Colorado Rockies: Bud Black on offseason, MLB’s pace of play initiatives

On Saturday morning, Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black spoke with the media as a part of the Colorado Rockies caravan (along with All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado). Black had some interesting comments on the Rockies offseason and one thing that has been in the news lately: a pitch clock for 2018.

Bud Black spoke with the media for an extended period of time on Saturday as a part of the Rockies caravan. One of the first questions asked to him was about the Rockies offseason moves and the Rockies really pounding home that they need relievers, particularly a dominant closer like Wade Davis. He discussed about how he and Rockies pitching coach Steve Foster feel about the Davis signing:

"“Well, we feel good about it. You know, even before I got here, I think with Steve [Foster] and [Rockies bullpen coach] Darren [Holmes] and [Rockies general manager] Jeff [Bridich] and others in the organization, more quietly, I really think that there was an emphasis put on pitching and these guys, prior to my arrival [before or the 2017 season], set a standard for what was to become how we go about the pitching side of the game. We saw, last year, some results of that–the results of those changes in mindset, in attitude, in fundamental pitching, in mechanics and philosophy, and all those things–you saw with the young pitchers who came up–some of the rookies–and I think we saw it with [our] aggressiveness in the free agents market with [Mike] Dunn and [Greg] Holland, and we saw that continued this year with [Wade] Davis and [Bryan] Shaw and resigning [Jake] McGee, and try[ing] to fortify the pitching as much as possible. Again, we know pitching is such a big part of the game and you have to pitch to win and you need good pitching–bottom line–and we feel that we can acquire [pitching via free agency], we can develop [pitching], we can trade for [pitching so that] we have a better chance to win.”"