MILWAUKEE – Baseball’s hot stove season has yet to officially get underway. However, the Milwaukee Brewers have made sure that one of their most valuable assets won’t be going anywhere any time soon by signing pitching coach Chris Hook to a multi-year contract extension.
Brewers Sign Key Coach To Multi-Year Extension
“Chris Hook has had a tremendous impact on our entire organization over the last 17 years,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said in a statement released by the team Tuesday. “He has a knack for helping pitchers who may have hit a bump in the road to lengthen and solidify their Major League careers. I’m excited to have him part of our staff in the future.”
Hook has been a part of the Brewers’ organization for nearly 20 years. He spent his first 10 seasons in the system working as a minor-league pitching coach and was promoted to the major-league club following the 2018 season when Derek Johnson left to take a job with the Cincinnati Reds.
During Hook’s tenure, the Brewers have produced four NL Reliever of the Year award winners (Josh Hader 2019, ‘21; Devin Williams 2020, ‘23) and an NL Cy Young Award winner (Corbin Burnes, 2021).
Hook’s Impact
Hook’s best work came this season as the Brewers, already without their top two starters heading into Spring Training, faced a deluge of injuries that left their pitching staff in tatters. In all, 24 different players threw a pitch for Milwaukee in 2024, including 12 different starters, while 17 pitchers recorded at least one save.
One of those pitchers, rookie Tobias Myers, is a perfect illustration of the Brewers’ ability to develop pitchers under Hook’s tutelage.
Signed to a minor league deal at the end of a disastrous 2022 season in the White Sox organization, Myers wasn’t expected to contribute at the big-league level in 2024 but was pressed into duty when the injury bug burned through Milwaukee’s expected depth.
He went on to become one of the team’s most reliable starters, going 9-6 with a 3.00 ERA in 27 appearances (25 starts) and spun five shutout innings in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series against the Mets.
“(General manager) Matt (Arnold) and his group are going to find the right guys to make it work for us,” Hook said. “I think that is the driving force in my coming back.”
Draft And Development
The ability to draft and develop pitchers had long been an issue for the Brewers. They’ve taken 12 pitchers in the first round of the MLB Draft since owner Mark Attanasio purchased the team in 2005.
Only two of that group pitched for the Brewers. A small few were traded, but a majority simply failed to pan out.
That led to Attanasio spending big to bring in high-priced free agents, with little to no return on the investment.
The pendulum began to shift when Attanasio hired David Stearns as general manager at the end of the 2015 season. With an emphasis on drafting and developing young talent, building a pipeline of pitching talent became a primary objective for a small-market franchise that simply can’t compete for top-name free agent pitchers looking for long-term, industry-changing contracts.
Hook played an integral role in developing future rotation stalwarts like Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Freddy Peralta. He also helped Hader and Williams when those two joined the Brewers’ organization.
Since his promotion, he’s overseen a pitching staff that’s produced the fifth-best ERA in MLB since 2019. That trails only the Los Angeles Dodgers among NL squads during that stretch.
As much as player acquisition, Hook’s presence has been a leading factor in Milwaukee’s stretch of six playoff appearances in seven seasons.
Hook Stays In Milwaukee
That track record, combined with the talent on hand heading into next season and a level of trust with Murphy, the front office, and ownership, made it easy for Hook to stay in Milwaukee instead of looking for a change of scenery.
“No. 1, the group that I have that I work with from the training staff to the strength staff to the front office, the systems are in place,” Hook said. “We’re all very comfortable with what everyone does in that system. Our guys have done such a good job year after year of giving us guys. ‘Hey, we recognize this particular talent, this guy has skill that no one else has recognized. We’re looking for you guys to pull it out of him.’ That has been consistent. The work between our groups is very, very fluid. That happens very easy.”
Main Photo Credits: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images
