The Padres are hiring Michael Brdar as hitting coach, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter link). Robert Murray of FanSided reported earlier in the evening that San Diego had targeted Brdar as a candidate.
Brdar, rather incredibly, lands a big league hitting coach job at just 27 years of age. An infielder at the University of Michigan during his playing days, his professional career consisted of just 31 games with the Cardinals’ rookie ball affiliate in 2017. Brdar clearly impressed those around the game with his communication skills and understanding of the craft, though. After his playing days wrapped up, he spent a couple seasons on the Michigan coaching staff before taking over as the Giants’ minor league hitting coordinator.
That rapid ascent will continue with Brdar landing his first job on a big league staff. He’ll lead a Padres’ offensive core that’s among the most talented in the league but didn’t quite live up its to potential in 2021. San Diego hitters (excluding pitchers) posted a .249/.330/.413 line this past season. After accounting for their pitcher-friendly home park, that checked in about three percentage points above the league average, but it was still just 12th among the league’s 30 teams. For a Padres team entered the year with legitimate World Series aspirations, that registered as something of a disappointment.
There’s been plenty of turnover on the San Diego coaching staff, none more notable than the ousting of manager Jayce Tingler. Veteran skipper Bob Melvin came over from the A’s to assume the managerial role in San Diego, and Tingler’s staff was given the opportunity to explore other positions elsewhere. Damion Easley — who has spent the past two seasons as Friars’ hitting coach — is expected to depart the organization to become the Diamondbacks’ assistant hitting coach, reports Dennis Lin of the Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll work alongside incoming Arizona hitting coach Joe Mather.
*Pdres T Hre Mchl Brdrar S Httng Cch
I wish I could see him try to tell Wil Myers, Eric Hosmer, or Manny Machado how to hit. Guys that have 3000-5000 at bats in the MLB. That would be interesting especially considering they are all old enough to be the new hitting coach’s big brother.
You know that’s not what hitting coaches do right? Or are you being intentionally ignorant?
No need to be rude to the guy. A hitting coaches job is to help perfect a players swing. So it literally will be his job to tell those exact players, what HE thinks is wrong and how to correct it. Do you really think they will listen?
And even more, is he qualified to actually KNOW what might be wrong? The fans are thinking it, you know the players will be as well.
Did you read anything about the team that had 3 very young hitting coaches that helped some pretty old players have a hitting resurgence? They led the NL in HRs that led to 107 wins. Sounds like 2 of you don’t know what young hitting coaches do.
Right, I would be thrilled to have someone with his resume be the hitting coach for the Cardinals over Jeff Alberts anyday
I’m baffled how he’s still employed? Must have a picture of Mozeliak in a dress?
Actually, today’s hitting coach sits in front of electronic devices sorting data. I wonder if any of them actually KNOW anything about hitting mechanics?
“Communicating” means telling the players what they want to hear. You can’t coach somebody if you can’t convince them that you know something they don’t. Then you have to get them to listen. Then apply. Then have the patience to work through the fall back until things click.
It’s ok for men to wear dresses these days. It must be something else.
Well said @claude, I was thinking the exact same thing.
@claude … Did you read anything about the fact that Brdnar was the MINOR LEAGUE hitting coordinator? He very likely didn’t have a damn thing to do with the veterans on the big club.
Played with Brdar briefly in junior college. He’s got more knowledge of how to hit and field a baseball stored in his fingernails than you’ll ever have, sir. Don’t be ignorant.
He should have used it to become a big leaguer, amirite?!
No, some people’s expertise is better expressed through coaching rather than playing…is this your guy’s first time being interested in sports?
No
Belt, Posey and Crawford gave the Giants new hitting coaches credit for their significantly improved offense. Apparently some old dogs can indeed learn new tricks.
A lot of peple are talking about this guy like he was the sole reason the Giants started hitting. That would be amazing, except for one tiny detail: he wasn’t on the ML coaching staff, he was the MINOR LEAGUE Hitting Coordinator.
