In discussing Zinter’s departure, manager Andy Green said that the team wanted a “different voice” in the thankless position. With multiple hitting coaches “cycling through” this could become a cacophony of voices confusing the batters even more.
Hall-of-Famer George Brett called the job of hitting coach “the worst job in baseball,” after his brief stint in the job for the Kansas City Royals. In his 20-year career with the Royals, he showed he could certainly perform (.305/.369/.487/.857) in the area he chose not to try to teach.
The Padres’ own Tony Gwynn, one of best hitters all time with 3,141 hits, understood the importance of studying the art of hitting.