Peter Fatse

Hitting coach Tim Hyers has declined the Red Sox’ offer to return in 2022 and will not return to the staff, reports Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. He’s instead exploring opportunities with other clubs. In his place, the Red Sox are set to promote assistant hitting coach Peter Fatse to the lead hitting coach role, per Steve Hewitt of the Boston Herald.

The 50-year-old Hyers has spent the past four seasons as hitting coach in Boston and spent the two prior seasons as the Dodgers’ assistant hitting coach. The Sox have been one of the game’s best offensive clubs during that time, and Speier notes that Hyers worked with both Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts to overhaul their approaches at the plate prior to the 2018 campaign. Hyers is the second coach to depart the Red Sox organization this offseason, as chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom already announced during his end-of-season press conference that first base coach Tom Goodwin wouldn’t return to the organization.

Fatse, 34, was a 2009 draft pick of the Brewers (24th round) after playing his college ball at the University of Connecticut. He spent two years in the Brewers’ system and another two years playing on the independent circuit before retiring as a player. He previously served as the Twins’ minor league hitting coordinator before being tabbed as the assistant hitting coach to Hyers heading into the 2020 season.

The Sox still need to replace Goodwin on the staff, and while they’ll handle the departure of Hyers with an internal promotion, they’ll still need to fill the assistant hitting coach role as well. There’s no indication yet as to how they’ll proceed. The team has not formally announced the shakeup to the hitting coach mix but figures to do so before long.