The Rockies are going to hire Alon Leichman as their pitching coach, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Leichman spent 2025 with the Marlins as an assistant pitching coach. Per Isaac Azout of Fish on First, the Marlins will look to replace him.
Leichman, 36, was born in Israel and has represented that country in international play. He came to America to attend Cypress College in California in 2010. While pitching for that school’s team, he required Tommy John surgery. After recovering, he played for UC San Diego.
After his college playing days were over, he quickly pivoted to coaching in college ball. He then got jobs in the affiliated ranks, working with minor leaguers in the systems of the Dodgers and Mariners. He got a major league gig with the Reds as assistant pitching coach, holding that title in 2023 and 2024 before getting the same title with the Marlins a year ago.
The Rockies are trying to play catch-up at the moment. They clearly fell behind the rest of the league in terms of data and analytics. The big league club has been getting worse, bottoming out with a 119-loss season in 2025.
Big changes are now afoot. Manager Bud Black was fired during the 2025 campaign and was replaced by Warren Schaeffer. The Rockies parted ways with general manager Bill Schmidt at the end of the season and then pitching coach Darryl Scott not long after that. Paul DePodesta was hired as president of baseball operations and he later hired Josh Byrnes to serve under him as general manager.
Leichman’s quick rise clearly demonstrates that he is respected in the industry. Harding notes that he is fluent in Spanish and that the Marlins experimented by having him call pitches from the dugout this year. Coors Field is the most challenging environment big league pitchers face and that has been a big problem for the Rockies. The staff had a collective 5.99 earned run average this year, easily the worst in the league. The club thinks Leichman can help turn things around and perhaps he can, but given the starting point, it will probably take time.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
More proof that there truly is a job out there for everybody who actually wants to work.
Your comment is more proof that first cousins are still having kids together.
This is the best pitching coach job in MLB. Nothing but upside and a great fat challenge. Dude will be a legend if he can get the Rockies staff to even a league average ERA (and they’d be a really good team).
@lilpartial-Exactly!!!
Hope he can turn it around for the Rox at Coors.
Nothing that moving the outfield fence back couldn’t fix say, I don’t know 100ft or so. give or take.
The job was promised to him 3,000 years ago.
The Rockies appear to be all-in on a complete revamp of baseball operations after hopefully bottoming out at 119 losses in 2025.
The 2.4 million attendance at Coors Field in such a disappointing season is near average attendance for Colorado, and the movement away from insular hiring and processes is a good sign for local fans on the fence.