Evan Grant: Rangers should hire two hitting coaches
Evan Grant writes today that the Rangers should go with two hitting coaches -- Rusty Greer and Scott Coolbaugh.
Greer offers the credibility of being a former major leaguer, Coolbaugh is someone who has worked with and had success with several of the Rangers' younger hitters.
I don't really have an opinion on this. I don't know who the best coach would be. I do think that, for the Rangers to contend in 2010, having Josh Hamilton and Chris Davis get back on track, and having Ian Kinsler hit more like he did in 2008 than in 2009, is pretty key.
I don't know what coach is going to have the best results with those guys, though.
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Comments
Ugh
Given the fact he hit third despite a slender build and a line-drive approach, he would be an excellent choice to help David Murphy become a 21st century version of Greer.
by cstorm15 on Oct 27, 2009 10:41 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
lolwut?
Given his lack of ego, Greer would not likely end up as a guy unable to accept players with less talent than him.
Is that actually a triple negative?
Look at the comments under Jeff Wilson's blog post on dallasnews.com. What a bunch of rocket scientists.- Keith Law
by Keynes on Oct 27, 2009 10:45 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm still counting...
The Texas Rangers have been synonymous with explosive firepower ever since they emptied 130 rounds into Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in 1934. - Alyssa Milano
by bking on Oct 27, 2009 12:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Maybe we should just hire a slew of hitting coaches
Hire Rickey so he can turn Borbon into a 21st century version of himself. Hire Roberto Alomar so he could turn Kinsler into a 21st century version of himself. Hire the re-animated corpse of Babe Ruth so he could turn Davis into the non human-eating 21st century version of himself.
Also, he hit third despite a line drive appoach. What fucking other approach do you want?
by LiamP on Oct 27, 2009 10:58 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
Personal hitting coaches
I don’t think this is a bad idea. Have the players choose the best fit from a group the management approves. The teacher-student relationship is not a one size fits all thing. It’s a good idea in some ways and a terrible idea in others (like lack of a focused approach for the team as a whole, conflicts and head butting over mechanics, approach, etc.) but I like crazy ideas. It’s one of those odd things that I wish some team would try just to see if it works.
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by t ball on Oct 27, 2009 11:02 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think Borbon is well on his way to
Rickey Lite
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Oct 27, 2009 1:06 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I actually like the idea
Of having different hitting coaches. I know coaches should be able to adopt their strategies to the players they’re coaching, but I don’t think that’s always the case. Rudy was very good in getting guys to hit home runs and especially good at helping guys who were not so good before (Delucci, Derosa, Matthews w/ steroids, who knows who else), but his approach does not go so well for the guys who need help being better contact hitters. It’s clear that he and Davis had some differences and I think Hamilton too, and I think having different coaches with different approaches could help
by mtobo on Oct 27, 2009 10:49 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Any interest
Any interest in Steve Henderson? Who else is available?
by BHill on Oct 27, 2009 10:49 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
we could probably hire
Henderson, Greer and Coolbaugh for less than the price of Jaramillo.
What is this, Horseville? Because I'm surrounded by naysayers.
by clark on Oct 27, 2009 10:51 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
the triumvirate of pitching coaches
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Oct 27, 2009 1:07 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
divide and conquer
One works on swing mechanics, one works video and scouting reports the other approach and plate discipline.
|Space for Rent|
by RangerMad on Oct 27, 2009 10:52 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Bad idea.
You don’t have a hitting coach committee.
Make a hard decision and don’t waffle.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
"Ranger players, especially veterans, weren’t surprised that Daniels couldn’t find a deal"
by Josey Wales on Oct 27, 2009 10:57 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
no kidding
Why would anyone advocate the potential for sending mixed messages to guys. If Coolbaugh is the best guy, then use him. Who cares if Greer has a successful major league track record.
Go Rice Owls!
by JBImaknee on Oct 27, 2009 11:13 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Oh crap...
I am agreeing with the Outlaw JW.
