Like Showalter, the coaches are marred by the 115-loss season. What also hurts is that teams are assembling different kinds of coaching staffs.
Gone are the days when a manager who was fired by one club could easily latch on to a job as a bench or third base coach.
The staffs many of the new managers hired this fall feature unfamiliar names, and that’s particularly true among hitting coaches.
According to a fascinating article by SI.com’s Tom Verducci, half of the major league teams have changed their hitting coaches since the end of the 2018 season. Assuming Coolbaugh, who is pictured above, is not retained by the new manager, that will make 16 changes.
Only five major league teams will head into next season with hitting coaches who’ve been in their jobs for at least three seasons.
Who is getting hired? Younger coaches who are more schooled in analytics and able to relate to younger players. It’s no secret that teams are shying away from veteran players, managers and coaches.
Perhaps the most intriguing hire is Robert Van Scoyoc, a 32-year-old who never played professionally. He’ll replace Turner Ward with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Dickerson had at least one interview with another organization, and McDowell was rumored to be heading to Miami, but that never panned out.