I can’t wait to see him try to fix Eric Hosmer’s swing.
Eric Hosmer and Wil Myers, (especially going into free agency), should be willing to listen to anyone if it helps them hit better.
They should hire a guy like Ted Williams?
LOL
You are either green and you grow or ripe and you rot. Young eyes might be helpful.
Trillion,
I’d like to buy a vowel.
There’s not enough vowels in his name.
That’s awesome!
Congratulations to this guy.
Has to be the youngest hitting coach in mlb?
Wow, that’s really impressive at his age. Have to assume there are a multitude of people who see real potential in him for him to get that opportunity. Really interested to see how he works out.
I wonder how a veteran team responds to coaching from a guy who is younger than more than half the players on the roster
You bring up a good point. I can see why teams are hiring multiple hitting and pitching coaches. It’s much harder to tell two or three guys to eff off when they all think that they may know something which could help.
Ask the Giants
@Rsox I bet having Melvin in the clubhouse will help with that…
Extremely well apparently since he was with the Giants last season and they are older.
This^
He was the minor league hitting coordinator. Not on the MLB staff
One thing wrong with that statemement: he wasn’t on the Major League staff.
I hope they pay him enough to buy a vowel!
Trivia time: which player had the nickname of ‘Eye Chart’?
Marc Rzepczynski
Actually his nickname was “Scrabble”
Well Jim, who is Doug Gwosdz? I’ll take “Alphabet” for $600, Jim.
This is a mistake. The Padres fire their young manager because he couldn’t keep the respect of his players. Then you hire a guy at 27 to tell they same players, now a year older, to listen to another coach that has no experience. I mean, can someone tell me how some kid is going to command the respect of a bunch of players that already have an issue with inexperience?
The problem last year with the Padres was a lack of leadership. Bringing in Bob Melvin was great. A guy that has experience and can truly manage the locker room.
This guy must of had an out of the part interview or an amazing agent. Should be entertaining to watch as it all unfolds. Or truly, goes up in flames. Something like the Padres last season.This feels like a disaster in the making. Anyone taking bets on how long he will last?
People said the same thing about Theo Epstein when he became the Red Sox GM at 28.
Great example but let’s be honest with each other. There’s only one Theo Epstein. Taking two teams with long awaited World Series titles to the promise land.
Granted, who knows if this kid is the next one. And I’d love to see it, but the math says, he isn’t the next Theo. And more likely, it won’t happen again for a long time.
He’s a hitting coach for one, not the head coach, and he just helped a bunch of old guys on the Giants improve their swings to the tune of a 107 record and a bunch of personal best seasons…
But he’s young so get him out?
Terrible logic
It’s only “terrible logic” if you have evidence that he was directly responsible for the Giants hitting surge.
Correlation does not equal causation.
GM isn’t telling players what to do. He’s telling the manager what to do and if he doesn’t do it, the manager is fired. If the batters don’t listen to the hitting coach, the coach gets fired.
I wish Mike Brdar well! The 27-year-old Michigan product just got his first big league job after being the Giants’ minor league hitting coordinator. He will be the Padres 12th hitting coach since 2004, so he’ll need all the support he can get.
I’d like to buy a vowel please
The next Padres headline needs to inform us that the front office has been traded to the Mets for a hot dog vendor to be named later.
The Padres are my National League stepchild. I wish they would quit acting like their worthless bum father.
Their father was a hotdog vendor who also hired youthful hitting coaches?
Padres love coaches who were former Cardinals…
I’ll mention this to the folks who think he may be too young. I was a golf caddy at 19 years old and could tell more about a guy’s swing than he could because I knew what I was talking about and you can’t watch yourself swing a golf club.
I could tell him little nuances that he needed help with like footing or angle of the iron or grip or club path inside out or outside in etc, etc. You golfers know what I’m talking about. I could see a if a guy didn’t have his head steady enough Etc.
