that be a good defensive unit?

BUD BLACK: Yes. McMahon, '21, really awesome. Could have won the Gold Glove. Tovar, if he's there, or Trejo, whatever happens between now and Spring Training, I think that component of range and hands and the ability to catch the ball is very solid.

Rodgers won a Gold Glove. I think he continues to improve. I think Cron's fine. Toli is well above average if he makes the team, if he's on the team. He can play defense.

So our infield defense personnel-wise is good.