Shohei Ohtani and Cody Bellinger are lighting up billboards but will not be a part of the Colorado Rockies’ plan anytime soon.

General manager Bill Schmidt is sticking to his blueprint of acquiring pitching to backfill the organization’s depth. Each of his trades last year was for pitching, and the Rockies also spent most of their 2023 draft picks on pitching. It is a trend they plan to continue.

Bud Black told reporters at winter meetings that the club anticipates 2024 returns for Germán Márquez and Antonio Senzatela, though each will likely return in the season’s second half. Without the two, the skipper sees a rotation coming together, even without additions.

“I think right now we have (Kyle) Freeland, (Austin) Gomber, (Cal) Quantrill, (Ryan) Feltner, (Noah) Davis (and) (Connor) Seabold — those are the top guys,” Black said.

There is still some mystery, though, after the team released Seabold Wednesday ahead of the Rule 5 Draft. The starter-turned-long-reliever was unable to find a groove last year and bounced around the organization thanks to a 7.52 earned run average in 87 1/3 innings. With the open spot, the Rockies plucked 21-year-old right-handed pitcher Anthony Molina from the Tampa Bay Rays in the draft.

On top of the veteran group, Black also hinted that Tanner Gordon and Connor Van Scoyoc could see elevations this year after each reached Double-A Hartford last season. Gordon was one of the pitchers the Rockies acquired from the Atlanta Braves last year in their trade of Pierce Johnson, and Van Scoyoc struck out 114 hitters in 128 innings last season — he was acquired from Los Angeles for Mike Moustakas.

Colorado used to be known as a place where groundball pitchers could succeed. Black knows it takes more than that to make it at Coors Field.

“We’re looking for talent — I said this earlier today and have maintained all along (that) talented pitchers can pitch anywhere,” Black said. “We’re looking for talented pitchers, whether it be a sinker-baller; whether it’s a high-fastball pitcher — it doesn’t matter.”

Kris Bryant sticking at new position

Kris Bryant was moved to first base after injuries limited his 2023 output, and the switch will become more permanent in 2024.

It is part of a bigger rotation for the Rockies, though. Colorado has a positional logjam between designated hitter, right field and first base. Brenton Doyle will man center field, and Nolan Jones has cemented himself in left, but the team will split time at the opposite corner between Charlie Blackmon, Bryant, Elehuris Montero, Michael Toglia, Hunter Goodman and Sean Bouchard.

Veterans are entrenched, but the younger players will be fighting for time, just as they did in 2023.

“With Kris and (Charlie), the designated hitter (spot) is in their game,” Black said. “Then the Toglia, Montero, Goodman (and) Bouchard combination — somewhere in there we need performance.”

Each of the young bats mentioned showed glimpses of hope last season. Toglia was the odd man out by the end of the season and was relegated to Triple-A Albuquerque after hitting .216 with the club in 31 games.

Rockies’ focus also shifting to bench spots

Colorado has a glut of players for three positions, but the club is still looking to improve its depth during the offseason.

Rockies’ pinch hitters finished 27th in the majors in wins above replacement (minus-0.3) and dead last in offensive wins above replacement overall.

“Another backup outfielder and another backup infielder are going to have to be on our team,” Black said. “For me, more often than not, it’s a role for a veteran player or a guy who has been around who understands that playing time could be limited because the guys that we have are everyday players.

“It’s unfair to put a young guy, like (Julio) Carreras as a backup infielder because we’ve got (Brendan) Rodgers and (Ezequiel) Tovar. So Carreras goes to the minors. (Adael) Amador most likely goes to the minors and they play. Now, if something happens, injury or poor performance, where it dictates, we make a change, those guys have their at-bats and innings and are playing and hopefully ready to go. I think there’s a type of player that fits a bench role, and we’re trying to — like Bill (Schmidt) said, we’re trying to upgrade that player from what we had last year.”

Warming Bernabel recovering from robbery attempt, shooting

Warming Bernabel was victim to a robbery attempt in his native Dominican Republic on Sunday but looks to be okay after suffering multiple gunshots to his back.

MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reported that Schmidt said he escaped serious injury, and that Bernabel’s wife — who was shot in the arm — has less extensive injuries and will also be okay.