DALLAS — Youth will be served on Will Venable’s first coaching staff. Monday’s announcement that assistant hitting coach Joel McKeithan, 33, would be the last added piece to the first-year White Sox manager’s staff that includes three coaches 35 years or younger.
Bench coach Kevin McKenvin, 35, is new to the Sox, and third base and infield coach Justin Jirschele, who was promoted from his role as manager at Triple-A Charlotte to Sox third base coach last August, is 34. New director of hitting Ryan Fuller is 34, so add him to the Sox' new coaching kids on the block.
It's not that Venable and general manager Chris Getz were intentional about getting younger.
"I think that's just how it kind of happened," Venable said Monday at the Winter Meetings.
Grady Sizemore's role on the staff unfolded into an offensive coordinator's role, a new one on the staff. Sizemore, the interim manager after Pedro Grifol was fired during a 121-loss season, will have "a really cool role," Venable said, "where he can impact our offensive strategy and set the tone for things we want to accomplish situationally and at the plate, on the bases. He’s going to help in lineup construction, have input on our advance process offensively, feedback for our players and game planning."
The Sun-Times reported on Dec. 1 that pitching coach Ethan Katz, assistant pitching coach Matt Wise, hitting coach Marcus Thames, Sizemore, Jirschele, first base/outfield coach Jason Bourgeois and catchers coach Drew Butera were all returning. The only pieces left in the puzzle was assistant hitting coach and what Sizemore's role would be.
McKeithan joins the Sox after serving as the Reds hitting coach for the last two seasons. He joined the Reds organization as the assistant hitting coach before the 2022 season.
Prior to joining Cincinnati, McKeithan was the hitting coach for Class A Williamsport in the Philadelphia Phillies organization from 2019-20, director of hitting at X2 Baseball in Charlotte, N.C. in 2020 and minor-league hitting coordinator in the Detroit Tigers system in 2021.
With Thames, McKeithan, Fuller and Sizemore, that makes four voices on the hitting side. So many hitting cooks in the kitchen could present challenges.
Aligning communication and philosophies will be key, Venable said.
"As we’ve seen offseason unfold, seeing communication between Marcus and Ryan has been great and we expect it to continue.
"It’s something everyone is challenged with. You have to be aligned. There has to be a singular voice. That’s something every group is challenged with, our ability to communicate and be on the same page will be huge."
In any case, it's a younger group overall than the one that started last season with bench coach Charlie Montoya, 59, third base coach Eddie Rodriguez, 65, and assistant hitting coach Mike Tosar, 56. All were fired with Grifol.
"We just looked at the most talented guys," Getz said of the younger hires. "When you say diversify, yeah, there's different levels of experience. And to be able to connect with players is important, but it doesn't matter if you have one year of experience or 30 years of experience, we're looking for the best individuals that we can.
"I love the coaching staff. They all have a diversified skill set, different backgrounds. It's a combination of talent, experience levels, energy, work ethic, all the things that go into a quality coaching staff."
