White Sox officially announce Grifol's coaching staff
The White Sox announced their 2023 coaching staff Tuesday and many of the names were already known.
Former Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo is the new bench coach, Ethan Katz is returning as pitching coach and Curt Hasler is back as bullpen coach.
Daryl Boston will be the Sox's first-base coach for the 11th season.
The White Sox's offense underperformed this year, so all eyes were on hitting coach.
The Sox announced Jose Castro is filling the role and Chris Johnson is going to be his assistant.
Mike Tosar joins new manager Pedro Grifol from Kansas City, and he'll also help out with White Sox hitters in his role as major-league field coordinator.
Eddie Rodriguez is the new third-base coach and the White Sox named Geoff Head senior director of sports performance.
Castro, 64, was Atlanta's assistant hitting coach the last eight years.
"I have a long history with him," Grifol said. "I hired him as a hitting coordinator in Seattle. He's been in the game a long time, he's got a lot of experience. I believe he's one of the best in-game hitting coaches around. He's got tremendous instincts."
Johnson was Class AAA Charlotte's hitting coach the last two seasons.
"Chris Johnson, who I just met a few weeks ago, I was really impressed by his knowledge of analytics, the terminology he uses," Grifol said. "I think those two, along with Tosar, who was part of that hitting program down in Kansas City, are going to make a great team when it comes to communication with the players, being able to make adjustments and adapt to every single player, every culture and also adapt to any type of analytics or sports sciences that's thrown our way as well. We're going to use is all."
RodrÃguez, 63, has 40 years of professional coaching experience. He spent the last three years as the Royals' minor-league coordinator.
"He's done a lot of things in this game," Grifol said. "He's got short-term memory, which is extremely important at that position. He's aggressive and he's extremely detailed. Those are the qualifications I look for in a third-base coach and he's got them all. He checks every box for me."