Indians hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo has elected to opt out of the season over coronavirus concerns, Zack Meisel of The Athletic was among those to report. He’ll continue to assist the club remotely. Meanwhile, Alex Eckelman will join the big league staff to join Victor Rodriguez and Justin Toole as coaches who will work with the Indians’ hitters in person, Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com tweets.
Van Burkleo has been the hitting coach in Cleveland since before the 2013 season. While it’s difficult to quantify how much impact a coach can have on a team’s production, the team’s offense has generally been a strength since it hired Van Burkleo. The Indians are sixth in the majors in runs and ninth in wRC+ during his run on their staff.
I wish more coaches would opt out. I worry about the coaches.
if only Joe Maddon would opt out…. dude likes to pull starters that are crusing for no apparent reason…. Angel’s should easily have 3 or 4 more wins
Like who Ohtani??
they should have fired them for their anemic offense
It’s amazing how many threads turn into an anti-Angel thread.
i’m referring to the indians hitting coach. not the angels. i have nothing against the angels
I don’t see him coming back, especially if they start to hit now
Halo, it would be difficult to root against the best player in the game and the face of the sport, not to mention Ohtani, Rendon, and I’ve always been a Pujols fan even if he is a shell of his former self.
I misread the indentation. My bad. It’s not my first misread, and it won’t be my last. 🙂
Amazing the Tribe offense is ranked that high. I’ve witnessed way too many lifeless, scoreless games since he became hitting coach.
Seems they’ll score a lot one game, like yesterday, and then stink for several games afterwards. Come to think of it, their offense has been down right offensive up until yesterday, saved only by the pitching staff.
I don’t wish bad on anyone, but I am eager to see if a different voice and view might help some of the hitters. I’m not asking for a lot of home runs or bat 400…just work the count. I am sick of one pitch outs, like they are guessing walking up. I think luplow had 3 in one game. I do however think they are starting to work to the positive….drawing walks and working the pitchers. If they continue, I think we can do great things, it’s not like these guys can’t hit well.
In 2020, being unbalanced is pretty common behavior. I’m speaking mentally, of course.
With that news, they’re celebrating in Cleveland tonight.
With Tito out, and now this coach gone, they might have to bring Jake Taylor in at some point.