Who’s been the biggest impact on the San Diego Padres‘ coaching staff this off-season? It’s former Padres’ outfielder Mark Kotsay. He has made the biggest impact on the players, when working with them in the batting cages, although you would think the help he has given the team would be mechanical help in their swings right? Wrong! According to Corey Brock of MLB.com, Wil Myers had this to say about Kotsay: “He was great, he’s energetic and positive, and those are the two biggest qualities you want in a hitting coach.”
This was perfect for Kotsay, who up until this year has worked in the Padres’ front office as a special assistant to the general manager, which helped him see all of the different aspects of what happens in the Padres’ front office. It also helped him stay attached to the game of baseball the year after he retired, which was following the 2013 season.
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However, in true Kotsay form, he found himself wanting to get back into the uniform more and more. I think the players like Kotsay’s leadership more than anything, because he was a part of a clubhouse for 17 years, because he was a team player, and has seen and done just about everything possible at the big league level.
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