Scottsdale, Ariz. — Matt Buschmann, like many coaches, is new to the Colorado Rockies in 2026. He came to the Rockies after working for both the Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants, and has been making his mark on the team right out of the gate.
“I learned a ton [in my previous positions],” he said.
“I think a lot of it is just making sure that the information you’re giving players is creating the right feedback loop for the change you want. So [we’re] being very intentional about constantly reinforcing the things we talk about every day, and not unintentionally undercutting that with something we’re saying or doing or information we’re giving.”
And that goes back to his coaching philosophy, which is all about “trying to get [players] to come to the conclusions themselves and creat[ing] the right environment to come up with the solution that works for them.
“Instead of telling them how or a technique, it’s just giving them the information and trying to make it as simple as possible and trying to get them to understand where they’re going” he continued, “If I give them where they’re trying to go, and then I can kind of help them along the road… if they own that solution, it’s going to be so much easier to repeat that and make the adjustment they need to make.”
One thing about Warren Schaeffer’s new coaching staff that we’ve written about ad nauseam are the open lines of communication they’ve been establishing between themselves and the players. And that’s something Buschmann has also embraced.
“It’s just creating an open environment,” he said. “I think sometimes when you force it, it can get kind of weird. But it’s giving the players the understanding that there will be constant touch points. It’s not set times. There’s constant communication every day, and it’s very organic.
“And they know that at any given moment, [they] can come and talk to us and we want to make that so it’s like, ‘Come grab us.’ It’s not, ‘I’ll come talk to you’ because I don’t want to create an environment where the only times I’m talking to [them] are when things are going poorly,” he continued. “You don’t want to create that kind of feedback loop, either. I think it’s just constantly giving touch points and being conscious to reinforce the things you want.”
The open communication is especially important for this young Rockies team, and something that the coaching staff is looking to model.
“When a player’s young, to me, it’s just like, ‘Do they understand the day-to-day? Do they understand what it means to be good over 160 games and then playoffs, and what it takes in a calendar year?’ It’s not only in season and the constant routines, and it’s the mundane nature of baseball, but how important that boring stuff is,” he said.
“So how do you do that on a daily basis? Are you consistent in your routines and then understanding how important the offseason is to prepare for another 160 games? Players that are young, that’s what they’re learning,” he continued.
“To me, we know guys have the stuff and the talent, and now it’s just like… I think the quote I like to go back to is, ‘Success is very boring.’ It is very boring day-to-day. And so it’s getting guys to understand that every day is not this ‘Aha!’ moment. The ‘Aha!’ moment comes because you were very consistent in your daily routing.”
And the collaboration permeates through the coaching staff, as well.
“I feel like the staff will offer input in roughly equal amounts throughout our pitchers meetings,” said RHP John Brebbia.
“It might not all be on the same topic – one person could be more pitch sequencing, while the other person is more biomechanical or aerodynamic-oriented – but I feel like everyone has an area of pitching that they like or they’re interested in, or that they are maybe responsible for. They all provide input and you can tell they’ve done their research and they care about it. And Busch is one of those guys that is doing that exact same thing.”
“We’re all part of a pitching staff trying to prevent runs,” Buschmann said, “so there’s this team ethos of, ‘How do we prevent runs?’ And then what you have are just different routines, and therefore, that’s where they separate. Relievers are training for less more often, and starters are the long-distance runners. So sometimes you separate in that regard. But as far as attacking hitters and all that, it’s very collective. ‘How are we preventing runs against this team in this series?’”
But the biggest strength that Buschmann brings to this team is his emphasis on workload management.
“The in-depth nature of the way he thinks about arms and recovery and workload management is huge, and it’s game-changing for us, especially at altitude. I think that’s going to pay huge dividends throughout the season and for years to come,” said Schaeffer.
The players echoed that, as well.
“I think his big thing for us is just managing our workload because as a bullpen, it’s really hard to know when you’re going to throw next,” said Zach Agnos.
“He’s been really good on the workload end just by telling us, ‘Hey, don’t take it too heavy today.’ or ‘Hey, we’re gonna keep it light, but we’re gonna make a lot of throws today.’ He’s been really good at that, and it’s been keeping us fresh and allowing us to feel our best every time we go out on the mound. And I think that’s going to be huge come August and September this year.”
Learning to manage the pitching staff at Coors Field is a challenge for any coach, but Buschmann is up for it.
“I’m very excited. I think you come here because you like challenges, and we’d like to build something,” he said. “And I think the plan is that it’s a feature for us, not a bug. It’s not something we have to fight, it’s something we need to embrace, and it’ll be part of what helps us be better.
After a challenging 2025 season, Brenton Doyle has been on the comeback trail this spring. However, things were derailed a bit by a wrist sprain and Doyle missed 11 days. He returned to the lineup on Saturday night against the Dodgers, going 1-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base. With just 15 games left in spring training, Doyle will look to give ‘100 percent’ to the final weeks.
The Rockies signed Tomoyuki Sugano at the beginning of spring training, but he was only with the team for a few days before he left for the World Baseball Classic in Japan. He started Sunday’s game against Australia, pitching four scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Here’s his postgame presser.
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