The Colorado Rockies are in dire straits with their offense as they have produced a league-worst 52 runs.
And the Rockies are turning to a former Pittsburgh Pirates manager to try to help turn things around.
The Rockies announced Thursday that they relieved hitting coach Hensley Meulens of his duties and gave his job to Clint Hurdle, who was serving as a special assistant to general manager Bill Schmidt. Hurdle rejoined the Rockies organization in December 2019 to aid Schmidt and did a majority of his work helping develop minor leaguers.
“It’s been a struggle from day one with the strikeouts and the lack of production,” Schmidt told reporters, per MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. “We think this move is going to help. Clint is the right person at the right time, with his knowledge with the majority of the position-player group here that he’s worked with in the minor leagues. There are just four or five guys he hasn’t been involved with.”
Hurdle spent nine seasons with the Pirates from 2011-19, in which he amassed a 735-720 record and took Pittsburgh to the postseason three straight years starting in 2013. He was named the National League Manager of the Year in 2013 with the Pirates going 94-68.
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Hurdle, 67, is no stranger to the Rockies. He managed Colorado for eight seasons and brought it to the World Series in 2007. Prior to his stint as the manager, Hurdle served as the team’s hitting coach from 1997-2002.
It will certainly be a mighty task for Hurdle to try to solve in his new job as the Rockies also own the worst record in MLB at 3-15.
Featured image via Stan Szeto/Imagn Images