The Colorado Rockies made a strange move Thursday by firing their hitting coach and bringing back a former manager to replace him.
The Rockies announced that they have fired hitting coach Hensley Meulens after two-plus seasons as the team’s hitting coach. His replacement will be special assistant Clint Hurdle, who previously managed the Rockies from 2002 to 2009.
We have relieved hitting coach Hensley Meulens of his duties. Special Assistant to the GM, Clint Hurdle, has been named hitting coach for the remainder of the season.
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 17, 2025
This is a bizarre move for a few reasons. First, it is unusual to see a staff change just 18 games into a season, especially since Meulens can hardly be blamed for the Rockies’ issues. The team has started 3-15 and is hitting .220 overall, so perhaps the organization felt that someone needed to be scapegoated. However, the lineup is full of also-rans and journeymen, so high-end production could hardly have been expected.
The return of Hurdle is certainly an unusual wrinkle as well. He managed the Rockies during a very successful period that culminated in their World Series appearance in 2007. Bringing him back now under a different manager in Bud Black is highly unusual, to say the least.
The Rockies have not posted a winning season since 2018, and that is not about to change. They have not spent a lot of money, and the big investments they have made have not worked at all. The future seems quite bleak for the organization, and decisions like this one are not going to change that.
As for Meulens, it probably is not the worst thing for the veteran hitting coach to be off the sinking ship that is the Rockies. Maybe he can look into getting his pilot’s license now.
