The Diamondbacks have hired coach Don Baylor to be their next hitting coach, according to MLB.com. Baylor, a fomer manager for the Rockies and Cubs, has also served as a coach with the Braves, Mets, Mariners, and Rockies. He joins the new regime under Kirk Gibson and GM Kevin Towers.
Towers hopes to cut out strike outs for next season and hopes Baylor will play an integral role in improving hitters approaches.
"Personally, I like contact hitters," Towers said at the time. "I like guys that have good pitch recognition. Strikeouts are a part of the game, but if you have four or five of six guys in your lineup [who are prone to strikeout], it's hard to sustain any sort of rally. I'm a big believer in pitch recognition, grinding out an at-bat, seeing a lot of pitches."
The Diamondbacks led the league in strike outs and may move big bats like Mark Reynolds to reduce the obscene number strike outs in the middle of their order.