Warren Schaeffer's Latest Quote Proves Rockies Are Heading in Right Direction

Colorado's manager didn't mince words after rallying to beat Arizona on Friday night.

Warren Schaeffer | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

When new Colorado Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta was hired, he removed the interim tag from manager Warren Schaeffer, who received backing from the locker room following the 2025 season.

DePodesta knew that he was in for a rebuild that had nowhere to go but up for an organization that was coming off three straight 100-loss seasons. The first goal in Year 1 under the new leadership should be not to lose 100 games for a fourth straight season. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen, but things certainly have a different feel than a year ago.

Entering their four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado sat in the basement of the National League West Division, just behind the San Francisco Giants with 19 wins. After dropping the opener on Thursday night, 2-1, the Rockies were on their way to another low-scoring loss on Friday night. However, they plated single runs in the eighth and ninth innings for a 3-2 win.

As has been the case at different times early in the season, it was a new hero with recent call-up prospects Sterlin Thompson and Chad Stevens coming through in the clutch. Thompson doubled in the ninth and scored the game-winning run on a Stevens single to complete the comeback. After the game, Schaeffer had a quote that has been a long time coming in Denver.

Rockies Manager Warren Schaeffer Drops Comment That Fans Have Been Waiting For

Chad Stevens | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

After Colorado took the lead in the top of the ninth, Antonio Senzatela shut the door in the ninth for the 20th Rockies win of the season. He worked 1.2 innings, retiring all five batters he faced to pick up the win. Schaeffer didn't mince words about his team and why they were able to come back and stun Arizona.

“This is a confident team,” Schaeffer said. “Sometimes it’s not going to go our way with growing pains, but we’re going to keep grinding. These guys grind every day. They prepare well and they get after it. It was a good win tonight.”

Did Schaeffer say that the Colorado Rockies are a confident team? Yes, he did. Those were not words uttered by anyone for a long time in the Mile High City. Veteran Kyle Freeland mentioned over the offseason that there was a different feeling around the Rockies before spring training started. He wasn't kidding.

Is Colorado going to be a playoff team? No, but any little steps that they can take this season are going to pay off in future seasons. DePodesta and Schaeffer know that things are going to take some time to turn things around, but nobody can deny that the right steps are happening quickly. The Colorado Rockies are turning into a team that is going to cause problems for teams and will surprise a lot of people this summer. Things are trending in the right direction just two months into the 2026 season.