Colorado Rockies: Bud Black on Arizona’s humidor, Rodgers, Anderson

Yesterday, Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black spoke with the media on a bevy of different topics.

Bud Black spoke to the media at Spring Training on Saturday and in the time (it was around 20 minutes), he discussed a bevy of different things.

First off, a few days ago, Rockies division rival, the Arizona Diamondbacks, announced a few days ago that they will join the Rockies as the only teams who use a humidor for their baseballs. Their stadium, Chase Field, is the second highest stadium in elevation in all of baseball, only behind Coors.

The first question to Black was about what his opinion of it was.

"“Well…(laughs), when the Rockies brought the humidor into Coors Field, I was not there. Being a visiting team coming into Coors, I was all for it. I’m in on the humidor…so I’ll answer it the same way for the Diamondbacks: I like the humidor…I’m pro-humidor."

However, Black admitted that he doesn’t know much about the humidor.

"“All I really know is what I read: the moisture…the physics…”"

He also said that the numbers will prove whether or not it works there. In Coors, as the media members there noted, home runs have significantly decreased in Coors since it was installed.

Just looking at the overall numbers (not just numbers at Coors), the Rockies offensive numbers have dropped drastically since the humidor was installed before the 2002 season, per Baseball Reference.

Rockies average runs per game (1995-2001): 5.64

Rockies average runs per game (2002-present): 4.84

Rockies home runs per season (1995-2001): 205.71

Rockies home runs per season (2002-2017): 175.56

Black on Rodgers

Bud Black also talked a bit about Brendan Rodgers being an invite to Major League Spring Training.

He said that it will “be a great experience for him” as he will be able to “rub shoulders” with guys who have MLB experience. Black specifically mentions DJ LeMahieu, Trevor Story, Charlie Blackmon, and Nolan Arenado, among others.

Black also said that “moving around the diamond is the beauty” of Spring Training and, with that, Rodgers could see some time at different infield positions so they can see how versatile he can play at different positions.

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Black on Anderson

Bud Black reported that Rockies left-handed pitcher Tyler Anderson is “feeling good” and he hasn’t had any knee issues, like he had last season.

He also says that Anderson “almost worked too hard between starts” so, regimentally, Anderson will amend his work in between starts so he hopefully doesn’t have any injuries flair up during the seasons.

Black on the bullpen depth

Bud Black was also asked about the depth that he has in the bullpen and he said that he is confident in the team’s depth. He also said that “if you have guys who are behind [the major league relievers] that you feel good about, it leaves you with a good night’s sleep.”

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He also said that he thinks that there are some guys who can go multiple innings or starters that could go to the bullpen and since they are more versatile, it makes his job a lot easier.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to Call to the Pen’s Mark Brown for his help with these quotes and asking Black for us about Anderson and the humidor.