Rockies Journal: Warren Schaeffer makes solid first impression, record be damned

Interim manager Warren Schaeffer had chosen fascinating things to say over the past week as he tried to steer his gang away from the worst -game start in baseball history His Rockies entered the weekend series with the mighty Yankees with an - record but he seemed unfazed We are in a very unique situation at the moment he revealed 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 declared it it rang true Sought about his ability to teach young players Schaeffer noted In order to put things in place you have to care about the athlete And I care about all of these guys I want to get the greater part out of them You have to be realistic about where they are and where they can go I spent 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 encounter 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 settled in his own skin and ignores what s mentioned or written about him For a band headed toward its third consecutive -loss season that s a necessary quality He s intense which is something the Rockies need at the moment Schaeffer s only but I still wonder if that intensity will drain his force 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 reported I want this squad 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 narrated me that Schaeffer is incredibly detail-oriented I think that s something we needed around here one longtime baseball operations employee advised me I think things were getting a little too routine a little too lax If Schaeffer agrees with something he says For instance when requested if slumping first baseman Michael Toglia requirements just one good encounter to snap out of his funk he declared Related Articles Keeler Rockies even had Denver youth league coaches shaking their heads Saturday Rockies Adael Amador Glove slipped off when jumping to field line drive by Yankees Paul Goldschmidt Rockies implode during -run fifth inning routed by Yankees to fall to - A decade after Rockies nearly took him No in Mickey Moniak feels he has more in the tank Ryan McMahon Rockies end slide with comeback win against Yankees at sold-out Coors Field He s not afraid to shake things up He took Brenton Doyle out of the leadoff spot and put him in the No 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 games or even 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 the bulk of his chance Want more Rockies news Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis