Under AJ Preller, the San Diego Padres have seen 11 hitting coaches in 11 years. Is it possible Victor Rodriguez is the last?
Padres New Hitting Coach Might Take Them All The Way
The Padres have tried every hitting technique on God’s green baseball field. From Alan Zinter and Luis Ortiz, who acted as two hitting coaches merged into one, to Michael Brdar, who was the youngest hitting coach in MLB, the Padres have tried it all with very little success. In those years of bold experimentation, the Padres never entered the top ten for hits by team. They tanked between the 2014-2017 season, sitting anxiously at no. 30 with overall hits. Now, they lead the MLB in hits.
Destiny at the Ballpark
Victor Rodriguez joined the Padres this season at 63 years old. He first met Padres manager Mike Shildt when he was playing infield for the Double-A Charlotte O’s, and Shildt was working odd jobs at the ballpark. Rodriguez was 18 years old at the time, one of the youngest members of the Baltimore Orioles organization, and Mike Shildt was a spry 12-year-old boy getting his first taste of professional baseball.
Looking at how far they have come over the years, it seems like destiny that they would be managing the same team. Mike Shildt rose through the ranks of the St Louis Cardinals management organization under the tutelage of Mark De John before joining the Padres three years ago. After Bob Melvin left for the San Francisco Giants, he was selected as the Padres manager. His first task was hiring a new hitting coach. He immediately appointed Victor Rodriguez to the position forty-four years after their initial meeting.
Rodriguez joined the Padres with a reputable background. After parting from the Charlotte O’s and Mike Shildt, he made it to the big leagues in 1984, where he played only 17 games. Rodriguez would play 19 seasons in the minor league before taking up the position as coach. In 2013, he joined the Red Sox as an assistant hitting coach. Since then, he has taught the talents of Xander Bogaerts, David Ortiz, and José Ramírez. Together, Shildt and Rodriguez have almost 75 years of experience. They have combined this experience to create a dynamic team focused on offensive play and one key philosophy: put the ball in play.
Padres Hitting Coach is a Little Bit Old School
Rodriguez and Shildt share a common belief about winning – it only needs to be by one more run than the other team. They believe in contact over all else. Even when a groundout could turn into a double play, strikeouts are much less preferred. The Padres not only prefer groundouts, but they also neglect home runs. Rodriguez emphasized putting the ball in play through bunts, line drives, and flyballs. Shildt adds the more movement on base, the better. They see the baseball field as a chessboard. By getting a runner to make a sacrifice play, he can move a runner on first over or even two bases, putting him in scoring position. It’s not a new style of play, but the Padres have brought a fresh style to the old-school tactic.
The players have been able to put these philosophies into play successfully. The Padres attack each at-bat with a new mark. They are attentive to what each moment calls for and have the ability to make that play. During at-bats, they are hypersensitive to every potential play. They are constantly scanning for gaps, marking the position of any baserunners, and waiting for a good pitch to rip the ball. The Padres now lead the MLB in batting average, two-strike average, late-and-close average, contact average, going first to third, and hits.
Optimistic For October
The Padres pose a big threat in the postseason. As the team pushes toward the postseason with a Wild Card spot, they are only three games behind the division leader, Los Angeles Dodgers. Their effective style, which emphasizes aggressive baserunners and contact hitters, will be critical in postseason games. Shildt and Rodriguez have built a team that will be a menace to their opponents with constant hitting threats and on-base action. In October, when the weaknesses of each team are exploited, the Padres have a good chance of being the aggressors.
Main Photo Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
