Number 0 might be on his swan song, and his laboratory is no more. But Adam Ottavino already has another baseball dream up his sleeve.
The former Rockies reliever, now with the Mets, is 38 years old and will be a free agent at the end of the season. The right-hander doesn’t know what his career holds beyond that, and his pitching lab in a vacant storefront in Harlem where he and others honed their craft for the past seven years is now a credit union.
“This is the first year I’ve had to face the facts that I’m probably a lot closer to the end than I realized,” Ottavino said. “I still want to play, and I’m definitely open to playing (in 2025), but I’m not going into the offseason worrying about anything.
“I’ve had my heart starting to dream a little bit on managing. I’d be unorthodox, but I think I could get unorthodox results. Most of the managerial moves nowadays are pitching moves, especially with the bullpen, and I feel like I’ve been doing that for 14 years out there.”
A pitcher-turned-manager is rare in the majors.
Tommy Lasorda, who won four pennants and a pair of World Series in 21 years helming the Dodgers, is the most notable exception. And, of course, Rockies skipper Bud Black, whom Ottavino played for, is also an anomaly in that regard.
But Ottavino insists he wouldn’t want to manage in the minors or be on a major league staff prior to becoming a manager. Which would make his managing dream even more of a longshot. The baseball deep-thinker says even the prospect of being an MLB pitching coach “doesn’t excite me that much.”
“I might do media for a while, but I’ll do the JJ Redick — direct move from another thing to the job,” Ottavino said. “No climbing the ladder for me… I’m going to go right to the main thing. I’ll do something else until the main thing wants me.”
While he woolgathered about his future in the game, Ottavino also looked back on his time with Colorado, where he pitched for seven seasons before signing with the Yankees as a free agent ahead of the 2019 campaign.
Ottavino was a part of Colorado’s playoff teams in 2017 and ’18, though he wasn’t on the club’s playoff roster that first year. He still regards his 2018 season, when he had a 2.43 ERA in 75 appearances, as his best. He’s had two performances that rivaled that since — a 1.90 ERA in 73 games for the Yankees in ’19 and a 2.06 ERA in 66 games for the Mets in ’22.
“I got a little lucky (in 2019),” Ottavino said. “I didn’t pitch as well as I pitched the previous year if I’m being honest. And I pitched poorly in the playoffs too, so that year could’ve been great but it leaves a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth. To me, 2018 is definitely my best year — I pitched a lot and I pitched well.”
Ottavino, who did not appear in Tuesday’s series opener against the Rockies at Coors Field, had a 0.00 ERA against his old club entering Wednesday. He’s pitched against Colorado in eight games, yielding no runs in seven innings, with four saves.
He says his time in LoDo, and especially the team’s two playoff runs, remain core baseball memories for him.
“It feels like home every time I’m here, and I’ll always be a Rockie in my mind,” Ottavino said. “It’s exciting and I always try to appreciate coming here, especially because I don’t know how much longer I’m going to play and feel these feelings I want to feel.”
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Originally Published: August 7, 2024 at 7:44 p.m.
