Todd Helton returns to Coors Field, happy in minor-league role with Rockies

DENVER — Todd Helton returned to Coors Field this weekend to celebrate his recent induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

It wasn’t just a chance for him to step back into his old office; he’s visiting the home office of his current workplace. Helton returned to the Colorado Rockies organization in 2022; since then, he’s served as a special assistant to general manager Bill Schmidt.

Specifically, Helton works with players in the Rockies’ minor-league system. And it’s a role perfectly suited for Helton.

“I challenge the [crap] out of them. I’m hard on them,” Helton said. “And that’s why I don’t work with the major-league guys. It wouldn’t work out too well with those guys, the way I talk to those kids.”

It goes a bit further. While Helton said he’s “impressed” with how major leaguers play the game today, he’s not on-board with all aspects of the game as it’s played today.

“We obviously want to play better as an organization, but a lot of things upset me in baseball as a whole,
“ he said. “And it’s been discussed everywhere. Like I said on TV last night — I hope they didn’t take it the wrong way — I said, ‘These guys walk back and they’ve got a smile on their face after they strike out.’

“And I wasn’t referring to the Rockies guys; I was referring to Major League Baseball in general.”

A FOCUS ON THE MENTAL APPROACH TO HITTING

In the minor leagues, Todd Helton can make a more profound impact — to work at a developmental level and help players remain in the kind of consistent mindset that allowed Helton to be arguably the most disciplined batter of his era — a hitter whose patience and exquisite ability to work counts allowed him to grind down pitchers.

Helton had power, but he wasn’t swinging for the fences.

“I want guys to have a competitive at-bat. And when you’re swinging for a poolside home run 0-2, you’re not going to have a competitive at-bat,” he said.

And like any good teacher, being able to turn his experience into lessons applied by the Rockies’ minor-leaguers is a fulfilling experience.

“It makes me feel great when I talk to a kid, and maybe not the first night, but you see him implementing the things that we talked about,” he said. “For me, that’s a great job.

“I want these kids to not make the mistakes that I made. And I’m not talking about crazy mistakes; I’m talking about 3-0, swinging too hard because you’re in the ninth inning and you’re down three runs or something like that.”

To that end, Helton isn’t a “swing doctor,” so to speak.

“I don’t really mess with their mechanics that much, because they got to pro ball, they had to have something, and I want them to use what got them there,” Helton said. “I mean, we may make a tweak or something, but the game is so mental. That’s the stuff I want to help them with.

TODD HELTON LOVES HIS QUALITY OF LIFE

There’s another reason why the role Todd Helton holds works for the Rockies’ all-time leader in hits, RBI, home runs, runs scored, doubles, triples, total bases and bases on balls.

The job fits in with his life — while allowing him to stay connected with the only professional club he’s ever known.

“We have four years before my daughter graduates high school, and I think big changes will be made at that point — where we live, what we do. I’m happy with what I do right now,” Helton said.

“The Rockies thing, I can’t see myself quitting that. I can’t see in myself wanting to do any more than that, because I pick my own schedules, pick when I want to go, and if it’s gonna be cold, I just don’t go. The Rockies probably are still paying for the ticket, so, I don’t really tell anybody.

“I’m not looking for anything else. I play golf. I hang out with my friends. I take my kid to school, and I just do regular things. But I live in Tennessee, and Tennessee, it’s a slow pace, and I enjoy it.”