The most effective form of government is a benevolent dictator because you know who is in charge and his heart is good. Being in charge means you have the power, your are responsible, and you should be held accountable. Committees suck IMO. Pick one and go with your decision. If wrong make another change if right then you are bleeping brilliant.
by Bigfan16 on Oct 27, 2009 2:16 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
what's Bret Boone up to these days?
"You can probably stick a fork in the Rangers' playoff chances for 2009." - AJM on 7/26 with the team 4.5 games out
by tricer on Oct 27, 2009 11:01 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
we don't
want our hitters to learn how to take steriods.
You just don't sit in a rocking chair, when you've built a revolution.
by Escher on Oct 27, 2009 11:03 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Why not
I’m all for it.
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by t ball on Oct 27, 2009 11:19 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Bret Boone
No way do I want Flip Boone anywhere near this team. I share Jamey’s serious disdain of the man.
"I cannot believe how fucking off base I was about Tiny E before this season. The Kid is great and is going to become a star."
- Wails
by RCCook on Oct 27, 2009 11:49 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I didn't say I was for Boone,
I’m for players taking steroids and being better hitters.
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by t ball on Oct 27, 2009 11:54 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yes!
And if becoming a better hitter means, say, taking body shots off random Arizona Bar Sluts, then do it! As long as our players don’t get suspended, I’m all for anything to make them better.
by FuturePants on Oct 27, 2009 12:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
So far
the evidence does not support the body shot idea. Quite the opposite.
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by t ball on Oct 27, 2009 12:37 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Maybe Kinsler should give it a try?
by FuturePants on Oct 27, 2009 12:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
maybe it'd loosen him up a little
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Oct 27, 2009 1:08 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Just watched a replay of Aaron Boone's 2003 HR the other night ..
did not realize that Bat Flip himself was actually in the booth with TV guys. Pretty crazy.
"Nothing we do here has a point" - Czar Morris
by Chase Irwin on Oct 27, 2009 12:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Larry Walker
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
by Walter Sobchak on Oct 27, 2009 1:08 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Just give the job to Coolbaugh
The work he’s done with the hitters sent down to AAA (Davis and Cruz as the main examples) is enough for me to want to give him a chance. I think having someone familiar with the players in the system would end up better than going out and bringing someone new in.
By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.
"I am one of the biggest Texas Ranger fans out there but I'm also one of the smartest. Deal with it."
-The Outlaw
by Gdawg on Oct 27, 2009 11:03 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Sigh
He didn’t help Cruz. He was in Frisco last year.
The 2009 Texas Rangers offense: sigh...
by Kinslerhomer on Oct 27, 2009 11:04 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Doesn't anybody even remember
That when kinsler had his great year and Hamilton had his that Rudy wasn’t even here for a third of the season.
Prostate cancer or something right?
and wasn’t it coolbaugh who was the hitting coach?
Nobody punished like Earl and No one was nastier than Ryan
by Garcia34 on Oct 27, 2009 12:21 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Brook Jacoby, and only from ST 2006 through May 2006
Brook Jacoby, who has been filling in for Jaramillo since spring training, will return home to Arizona next week.
Hamilton was not a Ranger then.
Pro baseball has always been a dream, so this is pretty freakin’ cool out here. -- Tim Steggall, undrafted Rangers minor leaguer.
by rooster on Oct 27, 2009 12:53 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Didn't Rudy also miss most of a season for his hip (or knee) replacement?
Was that in 2008?
"Sometimes you just want to sit back and watch somebody throw 100." - Jeff Passan on Neftali Feliz
by Ryin A on Oct 27, 2009 1:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Wow. You are smart.
Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo had left knee replacement surgery in Texas on Friday and will be out of action indefinitely. It’s likely he won’t be back on a full-time basis until September.
“It’s unknown how long he’ll be out,” assistant general manager Thad Levine said. “When we get back to Texas, we’ll sit down with him and see.”
Jaramillo has been in severe pain for much of the year, but was hoping to hold off surgery until after the season was over. That wasn’t the case.
Minor League hitting coach Mike Boulanger is filling in for Jaramillo during his absence, along with special assistant Johnny Narron.
