The White Sox announced Thursday that they’ve named Frank Menechino as their new hitting coach, replacing the previously dismissed Todd Steverson.
Menechino, 48, played parts of seven seasons as an infielder with the Athletics and the Blue Jays from 1999 through 2005. He spent the 2019 season as the hitting coach for the White Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte but has quite a bit of prior coaching experience. Menechino served as the Marlins’ assistant hitting coach from 2014-16 before being promoted to their lead hitting coach in 2017-18. He also spent five years as a hitting coach in the Yankees’ farm system before being added to the Marlins’ big league staff.
The White Sox opted not to bring back Steverson or assistant hitting coach Greg Sparks earlier this month, so they’ll likely be on the lookout for an assistant to Menechino as well. Chicago hitters posted the game’s third-highest strikeout rate (25.6 percent) and ranked dead last in terms of team walk rate (6.3 percent) in 2019.
