The role of pitching coach has changed from what it once was, said Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels, and the team's 2021 coaching staff will show that the club is catching up with the times.
Rather than enlist a pitching coach and a bullpen coach, the Rangers have hired Doug Mathis and Brendan Sagara to lump all the duties required to oversee a pitching staff and share in them.
Mathis will be in the dugout during games and Sagara in the bullpen, manager Chris Woodward said, but that doesn't represent a hierarchy. They will be positioned to best draw on their strengths, and both will be asked to draw on their experience in player development.
That's the No. 1 reason the Rangers didn't formally interview any candidates from outside the organization. Mathis, the 2020 bullpen coach, and Sagara, who worked extensively at the alternate training site, will preserve continuity of the message that young pitchers have been hearing.
"Everybody in the organization is going to be on board," Woodward said. "There's going to be a lot of communication. We're going to have a lot of younger players that are either going to be up or down or they're going to be part of our team."
The Rangers also promoted former catcher Bobby Wilson to Woodward's staff as catching instructor, replacing Hector Ortiz. Wilson, hired last year to be the manager at Double A Frisco, will also be the minor-league catching coordinator, while Ortiz is expected to remain in the organization with a role in the minors.
Like Mathis and Sagara, Wilson will be asked to focus on young catchers Jose Trevino and Sam Huff, who will be in the majors at some point in 2021 if he isn't on the Opening Day roster.
"In short, we felt like Bobby was our best catching instructor," Daniels said. "Bobby's ability to work with both guys was very appealing."
The Rangers will have a roster full of young players as they continue with their rebuilding plan. While the Rangers are considering supplementing the rotation with veteran free agents, rookies Kyle Cody, Joe Palumbo, Brock Burke, Wes Benjamin, Tyler Phillips, Jason Bahr, John King and Cole Winn could all see time in the rotation.
That's in addition to Kolby Allard, a young starter who must improve. The Rangers aren't sure if Taylor Hearn will start or relieve.
The bullpen is short on veterans, too. Demarcus Evans, Jimmy Herget and Ian Gibaut, could be on the Opening Day roster. Jonathan Hernandez will be back, but for just his second season. Brett Martin will be pitching in his third.
And that's where the continuity comes in. They all worked with Mathis and Sagara during the regular season and again at the instructional league this fall in Arizona.
"There's a lot of value in them knowing who's coming," Daniels said. "As much as the players, there's value in the continuity and connection with the minor-league staff that's out there. We're going to have some young players. There's going to be some players that move from the system to the big leagues, and not having to start over and having continuity in their programs is really important."
