New Screen Readers

On Monday the White Sox gave four coaches—including pitching coach Ethan Katz and hitting coach Marcus Thames—their walking papers. I won’t hold my breath that their replacements will be any better. Just different guys reading a computer screen. Katz was a minor leaguer who never rose above A-ball (but did coach Lucas Giolito in high school) while Thames collected 450 hits over a ten-year career with the Dodger, Tigers and Yankees. My guess is that their replacements will have similar backgrounds. I keep hearing on broadcasts how it’s the postseason and everything is different. If so, wouldn’t you want people who’d been there coaching players who want to get there? At least Thames appeared in five postseason series and even collected nine hits. Too bad he never articulated a hitting philosophy. It’s worth noting the assistant pitching and hitting coaches, were kept on. Joel McKeithan never hit a major-league pitch while Matt Wise went 17-22 with a 4.23 ERA in his eight years with the Angels, Brewers and Mets. Big-league success doesn’t matter to the White Sox or any other team these days. They want coaches who can break down data and facilitate tweaks in mechanics per the data Mark my words—the White Sox will hire people who have never been there to coach players who want to get there. Good luck with that.