On Wednesday afternoon, the Dodgers announced their Major League coaching staff for the 2019 season, with pitching coach Rick Honeycutt (14th season), bench coach Bob Geren (fourth season), first base coach George Lombard (fourth season), bullpen coach Mark Prior (second season) and hitting coach Brant Brown (second season) all returning, with Dino Ebel joining the field staff as the third base coach, Robert Van Scoyoc as hitting coach, Aaron Bates as assistant hitting coach and Chris Gimenez as the game planning coach.
- Dave Roberts – Manager (fourth season)
- Bob Geren – Bench Coach (fourth season)
- Rick Honeycutt – Pitching Coach (14th season)
- Robert Van Scoyoc – Hitting Coach (first season)
- Brant Brown –Hitting Strategist (second season)
- George Lombard – First Base Coach (fourth season)
- Dino Ebel – Third Base Coach (first season)
- Mark Prior – Bullpen Coach (second season)
- Aaron Bates – Assistant Hitting Coach (first season)
- Chris Gimenez – Game Planning Coach (first season)
Ebel, 52, returns to the Dodger organization as the third base coach following 14 seasons in the Angels’ organization, including spending nine seasons as the third base coach on the Major League Staff (2006-14, ’18) and four seasons as the bench coach (2005, 2015-17). Last year, Ebel was also the Angels outfield coach, a position he held previously from 2011-15, and in 2017 he handled infield coaching duties as well. Ebel joined the Angels organization in 2005 as the manager for Triple-A Salt Lake following 17 seasons with the Dodgers as a minor league player, coach and manager. He started his coaching career in 1991, serving as a player-coach with Single-A Bakersfield until 1994. He then held the same role with Single-A San Bernardino in 1995 and then became a full-time coach in 1996. Ebel began his managerial career in 1997 with Single-A San Bernardino, then was the skipper for Rookie-level Great Falls in 1998, Single-A Yakima in 1999, once again for Single-A San Bernardino in 2000, then Single-A Wilmington in 2001 and was the manager for Double-A Jacksonville from 2002-04.
Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Ebel played six professional seasons with the Dodger organization after signing with the club in 1988 as a free agent. The infielder posted a career .255 batting average and a .331 on-base percentage, while also being named Gulf Coast League Player of the Year in his rookie season in 1988 with Rookie-level Sarasota.
Van Scoyoc, 32, takes over as one of Los Angeles’ hitting coaches after spending last season with the Diamondbacks’ organization. This appointment will mark Van Scoyoc’s first time on a coaching staff at the Major League level and returns to the Dodger organization after spending 2016-17 as the club’s hitting consultant. The Santa Clarita Valley native has worked with Major League hitters as a private hitting instructor since 2011, most notably with two-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger award winner J.D. Martinez and Dodger infielder/outfielder Chris Taylor.
Bates, 34, is in his fifth season with the Dodger organization and will be appointed assistant hitting coach for the Major League club, his first time on a big league staff. In addition to his responsibilities at the Major League level, Bates will be involved with the development of the organizations’ minor league hitters. Following his playing career, Bates began his coaching career in 2015 as the Rookie-level AZL Dodgers hitting coach for two seasons. In 2017 he was the hitting coach with Single-A Great Lakes and last season he spent time as the organization’s assistant hitting coordinator. Bates was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the third round of the 2006 draft out of North Carolina State University and spent eight seasons (2006-14) in the minor leagues as an outfielder in the Red Sox, Twins, Cardinals and Dodger organizations. He posted a .278 career batting average with 77 home runs and 358 RBI and also appeared in five big league games with Boston in 2009 in his only Major League action.
Gimenez, 35, joins the Dodgers as the game planning coach following a 10-year big league career with the Indians (2009-10, ’14, ‘16), Mariners (2011), Rays (2012-13), Rangers (2014-15), Twins (2017-18) and Cubs (2018). Gimenez was drafted by Cleveland in the 19th round of the 2004 draft out of the University of Nevada-Reno and posted a .218 career batting average with 24 home runs and 89 RBI over 391 career Major League games. He spent the majority of his career as a catcher, appearing in 292 career games, but also saw time at first base, third base, left field and right field, while also making 10 pitching appearances.
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(Article courtesy of LA Dodgers)
So who takes over the infielder responsibilities previously handled by Woodward? Justin Turner has been very complimentary of Woodward’s work with him and Machado on infield techniques. Woodward credited with significantly improving Machado’s SS defense after joining Dodgers.
A few questions:
1. What’s the difference between a hitting coach and a hitting strategist?
2. What does a game planning coach do?
According to Jorge Castillo’s LA Times article on 11/26, Van Scoyoc’s job as the Dbacks hitting strategist was to “…supply position players personalized, number-driven gameplans on how to attack pitchers. He also provided minor and major leaguers help with mechanics.”
As for the game planning coach role, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
[…] with the Cubs and has since retired after playing 13 more games with the Minnesota Twins in 2018 to join the Los Angeles Dodgers coaching staff. I believe it will be important for the Cubs to acquire a proven veteran catcher to back up […]