Broncos serve as cautionary tale for Rockies regarding recent woes
Jun 18, 2018, 5:47 PM
Sunday saw another Colorado Rockies loss — the club’s 4-11 through the month of June thus far — after another bullpen implosion against the Texas Rangers on the road.
Rockies closer Wade Davis, up three runs in the ninth inning, retired just one batter while walking four and giving up four earned runs to spot Texas with a walk-off win on Father’s Day.
Colorado’s recent woes haven’t sunk its season quite yet, but Mark Schlereth said on Monday another Denver team — the Broncos — could serve as a cautionary tale of reacting to adversity too late.
“Learn from the Broncos mistakes last year and don’t repeat the same mistakes. Make the changes that are going to be required for you to be competitive in the N.L. West,” said the “Schlereth and Evans” co-host.
“If you don’t make changes now, you’re going to be on the outside looking in come August and September.”
Schlereth referred to the Broncos eight-game skid during the 2017 season, wherein he said head coach Vance Joseph acted too slowly in relieving offensive coordinator Mike McCoy of his duties.
“Vance Joseph didn’t make a move. Vance Joseph let an offensive coordinator continue to go down the road with too many plays … in that playbook, 300 plays on his play chart every single week with young players,” Schlereth said. “And guess what happened? It went on and on and on until you had eight and you finally made a move by firing your offensive coordinator.”
“Don’t stay the course,” Schlereth cautioned Rockies manager Bud Black, saying the club should instead look to shake things up a bit, specifically in terms of its pitching staff.
“This is the part of the season where you’ve got to be able to look at yourself honestly, assess what’s going on, and know that it’s not going to fix itself,” Schlereth said. “That you’re going to have to intervene. That you’re going to have to fix it. That means making some drastic moves.”
Before Monday’s bout with the New York Mets, Black said the issues are being addressed via meetings and coaching, but no role changes have been made thus far.
#Rockies Bud Black says no role changes in pen. They addressed issues with relievers. Looking to coach guys out of issues #Denver7 pic.twitter.com/51VyxDBC46
— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) June 18, 2018
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @johnnyhart7.