As Rockies whiff at near-record rate, Clint Hurdle says there’s ‘not enough angst about striking out’

On May 13, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, the reeling Rockies had a rare chance to stage a game-winning rally in the ninth inning.

They trailed the Rangers 4-1, but there was a sliver of hope when Ryan McMahon led off with a double and Hunter Goodman followed with a single. Then, in succession, reliever Shawn Armstrong struck out Michael Toglia, Sean Bouchard and Owen Miller — all looking at strike three.

It was a pull-out-your-hair moment in a pull-out-your-hair season.

Not coincidentally, Bouchard was subsequently optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque, and Miller was designated for assignment and is now a free agent. Toglia, the starting first baseman, was recently benched for two games as his strikeouts continued to soar.

Amid what could be the worst season in major league history, Colorado’s offense remains one of the worst in baseball — despite changing managers and hitting coaches. The Rockies’ 26.7% team strikeout rate, tied with the Angels for the highest in the majors, is a significant reason for their ineptitude. Last season, the Rockies struck out a team record 1,617 times, the most in franchise history and the third-most in major league history.

They’re on pace to match, or possibly exceed, that ignominious milestone this season.

“It can’t be an elephant in the room that we aren’t going to talk about,” current bench coach and former big-league manager Clint Hurdle said.

The 2023 Minnesota Twins hold the record for the most strikeouts in a season, with 1,654. But at least they launched the third-most home runs (233) in the majors. Colorado not only whiffs a lot, but it also hits relatively few homers. The Rockies’ 43 this season are the fourth-fewest, and they’re on pace to hit only 139, which would be the fewest for a full season in franchise history.

So, what’s going on? Is it nasty, fire-breathing pitchers? Colorado’s youth movement? A poor approach at the plate? Big, loopy swings? Paralysis by too much analysis? Stubbornness by the players? Money?

How about all of the above?

Whatever the reasons, Hurdle knows the Rockies must cut down on the Ks.

“Bottom line, I don’t think there is enough angst in the game about striking out,” he said. “I see it in our men, as a group. If you punch out 12 times in a game, you have watched the pitcher and catcher play catch in front of your dugout for four innings. Now you’re asking yourself to beat the other team with five innings of offensive baseball.”

In their last road trip, the Rockies struck out 14 times in three separate games over a four-game span, including a 1-0 loss at Arizona when one or two key hits would have changed the outcome.

Yet interim manager Warren Schaeffer continues to preach optimism, persistence and patience.

“Having 14 Ks? There will never be an excuse for me, in terms of the pitching that we are seeing that game,” he said. “Because this is the big leagues and we are going to see good pitching every night.”

Hurdle has spent his baseball life studying and teaching hitting. He spent five-plus seasons as Colorado’s hitting coach before being promoted to manager in 2002. He managed the club through May 2009, was the Rangers’ hitting coach in 2010, managed the Pirates from 2011-2019, and returned to the Rockies organization in 2022 as an administrative assistant.

Eighteen games into this season, he replaced Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens as Colorado’s hitting coach. When manager Bud Black was fired on May 11, he was promoted to bench coach, but he remains integral to the Rockies’ attempts to reduce their strikeouts.

Hurdle understands the various reasons for the league-wide strikeout epidemic. But when it comes to the Rockies, he believes it’s because they’ve been lacking a team-wide offensive approach. He gets fired up about the topic.

“No. 1, you have to try to get the guys to buy into a team concept,” he said. “You have one through nine hitters in your lineup. Some hitters are more gifted than others, some hitters have power, some don’t.

“Honest self-evaluation is the thing that’s most lacking for me because everybody thinks there’s a little launch angle in their swing, thinks there can be a little added air in their swing.”

So, rather than moving baserunners over or simply making contact, too many players swing and come up empty, Hurdle says. A high OPS — on-base percentage, plus slugging percentage — is the contemporary hitter’s Holy Grail.

Chasing it can sometimes lead to lots of Ks.

“At this level, we pay them for OPS,” Hurdle said. “Whether you like it or not, that messaging gets all the way down to the minors. I’ve worked enough (youth baseball) showcases the last few years, and I see young hitters, who aren’t even developed, working the barrel — uphill! I don’t think that puts you in the best position to be a good hitter.”

Strikeouts have been rising in the majors for years. In 2005, 16.4% of plate appearances ended in strike three. That number rose every season until 2020, when it peaked at 23.4%. Currently, the big-league strikeout rate is 21.9%.

Rockies veteran catcher Jacob Stallings, 35, points to several factors for the strikeout boom. No. 1, of course, is the pitchers’ firepower. The average velocity of a major league fastball in 2008 was 91.3 mph. Last season, it was 94.2 mph.

