The Milwaukee Brewers began their off-season by creating a vacancy at the hitting coach position. Andy Haines was dismissed and his assistant Jacob Cruz was encouraged to pursue other opportunities.
Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns said the organization would be looking at both external and internal candidates to fill the role. There are lots of candidates to chose from, but why not consider some from the teams that made it to this years World Series?
Here are hitting coaches for the Brewers to consider from both World Series teams: The Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros.
1) Kevin Seitzer, Braves Hitting Coach
Seitzer is a former third basemen for the Milwaukee Brewers and is a wall of honor inductee. The Royals drafted him in 1983 and he finished second in rookie of the year voting behind Mark McGwire in 1987. He joined the Brewers in 1992, was an all-star in 1995, and was having a career season in 1996 before being traded to Cleveland.
After his playing days, Seitzer has been the hitting coach for the Diamondbacks (06-07), Royals (09-12), Blue Jays (14), and currently the Braves (15-present). During that time Seitzer has worked with and helped develop a lot of great hitters.
As a Springfield Illinois native, perhaps it is time for him to return home to the Midwest and join the Brewers coaching staff. He would bring a lot of experience and a winning mindset with him. However, prying him away from Atlanta will be tough.
2) Troy Snitker, Astros Assistant Hitting Coach
Troy Snitker is son to Braves manager Brian Snitker. With the two competing against one another in the World Series, this may make for a few awkward holidays, but also represents that winning baseball runs in their blood.
Currently at age 32, Snitker has been the Astros hitting coach since 2018. As a person, he is very confident in himself and may come across as arrogant or even borderline cocky, but the results speak for themselves.
Snitker arrived after the 2017 cheating scandal, and the Astros have been known for having great confident hitters and this continued again in 2021. It is clear that Snitker knows how to instill confidence in players and get them to perform when it matters the most.
3) Alex Cintron, Astros Hitting Coach
Nothing has come easy for Alex Cintron. As a former 36th round draft pick, he managed to carve out a nine year playing career as a utility infielder with the Diamondbacks, White Sox, Orioles and Nationals from 2001-2009. Often times players who had to grind every day in the major leagues turn out to be great coaches, so lets take a look at his coaching experience so far.
After his playing career ended, he joined the Astros coaching staff in 2017. He was the first base coach in 2018 and then was promoted to the hitting coach in 2019. Cintron clearly very quickly worked his way up the ranks, which may make him a good candidate to consider.
The Brewers certainly will be exploring lots of candidates for the hitting coach position. We do not know which direction they want to go, but often times a good place to start looking is within other successful teams.