Frank Menechino named White Sox hitting coach

Frank Menechino

Catching up on some news: The White Sox promoted Frank Menechino to be their new hitting coach last week.

The 48-year-old former Major League infielder joined the Sox organization for the 2019 season, when he served as the hitting coach for the Triple-A Charlotte Knights.

Under Menechino's watch, the Knights scored 5.7 runs per game, better than the 5.16 league average. The Knights posted a team .270/.352/.472 slash line, with a 22.3% strikeout rate and a 10.5% percent walk rate.

If you're one of the fans hoping the Sox improve their walk rate next season, the Knights were above the 9.3% league average. Do keep in mind that Charlotte is the most hitter-friendly park in the International League, so the Knights probably *should* be above average in offensive categories.

In other words, do with this information what you will.

Menechino obviously worked with top prospects Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal this past season, and he inherits an offensive core than includes Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson and Eloy Jimenez.

For what it's worth, Menechino has previous experience as a hitting coach in the majors, and he has previous experience working with a young offensive core.

He was the hitting coach with the Miami Marlins in 2014 and 2015. He was then "demoted" to assistant hitting coach when the Marlins foolishly brought on Barry Bonds to be the hitting coach for the 2016 season. Bonds was a disaster and was replaced by Mike Pagliarulo, with Menechino serving as assistant hitting coach from 2016-18.

After the 2018 season, Menechino was one of four Marlins coaches fired as part of an offseason shakeup. He landed in the Sox organization, and now he's getting another chance to work with MLB hitters.

Of note, Menechino coached Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and J.T. Realmuto during his time with the Marlins. All four of those guys are enjoying success now in places not named Miami. It's unclear how much credit Menechino deserves for those successes, but he obviously didn't screw any of them up, either.

As a player, Menechino played seven years in the majors with the Oakland A's and Toronto Blue Jays. He was mostly a utility player, posting a career .240/.358/.383 slash line in 1,510 plate appearances.

A .358 on-base percentage? Well, we can't say he didn't walk. I honestly have no idea if this is a good hire. I would have liked to have seen an outside search, but then again, it isn't as if Menechino is a longtime organization man. He's relatively new to the Sox, and all you can do is hope he's the right guy to help this young group of offensive players take the next steps in their careers.