“It’s never been more difficult to hit,” Stallings said. “It’s not just that almost everybody throws 95 mph-plus fastballs now, but their breaking stuff has never been better. You’re liable to see a nasty pitch in any count.”

Stallings agrees with Hurdle that power pays. It always has. As a teammate once told Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner, “Home run hitters drive Cadillacs, singles hitters drive Fords.” But now, more than ever, slugging gets players more money.

“Guys know that they will get a better contract with a higher slugging percentage and a higher OPS,” he said. “That’s just the way the game has evolved.”

Third baseman Ryan McMahon, Colorado’s lone All-Star last season, has a 30.8% K rate this season, sixth-highest in the majors and second-highest on the club behind Toglia’s 38.6% rate (highest in the majors). McMahon says he understands that the Rockies must reduce their empty at-bats.

“I know that growing up, and in the generations before me, not striking out was harped on a lot,” he said. “It’s changed a little bit. Guys are more concerned with power and for good reasons. The numbers show that those home runs win games. So if you are going to get out, it doesn’t matter if you strike out or ground out.

“But I do know that striking out less is something we need to work on. We need to shorten our swings and put the ball in play more. We need to chase less.”

Easier said than done. The Rockies’ inexperience and lack of talent on the roster are part of the equation and reflected in the inside numbers.

The Rockies’ chase rate — the proportion of swings on pitches out of the strike zone — is 31.0%. That’s the highest in the majors, according to Baseball Savant. It’s only slightly improved from Colorado’s 31.8% chase rate from last season.

Plus, the Rockies are relatively inefficient at hitting balls within the strike zone. Their 80.3% contract rate on pitches in the zone is the second lowest behind Seattle (79.8%).

Rockies TV analyst Cory Sullivan, who played six seasons in the majors (four with Colorado), believes some of the younger players get tangled up with analytics, especially “certain-count frequency pitches.”

“That means that hitters study the pitchers and see that a pitcher, 60% of the time in 2-2 counts, throws a curveball,” Sullivan explained. “So, guys see that, and they’re given that information, so they sit on a curveball and then get a fastball right down the middle.

“I think sometimes the data-driven stat gives you a predictive pitch, and instead of sticking with an overall solid approach, they overcommit to a pitch. That’s why, I think, you see a lot more guys taking a fastball for strike three.”

The question facing the Rockies is how to kick their K habit. Schaeffer insists it’s a point of emphasis.

“There are a few things to that,” he said. “Battling with two strikes, fouling pitches off, being relentless with two strikes. But also, earlier in the count, in the zone, we need to put the ball in play more often, so we don’t get to two strikes. We are making progress.”

A little bit, anyway. In their first 18 games when Meulens was the hitting coach, the Rockies’ strikeout rate was 29.6%. In the 32 games since, it dropped to 25%.

And there have been individual success stories. Gold Glove shortstop Ezequiel Tovar led the majors with 200 strikeouts last season (with a 28.8% K rate), setting a franchise record for the most strikeouts in a season. Tovar missed a month earlier this season because of a bruised hip, but he’s reduced his strikeout rate to 17.5% and is hitting .289 in 22 games.

In 2023, Gold Glove center fielder Brenton Doyle hit .203, and his 34.9% strikeout rate was the worst in the majors. He reworked and simplified his swing during the offseason, and hit .260 last season with 23 homers while reducing his K rate to 25.4%. Though his average has slumped to .219 this season, and he’s hit only four homers in 41 games, Doyle has whittled his strikeout percentage to 23.5.

“My adjustments were definitely a little bit of both — mechanical and a mindset,” Doyle said. “My main goal was to simplify things as much as I could. I wanted to keep my body more quiet and allow my eyes to work a little bit better. I didn’t want to make my swing to get too big. That was the main thing that helped me.”

So did experience.

“My rookie year, in ’23, there was a lot of learning as you go,” he said. “I’ve been able to slow things down a little bit more, get a game plan together. Now, I’ve faced a lot of those pitchers before and that helped me a lot.”

The Phillies just swept the Rockies in four games at Coors Field. Philly has a 20.1% K rate (seventh lowest) while hitting .263 (third highest) with 53 homers (16th most). Hurdle hoped the Rockies were paying attention.

“This game has evolved to where we are doing a lot more swinging than hitting,” he said. “There’s a big difference between swinging and hitting, and that’s what we’re trying to get them to understand.

“You need good individual at-bats, but this is still a team game; you still need a team approach. Most good teams, like the Phillies, are able to do both. Hopefully, that visual will help us develop into the best versions of ourselves.”

Work in Progress

The Rockies fired hitting coach Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens 18 games into the season as the offense struggled. They replaced him with veteran manager/hitting coach Clint Hurdle, who has since been promoted to bench coach. The change resulted in some progress (through Thursday) :

Rockies strikeout rates

Source: FanGraphs (click here to view chart in mobile)

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