The Rockies have named former infielder/catcher Jordan Pacheco as the new hitting coach for their Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque. Pacheco officially retired this past August, and will now move immediately into coaching following the end of his 14 seasons as a player.
Pacheco was a ninth-round pick for Colorado in the 2007 draft, and he spent most of his career in the Rockies organization, including 270 of his 377 big league games. His first full season was his most impressive, as Pacheco hit .309/.341/.421 over 505 plate appearances in 2012, earning a sixth-place finish in NL Rookie Of The Year voting.
Appearing in parts of six seasons from 2011-16, Pacheco hit .272/.310/.365 over 1149 PA with the Rockies, Diamondbacks, and Reds. Something of a unique type of utility player, Pacheco spent the majority of his time as a corner infielder but also significant action as a catcher, making him an interesting depth option on a big league bench.
Pacheco also spent time in the minors in the Braves, Twins, and Mariners organizations since 2016, but a return call to the big leagues never came. His minor league experience also included stints in the Mexican League and the independent Atlantic League, and Pacheco finished his career with a .998 OPS over 161 PA with the Atlantic League’s Lexington Legends in 2021.
After retiring, Pacheco quickly transitioned into a coaching role with the Grand Junction Rockies of the MLB-affiliated Pioneer League. Now moving into this notable role with the Triple-A Isotopes, Pacheco told MLB.com’s Thomas Harding that he is hoping to keep climbing the ladder in this next phase of his baseball career.
“I’m always a dreamer. I see myself doing things and I do see myself managing in the big leagues someday. But how I approach things and how I’ve always done it is I’m going to see where I’m at,” Pacheco said. “But I’m not going to stop having those dreams, because I think that’s going to make me a better hitting coach. It’s going to push me to learn as much as I can, and it’s going to push me to evolve with this game and help these guys become better.”
We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Pacheco on a fine career, and we wish him great success in his coaching endeavors.
He’s gonna turn the whole organization around. From the minors on up.
How cool is it for Pacheco to coach in the organization that drafted him, and in his hometown? Best of luck to him in this role!
Is he related to “the Fight Doctor” Ferdie?
Unique in the sense that he got a AAA gig as a start; usually the recently retired get to spend their first summers at a much lower level.
So either they think very highly of him, or he has some compromising pictures.
It’s the Rox, so one never knows.
It’s the Rox so thinking very highly of him could be the worst decision of all time.
But anyways -4 WAR for his career. I’m sure there’s lower but I don’t think I’ve seen a guy wrote about here that had a lower WAR
He did start at a lower level. In this article Polishuk said, “After retiring, Pacheco quickly transitioned into a coaching role with the Grand Junction Rockies of the MLB-affiliated Pioneer League.”
According to Baseball Reference Pacheco was born in Albuquerque and played baseball at the University of New Mexico. He will be working in his hometown. That is kinda cool.
Well at least the Rox promoted from within, which is extremely unique for them