Dec. 04--When Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton needs advice about hitting he will be able to consult with the all-time leader in home runs.
Barry Bonds was hired Friday as hitting coach by the Marlins, a move that will generate controversy but provide a valuable resource to the team's young hitters.
Since the possibility surfaced early in the week, Stanton greeted the prospect of working with Bonds enthusiastically during an interview on TMZ Sports, saying, "Controversies aside, the man was a genius and to give us that knowledge, that's what we need."
Bonds, who has never been a full-time coach, will be the primary hitting coach with Frank Menechino returning as his assistant.
As expected, the Marlins also named Juan Nieves as pitching coach, replacing Chuck Hernandez. Nieves was the Red Sox pitching coach when they won the World Series in 2013 and was fired this past May.
The Marlins finalized the coaching staff under manager Don Mattingly, including appointing Tim Wallach as bench coach. Wallach filled the same role for Mattingly with the Dodgers the past two seasons after serving as hitting coach the previous three seasons.
The Marlins also named Brian Schneider as catching coach and Lorenzo Bundy as outfield/base running coach.
Also returning from the 2015 staff is first base/infield coach Perry Hill, third base coach Lenny Harris and bullpen coach Reid Cornelius.
Bonds, 51, is baseball's career leader with 762 home runs, a seven-time most valuable player and 14-time All-Star. But his stellar career ended in 2007 clouded by a scandal related to performance-enhancing drugs.
Bonds was indicted that December following his testimony before a grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative and its distribution of illegal PEDs. Bonds told the grand jury he didn't realize substances he used were illegal PEDs. He was convicted of an obstruction charge in 2011, but an 11-judge 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel overturned the conviction in April.
Although he never tested positive for PEDs, the scandal has prevented the former Pirates and Giants star from gaining entry into baseball's Hall of Fame. This year he appeared on 36.8 percent of ballots, less than half the 75 percent needed.
Mattingly had Mark McGwire, another prominent character from the steroid era, as his hitting coach with the Dodgers. McGwire was recently hired by the Padres as bench coach.
Bonds began testing the waters for a return to baseball as a special instructor for the Giants during spring training in 2014. Former teammates have praised his knowledge about hitting that will benefit Stanton and other Marlins hitters including Stanton, Christian Yelich, Justin Bour, J.T. Realmuto and even slap-hitting Dee Gordon.
The new staff gives the Marlins a wealth of accomplished major league hitters to guide a talented young lineup that struggled with consistency in 2015. The Marlins ranked 29th in runs last season and 26th in on-base plus slugging percentage.
Wallach was a five-time All-Star who played 17 seasons with the Expos, Dodgers and Angels. He is remembered for hitting a long home run for the Dodgers off Charlie Hough in the Marlins' inaugural game at then-Joe Robbie Stadium on April 5, 1993. Wallach won two Silver Slugger Awards and three Gold Gloves as a third baseman.
Schneider joins the Marlins' major league staff after two seasons as manager of their Class-A Jupiter affiliate, his first coaching stint. A former catcher, he played in the majors for 13 seasons with the Expos/Nationals, Mets and Phillies.
Bundy served as the Dodgers' third-base coach for the 2014-15 seasons following three seasons as the organization's Triple-A manager. Honored as the PCL's Manager of the Year in 2012, Bundy has managed 12 seasons in the minors in the Expos (1990-94), Marlins (1997) and Dodgers (2007-08, 2010-13) organizations. He played eight minor league seasons, from 1981-89.
Nieves, who pitched three seasons for the Brewers, became the first Puerto Rico native to throw a no-hitter in the majors when he tossed a gem at Baltimore on April 15, 1987. The Marlins will play two games in Puerto Rico against the Pirates on May 30-31.
