Firing their hitting coach is the Rockies first attempt at turning things around. Will it work?

Is this only the beginning? Or one of the many attempts the Colorado Rockies need to make to turn things around?

No matter what it is, Hensely Meulens was the first to take the fall for the Rockies’ disastrous offensive start to the 2025 season. After Colorado returned to Denver from its six-game road trip to California, in which the Rockies went 0-6 against the Padres and Dodgers, the team announced it was firing Meulens, who had been Colorado’s hitting coach since 2022. Meulens was also the San Francisco Giants hitting coach under Bruce Bochy.

It’s no surprise that the hitting coach was the first to fall, as the Rockies are hitting .220, which is tied for 27th in the league. They have hit just 12 homers and are dead last with 52 runs scored. Colorado’s offensive production is also tied to how bad the Rockies are with runner’s in scoring position, where they are dead last in the league, and, they also lead the league in strikeouts per nine innings with a whopping 11 per game.

Those numbers are atrocious to say the least, so the Rockies had to make a move and Muelens was it. 

Of course, we’ve seen this before. Teams that are slumping like the Rockies are now will dismiss an assistant coach, and really it changes nothing. Why? Because these are professional hitters. Yes, even players one the Rockies’ struggling roster are still some of the best baseball players on the planet, and changing coaches won’t change much one way or another. Players like Michael Toglia may continue to struggle, or, he may snap out of his funk. Ryan McMahon may be an All-Star by the end of the season, or he might not. Changing hitting coaches won’t make a huge difference.

Let’s face it, the Rockies have big, big problems, and while it’s been shocking to see how bad they’ve been at the plate this season, there’s more to the losing then just that.

Still, Bud Black, and the entire organization can’t give up. They have to try and get better, and this is one of the steps they have to take in order to signal they’re trying to change.

The second step is naming former Rockies’ manager Clint Hurdle as Meulens replacement. Hurdle managed the Rockies from 2002-09. He was the club's minor league hitting coach from 1994-96 and big league hitting coach under former managers Don Baylor, Jim Leyland and Buddy Bell from 1997-2002. He later worked with the Rangers before managing the Pirates from 2011-19.

Hurdle had officially retired, but was a special assistant with the Rockies this season. So bringing him back into the clubhouse is an interesting move, and we’ll see what happens from here.

So, whether we agree with the decision to dismiss Meulens or not, anyone who knows anything about baseball will understand that it had to be done. The Rockies, at just three wins, could no longer afford to just keep going the way they were going. So Meulens took the first fall. That’s sports and that’s baseball.

Will things change? Will they get better with Hurdle? Will the Rockies start hitting? That remains to be seen, but, with how bad they’ve been so far, the Rockies might not have anywhere to go but up.