Clint Hurdle captained the Good Ship Miracle during a remarkable run that became known as “Roctober.” That talented Rockies team won 21 of 22 games to reach the 2007 World Series.
Nearly 18 years later, Hurdle is charged with the task of instilling life into the Rockies’ dormant offense and finding ways to get young players to cut down on an astonishing number of empty at-bats. It might not take a miracle to improve what’s been the Rockies’ worst offense in franchise history for two-plus seasons, but Hurdle faces a daunting task.
After back-to-back 100-loss seasons, the Rockies have opened the season 3-15. They rank 30th in runs (52 for 2.89 per game) and 29th in strikeouts (195 for 10.83 per game at a 29.6% clip). Entering the weekend, they had hit the second-fewest home runs in the majors (12) while touting the seventh-lowest OPS (.629).
On Thursday, the club fired hitting coach Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens and moved Hurdle into the role. Hurdle, who managed the Rockies from 2002 through the early part of the ’09 season, was named as a special assistant before the 2022 season.
“This has been an incredibly frustrating and disappointing start to the season, especially offensively,” general manager Bill Schmidt said. “While all of us share responsibility, I felt a change was necessary, and that a new voice was needed to give us the best chance to perform as we move forward in the season.
“Clint’s 30-plus years of baseball experience, especially over the past three-plus seasons working with our young players throughout the minor leagues, put him and our club in a place to be successful moving forward.”
The Rockies scraped rock bottom last weekend when they were swept by the Padres in San Diego, getting shut out for three consecutive games for the first time in franchise history.
Over the last two-plus seasons, current manager Bud Black has frequently lamented his team’s inability to deliver quality at-bats, particularly with runners on base. He’s been particularly disappointed by Colorado’s poor two-strike approach. The Rockies are counting on Hurdle to help fix those lingering problems.
Black and Schmidt have preached patience for a young team that is facing, in Black’s words, “growing pains.” Outfielder Zac Veen (.107 average, 36.7% K rate) and second baseman Adael Amador (.143, 42.9%) were recently promoted from Triple-A Albuquerque, and they have struggled like so many of the other young players on the roster.
The only three players who have delivered with any consistency are infielder Kyle Farmer (.345 average) and outfielder Nick Martini (.325), both 34, as well as 26-year-old center fielder Brenton Doyle (.315). However, a quadriceps injury limited Doyle to one at-bat during Colorado’s just-completed 0-6 West Coast road trip.
If there is a poster boy for the Rockies’ offensive struggles, it’s 26-year-old first baseman Michael Toglia. Considered a foundation for Colorado’s future, he’s slashing a paltry .172/.209./.266 with just one home run. His 32 strikeouts are the most in the National League and he’s striking out 47.8% of the time.
With runners in scoring position, Toglia is hitting .167 (2 for 12), mirroring his .169 career average. As a team, Colorado is hitting .190 with runners in scoring position, ranking 26th in the majors.
Yes, Toglia hit a grand slam in Colorado’s 8-7 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday, but that monster homer came wrapped with three strikeouts.
Ten games into the season, Toglia expressed confidence that he would snap out of his early-season funk.
“I had a stretch like this last year, but at the time, I had 250 at-bats under my belt, so it didn’t get magnified,” he said. “Now, since it’s at the beginning of the season, it just looks a lot worse on the scoreboard. So, keeping that in mind, I don’t let it bother me. I know I can go out and hit a couple of homers and the numbers will look right.”
After a strong start, veteran third baseman Ryan McMahon has also hit the skids. He entered the weekend slashing .215/.297/.354 with two home runs and a 36.5% strikeout rate.
After a 6-2 loss to the Dodgers Tuesday night, Black talked about the rough start.
“This is tough for the team,” Black told reporters in Los Angeles. “With this situation early in the year, everything is magnified. We want to win more games. We have some things in perspective about where we are with our group. But the expectation of every major league team is to win tonight’s game.
“So, (we) just keep teaching and let them grow. There is going to be a school of hard knocks for a while until these guys gain experience and figure out what it takes to get it done in the major leagues.”
The Rockies are hoping Hurdle will figure out a way to turn hard knocks into much-needed base knocks.
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