Look Who's Back

Clare and I have been talking the past few days about the new White Sox hitting coach in high-A Winston-Salem. That would be Nicky Delmonico. “Very interesting,” as my daughter put it. I always thought Delmonico had a sweet, left-handed swing, the only problem being it looked to be the same swing for every pitch. That helps explain a career batting average of .224 over four seasons. But I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt here. When Delmonico came up with the Sox in 2017, he looked like the real deal. Then the injuries started. The first involved a sprained wrist his rookie season, not to be confused with surgery on his left labrum that came two years later. Delmonico thinks he’d need another two surgeries to keep playing at the age of 29. Part of the dynamic duo with Daniel Palka, Delmonico has the kind of personality that wears well around a clubhouse. And it certainly must have been a hit with the front office. But what kind of coach will he be? Quoted by James Fegan in The Athletic, Delmonico offered, “I think ‘launch angle’ and all this [analytics] is a term that gets away from how you get to launch angle.” Ah, grasshopper is wise beyond his years. Delmonico, whose father was a longtime college baseball head coach, wants to manage someday. Maybe he could hire Mr. Palka for his bench coach. That’d be something.