The Mariners are working to finalize a contract with Tim Laker to make him the organization’s new hitting coach, per MLB.com’s Greg Johns. He’ll take over for Edgar Martinez, who moved into a different role with the club.
Laker had been the assistant hitting coach for the Diamondbacks, a position he has held for two seasons. Previously, the former MLB backstop worked briefly in the Mariners, Indians, and White Sox organizations.
Additionally, the Seattle club is believed to be nearing agreement with Perry Hill, who’ll replace the departing Scott Brosius. If those deals are finalized, the team will have filled all the positions needed to support manager Scott Servais. That said, as Johns notes, the precise assignments of the holdover coaches has yet to be announced with any finality.
Tim Laker. .225 career BA and .276 OBP. He should have some answers!
Those who can, do.
Those who can’t, teach.
And those who can’t teach, Teach Gym!
How true on so many levels!
Ever hear of Charlie Lau!
This is no correlation between a batting coach’s batting average as a ML player and how effective his team will be in hitting.
As an example, the teams with the highest batting average last year and their current hitting coach’s career average:
Red Sox – .217
Indians – .132
Rays – .200
Cubs – never played in majors
You nailed it, guy was awful
Mariners to sign Lakers hitting coach?…Honestly cant say I’m surprised
The last Laker they hired didn’t work out so well…
Most successful hitting coaches, and coaches/managers in general, were not great hitters/players. They didn’t have the natural talent of the better players, so they had to pay attention to details and work harder for any success they might have had.
I don’t disagree with Batty’s comment in theory but sheeesh, the way the Mariners are going this far doesn’t give me much, if any, optimism for 2019. Edgar is gone, Mel is gone, Brosius is gone…..all quality guys who know this game. The FO is picking guys most of us have never heard of. Can’t wait to see who they pick for 3rd base coach. Just really disheartening.
They’re coaches. Just because you haven’t heard of them means little. As for Stottlemyre, glad he’s gone myself.
“I trust Elaine, she is my friend. I trust Elaine, she is my friend.”
I remember having Tim Lakers baseball card as a kid and I thought to myself, “how is this guy a Major League Baseball player?” Now he’s our hitting coach… great.
Plus didn’t the Diamondbacks greatly underachieve offensively the past few years? What are we doing?
I notice these days people are always thinking to themselves, as opposed to……