I couldn’t play worth a darn because that takes years of practice, but I could help a golfer improve his game even though I was very very young. Oh and I also learned the greens like the back of my hand in about a year. Out there everyday going around twice you learn quickly and can help the golfer there as well, even though I was only 19. Makes sense, good analogy, or no?
@Gary. That’s a GREAT analogy. I’m in a similar boat. While coaching (bowling), I can pick out minute timing issues, improper angles, inconsistent physical nuances, balance problems, read lane condition changes, etc.
I also have operated a bowling pro shop for 40 years, so I can ‘caddy’ which balls to switch to, what part of the lane to play and why. It’s part communication skills and part salesman to convince folks that you know of which you speak and then put it in a way they can understand and then WANT to try. Well done, sir!
My son is 9 and he notices when the tires on my bike need air
But maybe you just need to lase weight 88 🙂
Heh heh, a little yep
Who cares! Tell me how much – if at all – the Giants MINOR LEAGUE hitters improved, because that was his job.
Just curious. If he was so impressive with his knowledge, why did he only last 31 games in rookie ball? Did he get hurt?
Knowing and doing are two different things.
Why was Bill Walsh not a HOF quarterback?
I wonder how prominent Melvin was in this hire?
Honestly how many hitting coaches have massive amounts of successful MLB experience. Most are guys like this that have a wealth of knowledge but lacked the talent to implement it themselves.
Rare is it that you see even a multiple time all star be a successful coach….and now these players generally made so much money as players that they aren’t likely going to go into coaching.
If he can improve their stat line players aren’t going to care about the guys age.
Most of the time major league players know what they are doing and all that the coaches do is give them a second set of eyes.
Posey spoke about this. 3 hitting coaches this year. 1 was a year older than him, 2 were younger. How the info is delivered is the key with that dynamic.
Totally.
When I would talk to people about how many coaches the Giants employed last season they’d all say it was a recipe for disaster because of information overload.
But what all those coaches actually did was process and then relay the pertinent analytics info so the players could implement the changes. This made it easier than in the past when players were responsible for processing a ton of analytical info themselves and then working with coaches to make changes.
Sounds simple, but I think it had a large and obvious effect on the entire team’s stats.
I’m surprised Bob Melvin agreed to this.
@DodgerOK, It’s possible Brdar was Melvin’s recommendation/choice?. If not, then it shows how management still has full confidence in Preller to make decisions.
No 88, not possible…probable. You’re absolutely correct 88. Melvin was once under zaidi wasn’t he. What gm is gonna want a retread of a hitting coach?
The idea that your hitting coach has to be some leather-faced, tobacco juice stained, squinty-eyed oldtimer is as worn out as, well, leather-faced, tobacco juiced stained, squinty-eyed oldtimers. Coaching is increasingly about analytics and young guys have the edge there. Players know that, too. His age might raise some eyebrows, but if he gets results players will take to him like catchers to stretchy underwear. Hell, at this point, Wil Myers would probably take hitting advice from a Magic 8-ball if he thought it would help.
The giants just did what everyone thought was impossible… get a bunch of old” washed up” players to rejuvenate their careers by re-teaching them a different approach at the plate. Essentially bringing in the Dodgers analytics approach… which as much as I hate the Dodgers has been pretty successful. Brdar was an essential part of that. My son worked with this guy in the Giants organization. He really knows what he’s doing. The Padres would be wise to listen. If they don’t then Preller needs to reassess who is on the team … NO EXCUSE anymore we have brought in the best coaches… now it will be solidly on the players STEP UP or STEP out now boys
And that is the other side of it. You need a roster that wants to take info on how to get better.
Those who can do those who can’t teach.
Why oh why are Padres showing pics of Sunshine carrying turkeys…HE JUST HAD SURGERY…I know it’s probably PR but sheesh..
good for BRDAR, I think somebody saw potential and HIM and give a opportunity to try a ML coach.
Padres had two batting gurus of Note Walt Hrniak and Merv Rettenmund .. whom you may ask,? Precisely ..Best of luck kid…Hit em where they ain’t.