Rangers announce plethora of coaching changes, additions
Having allowed their hitting and pitching coach to leave the organization this offseason, the Texas Rangers and manager Jeff Banister had some work to do - and that's exactly what they did.
On Thursday, the Rangers announced the hiring of Doug Brocali and Anthony Iapoce as their new pitching and hitting coaches, respectively.
But they didn't stop there.
Here's the full roundup of coaching hires and changes that was announced Thursday, according to MLB.com:
"Along with Brocail and Iapoce, the Rangers completed their coaching staff by naming Justin Mashore as the assistant hitting coach and Brad Holman as the bullpen coach. Bobby Jones, who was the assistant hitting coach, will be the replay coordinator but continue on-field work with the rest of the coaching staff before the game.
They join bench coach Steve Buechele, third-base coach Tony Beasley, first-base coach Hector Ortiz and field coordinator Jayce Tingler to give Banister a nine-man coaching staff."
That's five coaches with new jobs within the organization, for those keeping track at home.
As MLB.com notes, Iapoce, Mashore and Holman are getting their first taste of big league action.
Pitching coach Brocali is joining the staff after a 15-year playing career, two years as pitching coach with the Houston Astros and one year of special pitching instructor. He's ready for a chance to be a coach at the major league level and gave a brief rundown of his coaching philosophy.
"From the get-go, any pitcher I've ever had comes to understand that we need to be aggressive and pound the strike zone," Brocail said. "It's a simple form of pitching: pound the strike zone and command the bottom of the strike zone and you have a chance to win the ballgame."