Chicago White Sox finalize coaching staff with emphasis on offense

Chicago White Sox manager Will Venable has announced his inaugural coaching staff.

It was already announced Walker McKinven would be coming over from the Milwaukee Brewers to be Venable's bench coach.

Much to the fans' chagrin, Ethan Katz is returning as pitching coach. Marcus Thames is also returning as the hitting coach. However, Brian Bannister is in charge of pitching throughout the organization, and Ryan Fuller was just named director of hitting.

Katz and Thames are acting like the figurative caddie while Bannister and Fuller are in the figurative swing coach role if this was a professional golfer we are talking about. That is why both of them returning should not be met with any fury.

Also, the Sox seem to be focusing on coaching up the offense.

Grady Sizemore is going from interim manager to offensive coordinator. The Sox are also bringing ex-Reds hitting coach Joel McKeithan to be the assistant hitting coach.

The batting order sure could use help wherever it can get it. The White Sox offense was the worst in the big leagues this season. The Sox also had the 25th-worst offense in 2023.

Hitting development is going to be at a premium since the White Sox are not adding much in free agency to improve a franchise that just lost a record 121 games.

Maybe one of these new coaches can unlock Andrew Vaughn and find a way to get a bounce-back season from Luis Robert Jr.

Plus, youngsters such as Bryan Ramos, Dominic Fletcher, and Brooks Baldwin likely will get a lot of at-bats this season with top hitting prospects Edgar Quero and Colson Montgomery likely making their big-league debut.

Hitting has become even harder these days, so it cannot hurt to have some different approaches to helping players get better. At least, stop this trend of players swinging at bat pitches.

Jason Bourgeois is returning as first base coach along with coaching the outfield. Justin Jirschele went from managing Triple-A Charlotte to being the third base coach after Pedro Grifol and some other coaches were fired in August. He will stay in that role.

Should Venable have been given free reign to hire his staff?

That is one issue with this announcement. The belief is he should be given the ability to clear out the entire coaching staff and bring in his own guys.

The only mitigating factor is the Sox seem to be pivoting to an approach where the coaching staff is focusing on helping players get ready to play the game in front of them while the organization will take care of the development and improvement. That is not to say Katz or Thames are not allowed to give a few tips here and there, but Brian Bannister is largely responsible for all the pitchers' development and improvement, with Fuller covering the hitting.

Venable should get comfortable with Bannister, especially with his forward-thinking views on pitching. The Sox hired Fuller after Venable so you got to think he had a say in who will be the team's director of hitting.

Plus, unless Venable is a terrible manager like Pedro Grifol, he is going to be here for a while, as he will not be judged on wins or losses for the next couple of seasons. He can always slowly bring in his own people, especially since the next two seasons are lost.

Giving Sizemore this offensive coordinator title is a nice way to mimic the coaching titles the Texas Rangers have. You can sort of see Venable's influence there.

Let's hope this emphasis on hitting can help improve the lineup because this is the White Sox, where somehow things get worse and can continue to stay there.