The first sentence of Warren Schaeffer鈥檚 player biography from the 2007 Virginia Tech baseball roster says the then-senior 鈥減ossesses a competitive approach, work ethic and motor that are hard to match.鈥
Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland has seen those same traits in Schaeffer nearly two decades later.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a high-energy guy who is going to be willing to work every single day. We love what he鈥檚 been doing, especially with our infielders,鈥 Freeland told Rockies beat reporters Sunday. 鈥淗is work ethic speaks very highly of the kind of person that he is. Everyone in this clubhouse loves him. He鈥檚 managed a lot of the guys in this clubhouse in Triple-A and now up in the big leagues for a little bit and now he鈥檚 going to be the manager with us.鈥
Colorado Rockies third base coach/infield coach Warren Schaeffer (center)听is the second former Virginia Tech baseball player to become an MLB manager.
Schaeffer was a leader and a captain on the 2007 Hokies baseball team. He has added nearly 17 seasons of experience as a minor league player and manager and as MLB third-base and infield coach, and that experience will be needed in the next phase of his journey in baseball.
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Shaeffer was announced as the Colorado Rockies interim manager for the remainder of the 2025 season. The Rockies fired the organization鈥檚 all-time winningest manager, Bud Black, on Sunday after a 7-33 start to the season.
Schaeffer, 40, was promoted to interim manager after serving on Black鈥檚 staff as third-base and infield coach since the 2023 season.
Colorado Rockies third base coach Warren Schaeffer (left) was named interim manager of the Rockies.
His first game as interim manager was Monday night at Texas.
鈥淛ust really how he communicates and relates with players, his connection to players,鈥 Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt told reporters of what Schaeffer brings to the interim manager role. 鈥淚 think just a different voice here 鈥 we鈥檙e at that point where we needed to do that.鈥
Schaeffer is the second former Virginia Tech baseball player to become an MLB manager.
Hokies legend Johnny Oates served as manager of the Baltimore Orioles (1991-94) and Texas Rangers (1995-2001). Oates was the 1996 American League manager of the year when he led the Rangers to the first of three AL West Division titles under his watch (鈥96, 鈥98 and 鈥99).
Schaeffer has been with the Rockies ever since the organization selected him in the 38th round of the 2007 MLB Draft.
He spent six seasons (2007-12) in the farm system. He reached the Triple-A level with Colorado Springs in 2010 and 鈥11, and he retired as a player after appearing in 459 games with a .214 batting average, nine homers and 137 RBIs.
Schaeffer remained with the organization by joining the Class A Short Season Tri-City Dust Devils as hitting coach in 2013-14. He managed the Class A Asheville Tourists from 2015-17 and then was promoted to manager of the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats in 2018-19.
RICHMOND 鈥 Warren Schaeffer, an accomplished high school shortstop from the Pittsburgh area, orally committed to Harvard in 2003. Soon after, …
Schaeffer managed the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes in 2021 and 鈥22 before getting the call from Black to join the Rockies for the 鈥23 season.
鈥淪uper excited for Schaeff. He was a great manager when I had him in Triple-A and he knows the game super well,鈥 Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle told local reporters Sunday. 鈥淗e really cares a lot. He鈥檚 a great coach and brings a lot of energy and I鈥檓 looking forward to it.鈥
Schaeffer posted a record of 458-501 as a minor league manager.
鈥淥bviously we all know Schaeffer. We love Schaeff,鈥 third baseman Ryan McMahon said. 鈥淲e love what he brings, the way that he acts to us, to everybody. 鈥 Schaeff鈥檚 going to do great.鈥
Schaeffer鈥檚 work with the Rockies鈥 infielders is rooted in how he was taught to play the position under Chuck Hartman and Pete Hughes at Virginia Tech.
Warren Schaeffer throws a ball during infield warmups before a Colorado Rockies' game on April 5 in Denver. Schaeffer, who has been the Rockies' third-base and infield coach since the 2023 season, was promoted to interim manager Sunday evening.
Schaeffer shined as a shortstop during his four seasons with the Hokies. He hit .273 with eight home runs, 113 RBIs, 108 runs scored and 56 walks to 10 strikeouts over 212 games played.
BLACKSBURG -- You could call it almost perfect, but that would be a lie. It WAS perfect.
The Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, native had a .953 fielding percentage at Tech.
He is married to former Tech softball player Callie Rhodes.
鈥淲hat a fantastic school to go to,鈥 Schaeffer said in a 2019 interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch. 鈥淚 had such a great experience in college. Just being a student-athlete was a pretty special thing for me there. The academics were great. I had a lot of great professors, and it was just a great time overall. Made a lot of life-long friends there.鈥
