With the departure of José Oquendo, the Cardinals announced some changes to their major-league coaching staff. Most importantly headed into the offseason are the vacancies at the first base coach and hitting coach spots. George Greer is headed back to a minor-league role, leaving Mark Budaska as one of the two coaches leading the offense.
In recent years, the Cards have moved quickly in filling vacancies, even when doing so externally. Given that trend, let’s take a look at some early candidates for the hitting coach position. With the Cardinals prioritizing an analytics approach, some may be a much more obvious fit than others.