Jake Bird’s defining moment? Check this out.
On June 6 at Coors Field, the Rockies’ right-handed reliever entered the game in the top of the sixth inning to face the Mets. Starter Antonio Senzatela had walked Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil to open the inning. Bird did himself no favors by plunking Tyrone Taylor to load the bases.
Intense, focused, and taking a deep breath between each pitch, Bird proceeded to strike out Brett Baty looking at an 81.5 mph, 1-2 curveball. He fanned Francisco Alverez with an 85.6 mph, 3-2 slider. Then he completed his mission by getting Ronny Mauricio to swing over the top of an 0-2, 80.3 mph curve.
Bird departed with a primal scream, a strut in his step and his arms pumping.
“Most of the time, I’m quiet, under control, kind of studious and even-keeled,” Bird said. “But when I compete, when I’m on the mound, a different side of me, a different energy comes out.”
He becomes “Birdman.”
“There aren’t many players I’ve run into that have the confidence in themselves that Jake Bird does,” Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said.
Right now, “Birdman” is a hot commodity.
The Rockies’ best pitcher this season, starter or reliever, is a prime trade candidate as the July 31 deadline nears. Speculation has the Diamondbacks, Mets, Phillies and Mariners as possible trade partners. The rebuilding Rockies, who are projected to be unusually active in the market, will undoubtedly field calls.
Colorado, of course, could just as easily hang on to the affordable Bird. He’s making just $770,000 this season, will enter his first year of arbitration during the offseason and is under team control through 2028.
Given the Rockies’ history of standing pat during trade season, it’s difficult to predict what they will do — especially if the club moves on from general manager Bill Schmidt in the wake of the worst start to a season in baseball’s modern era.
So Bird stands as a bellwether for Colorado’s present and future. In the past, the Rockies likely would have held on to a talented pitcher like Bird, perpetually believing they were about to turn the proverbial corner. Perhaps they would have even offered him a contract extension.
But amid a historically awful year, things are different. Trading a player like Bird, third baseman Ryan McMahon or starter German Marquez amid another lost season offers an opportunity to restock a farm system that’s ranked 18th by MLB Pipeline.
Two years ago, in a quest for much-needed organizational pitching depth, Colorado dealt right-handed reliever Pierce Johnson to Atlanta in exchange for right-handed pitching prospects Victor Vodnik and Tanner Gordon. But Johnson was not as valuable, nor as good, in 2023 as Bird is in ’25. Plus, Johnson, a Colorado native who graduated from Faith Christian High School in Arvada, was playing under a one-year, $5 million free-agent contract.
There is no doubt that the 29-year-old Bird is a more enticing reliever. He entered the weekend series at Milwaukee with a 2.62 ERA, a 1.276 WHIP, and 56 strikeouts over 34 appearances. That was the ninth-lowest ERA among NL relievers with at least 35 innings pitched. He was tied for first among major league relievers in strikeouts and ranked second in innings pitched.
For his part, Bird says he’s unflappable in the face of the rumors.
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Bird’s still-evolving mind game began taking shape during his four seasons at UCLA. As a senior in 2018, he posted a 7-4 record and 2.18 ERA in 16 starts for the Bruins. That prompted the Rockies to draft him in the fifth round.
“Jake’s nickname, ‘Birdman,’ represents the fierce competitor he is,” UCLA coach John Savage said. “He’s a guy who’s going to do it his way. He’s going to be confrontational and competitive. But there was never a craziness to it. It was more like, ‘Let’s get it on, let’s be competitive.’ “
Bird recalls Savage’s visits to the mound as quick psychology sessions: “When I was out there and I started overthinking things, or whatever, coach would say, ‘Get that guy out of here. Let Birdman be Birdman.’ ”
Now in his fourth season in the majors, Bird, who keeps a baseball journal, has become a self-aware and polished professional.
“I’ve learned that if you make a bad pitch, you can’t let it linger,” he said. “You can’t try to make up for it with the next pitch, or even the next batter,” Bird said. “It’s about the process. I reset, take a breath and focus on the next pitch. Pitch by pitch, every pitch.”
This has been a comeback season of sorts for Bird. In 2023, he pitched 84 1⁄3 innings, tying him with the Detroit Tigers’ Tyler Holton for the most innings thrown by any major league reliever. He posted a decent, though not dazzling, 4.33 ERA.
But in 2024, he took a step back. Slowed by right elbow inflammation in May and a groin strain in June, he pitched just 40 innings and put up a 4.50 ERA. He started off poorly, posting an 8.76 ERA with 14 walks and just nine strikeouts in 13 games from April 28 to July 30. He made 11 appearances at Triple-A Albuquerque as the Rockies tried to get him right.
Bird finished the season with a flourish, holding opponents scoreless in seven of his last 11 outings with a 1.80 ERA. Still, he entered the offseason intent on improving his command and adding more sink to his 94.5 mph sinker. Experimenting with a different grip, he succeeded. According to Baseball Savant, the pitch has 4.7 inches of vertical movement compared to 3.2 inches last season.
That’s produced a solid 47.3% groundball rate. But Bird also throws a devastating slider to right-handers and a curveball that can baffle. The increased use of the two breaking pitches has led to a significant increase in strikeouts. His K rate per nine innings has risen from 7.0 to 11.3, while his walk rate has fallen from 5.6 per nine to 3.6.
“I talked things over with the coaches before the offseason and went to work,” he said. “I wanted to get a better command of my stuff. And I wanted to keep attacking within the zone.
“The slider is kind of my new addition this year, and that’s been really effective. It kind of moves away from right-handed hitters and it matches with my sinker really well. They are kind of moving in opposite directions. I think it makes it hard for (batters) to get set in the box.”
Uncomfortableness is key. Savage was unsure how Bird’s professional career would unfold, but he knew that hitters didn’t like to face the right-hander.
“At UCLA, the major thing I sensed was that it was going to be a very uncomfortable at-bat for anybody who got into the box,” Savage said. “It was because of the way he moved, his arm slot, and the energy he brought down the hill. I felt like if he could find his timing and repeat his delivery, it was going to be a very difficult at-bat.”
Rockies pitching coach Darryl Scott agrees that the Bird has the right stuff, but that’s not what sets the right-hander apart.
” ‘Birdman’ is a competitor,” Scott said. “He loves pitching, he loves being out there, he loves being in the fire.”
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