The Giants’ coaching staff is taking shape under new manager Bob Melvin.
San Francisco officially announced several coaching hires Friday, including some familiar names.
As Melvin hinted in a recent interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Laura Britt, former Giants third baseman Matt Williams will join the staff as the team’s third base coach. Williams played 11 seasons in San Francisco from 1986 to 1996 and was a four-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner, and three-time Silver Slugger. Williams also finished sixth and second in National League MVP voting in 1990 and 1994, respectively.
Former Giants outfielder Pat Burrell, who won the World Series with San Francisco in 2010, will be the team’s hitting coach. After retiring in 2011, Burrell returned to the organization as a special assignment scout from 2012 to 2015, after which he served as the hitting coach for the San Jose Giants.
NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovich reported that Justin Viele, who was the Giants’ hitting coach on former manager Gabe Kapler’s staff, will return with Burrell as the secondary hitting coach, and Pedro Guerrero will be the team’s assistant hitting coach. It was reported that he will return as a coach. Former hitting manager and assistant hitting coach Dustin Lind has been fired from the organization.
Melvin’s bench coach is former MLB outfielder and San Diego Padres associate manager Ryan Christenson, who previously spent 16 seasons as a minor league manager with the Oakland Athletics and bench coach on Melvin’s major league staff.
The Giants also announced that several coaches from the previous regime will return next season. Mark Hallberg, Kapler’s third base coach, will move across the diamond to become first base coach. Alyssa Nakken, JP Martinez and Taira Uematsu will also return to the organization as assistant coaches on Melvin’s staff.
The rest of the Giants’ coaching staff is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
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