Interim manager Warren Schaeffer had some interesting things to say over the past week as he tried to steer his team away from the worst 50-game start in baseball history.
His Rockies entered the weekend series with the mighty Yankees with an 8-42 record, but he seemed unfazed.
“We are in a very unique situation at the moment,” he said. “For me, opportunity abounds in this situation. If we don’t look at it like that, shame on us. We could take this moment that we are in right now and look back three years from now and say, ‘Boy, we used that the right way.’
“But, if we are going to commiserate and wallow in our pit, that’s no way for a man to act; and no way for a group of people to act.”
On paper, that reads Pollyanish, or maybe a little Vince Lombardi-ish. But when Schaeffer said it, it rang true.
Asked about his ability to teach young players, Schaeffer said, “In order to put things in place, you have to care about the player. And I care about all of these guys. I want to get the most out of them. You have to be realistic about where they are and where they can go.
“I spent 11 years in the minor leagues and that was my main job, to develop — all day long — to develop relationships and skills, and then try to put it into practice in the game that night, and try to win. Because, for me, winning is a skill you need to develop, and we are in the process of that right now.”
OK, now for a beat writer’s early impressions of the man who replaced Bud Black:
• Schaeffer’s very comfortable in his own skin and ignores what’s said or written about him. For a team headed toward its third consecutive 100-loss season, that’s a necessary quality.
• He’s intense, which is something the Rockies need at the moment. Schaeffer’s only 40, but I still wonder if that intensity will drain his energy come September.
• He’s got a plan to turn things around and has the patience to see it through.
“We want a (high) standard to be upheld, more and more as we go along,” he said. “I want this team to look different in July than it did in June and different in August than it did in July. Hopefully, we’ll see that progression.”
• Several players and Rockies staffers told me that Schaeffer is incredibly detail-oriented.
“I think that’s something we needed around here,” one longtime baseball operations employee told me. “I think things were getting a little too routine, a little too lax.”
• If Schaeffer agrees with something, he says, “100%.” For instance, when asked if slumping first baseman Michael Toglia needs just one good game to snap out of his funk, he said, “100%.”
• He’s not afraid to shake things up. He took Brenton Doyle out of the leadoff spot and put him in the No. 5 hole and installed Jordan Beck at the top of the order. Schaeffer also pulled the strikeout-prone Toglia from the starting lineup for three consecutive games, believing the talented but erratic first baseman needed work in the cage to escape his funk.
• He’s demanding of himself, his staff and his players. He believes players must be prompt; if not, they hear about it, either from him or his assistant coaches.
• He protects his players, sometimes sugarcoating things to the extreme.
• He has the makings of a solid major league manager, but you have to wonder what his future holds. If the Rockies lose 125 games, or even 115 games, will Schaffer be marked by the scarlet letter of failure? Or will he, record be damned, show that he has the right stuff to continue, either with the Rockies or somewhere else? Time will tell, but Schaeffer is making the most of his chance.
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