Hit Hard: Hitting coaches have short shelf life in majors

PHOENIX (AP) — Connor Dawson is a psychologist, gatekeeper, analyst and strategist. And a hitting coach, too.

Tough job.

“There's just so much out there for one guy to handle now that wasn't the case 20 years ago,” Dawson said.

The 28-year-old Dawson is one of two new hitting coaches for the Milwaukee Brewers, hired along with Ozzie Timmons after Andy Haines was let go in October. Haines ended up in Pittsburgh, part of a remarkable shakeup for one of the highest profile positions on a major league coaching staff.

A whopping 17 teams made a change at hitting coach in the offseason. The Brewers, Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners opted to give the title to two people after previously going with one, joining the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers.

That's compared to four managerial changes — Mark Kotsay in Oakland, Buck Showalter with the New York Mets, Oliver Marmol for St. Louis and Bob Melvin in San Diego — and four changes with the pitching coach title.

“By a significant amount the hitting coach is the toughest staff job, including the manager. For sure,” said Tony La Russa, the 77-year-old Hall of Fame manager of the Chicago White Sox.

“Those other guys have to work, but hitters hit every day and there’s a lot of them. And trying to get them right, keep them right. I don't know if it's just they get worn out, I don't know. ... You see a hitting coach that's got longevity, man, you cannot give them enough credit.”

The widespread changes at hitting coach occurred after the major league batting average dipped to .244 last season, its lowest since the year of the pitcher in 1968. There were a record 2,664 more strikeouts than hits, the gap increasing from 1,147 during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and 784 in 2019, when strikeouts topped hits for the first...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Hit-Hard-Hitting-coaches-have-short-shelf-life-17056199.php