Colorado Rockies: Five potential assistant hitting coach candidates for 2022

Chris Denorfia has also made an impression on the Colorado Rockies

Chris Denorfia was the manager for the Colorado Rockies at Double-A Hartford in 2021 after he joined the organization in 2020, when he was supposed to manage Hartford before the pandemic. He joined the Rockies from the Cubs organization when he was a special assistant in 2018 and a quality control coach for them in 2019.

Before that, Denorfia, 40, was with the Rockies as a minor league player in 2017 before retiring. Before he came to the Rockies, he was with a few other teams in the minors after he spent time in the majors as an outfielder from 2005 through 2015.

During that playing career, he spent most of his playing time with San Diego (2010-2014). His manager for that time? Current Rockies manager Bud Black.

Eric Hinske has a lot of MLB experience as a coach and player

Eric Hinske, 44, spent part of 12 seasons in the majors as a player, winning the 2002 AL Rookie of the Year Award and he won two World Series as a player.

But since he last played in the majors in 2013, Hinske has bounced around to a few different teams in a coaching capacity. In 2014, he became an MLB coach the season after he played as he became the first base coach for the Chicago Cubs. Before the 2016 season, he changed his position with the Cubs as he became their assistant hitting coach (where he was part of a third team to win the World Series in less than a decade).

Before 2018, he became the head hitting coach for the Angels, and for the 2019 season, he became the assistant hitting coach for the Diamondbacks before he was fired mid-season in 2021.

Among those World Series-winning teams that he was on, the first one was with the 2007 Boston Red Sox, who defeated the Colorado Rockies in the World Series. His hitting coach for that team? Current Rockies hitting coach Dave Magadan.