Pro baseball has always been a dream, so this is pretty freakin’ cool out here. -- Tim Steggall, undrafted Rangers minor leaguer.
by rooster on Oct 27, 2009 2:17 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
So he was out the month of August?
And they subsequently had their 2nd worst OPS by month with a 786. Only April lwas lower at 780. Didn’t Rudy also miss the beginning of the season as well?
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
by bigsteve on Oct 27, 2009 3:17 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Let's not get carried away Rooster.
"Sometimes you just want to sit back and watch somebody throw 100." - Jeff Passan on Neftali Feliz
by Ryin A on Oct 27, 2009 3:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I could get on board with that I guess
I’m already on board with bringing Coolbaugh up. I think it might be better if our new hitting coach already has some familiarity with our young hitters and those who will hopefully be coming up soon.
Bringing Greer on board though seems more like another figurehead installation (a la bringing in Nolan) than anything else, and Evan basically admits as much. Maybe he could bring the right message to this club given the kind of hitter he was in his career, but IMO the last thing this team needs is another figurehead for the players and the media to latch onto. This is a fucking baseball club, not a political party.
"...he wasn’t a good hitter, just a good middle of the order bat that hit a lot of homers." - NYTXFAN
by lonestarJon on Oct 27, 2009 7:03 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Who would he have familiarity with though?
Davis we all know. Borbon was in AA for half a season when he was there. Hamilton…no. Murphy…no. Cruz…no. Kinsler….I don’t think so but I could be wrong. Elvis was in AA with him. MY…no. Salty…not any significant time. A DL rehab stint maybe but thats about it. Teagarden…yeah.
So this theory that Coolbaugh has a ton of time with a majority of our hitters is really wrong. He may know a couple guys but not many and only Smoak is a minor leaguer who he had any significant amount of time with and he didn’t exactly light up AAA.
Im not against Coolbaugh but I wouldn’t put his vast knowledge of our young guys as the main bullet point to why we should hire him
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
by bigsteve on Oct 27, 2009 8:35 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I really don't get why so many of you are assuming Coolbaugh
or any of the other minor league guys would be so great. They’ve some limited success once or twice with one or two guys, but beyond that we don’t really know a whole lot about them. Sure, they’re worth a serious look, but if our minor league system is continually spitting out guys with no plate discipline, to me that’s not something in their favor.
Really, though, the problem is the talent, not the coaches. The Rangers need to be acquiring guys with better plate discipline. You can’t have everything, though. If you draft for defense you’re not likely to get walk machines.
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by t ball on Oct 27, 2009 10:46 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I agree with your 2nd point
but I really don’t care much about the first point.
I really think to a very large extent hitters are what they are, especially in regards to patience.
I don’t think this team is going to carry into 2010 any of those guys who have OBPs 100 points better than their batting average. I think everyone on this team is average or worse when it comes to patience. I don’t think you are going to change anyone on this team to super patient.
I imagine the team will have a higher OBP next year, but my guess is that will be more due to regression to the mean of Batting average than anything else.
"I don't condone steroids or any other type of growth hormones or anything else, but I could care less, and, for the most part, I don't think the fans give a (bleep). The people that care about it are the people that probably don't like baseball," - Jim Leyland
by DJCahill on Oct 28, 2009 6:00 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
reply fail
should be reply to tball
"I don't condone steroids or any other type of growth hormones or anything else, but I could care less, and, for the most part, I don't think the fans give a (bleep). The people that care about it are the people that probably don't like baseball," - Jim Leyland
by DJCahill on Oct 28, 2009 6:02 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agree about the regression
any hitting coach is going to look good just because it seems likely that neither Hamilton or Davis will be quite that terrible again.
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by t ball on Oct 28, 2009 10:33 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
One coach, one message
You get two guys with their hands in this thing there’s more of a chance for crossed signals, bickering, players taking sides, etc….
There’s a reason no one else has 2 hitting coaches (or has a team had 2? I can’t recall)
"Sometimes you just want to sit back and watch somebody throw 100." - Jeff Passan on Neftali Feliz
by Ryin A on Oct 28, 2009 6:09 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

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