The White Sox have found their replacement for Frank Menechino. James Fegan of The Athletic and the Royals Farm Report on Twitter reported that Mike Tosar will be the White Sox new hitting coach.
Tosar was the Royals’ Special Assignment hitting coach. The Royals tried to retain Tosar on the 2023 staff before he followed the White Sox new manager, Pedro Grifol, to Chicago.
Tosar joined the Royals in his current position in 2020. Before that, he was an International Scout and Special Assignment Hitting Coach with the Dodgers from 2012-19. He’s also worked with the Mariners, Twins, Marlins, and Rays organizations.
From Player To Scout To Coach
Tosar grew up playing alongside Grifol as a youth in Miami. Tosar was drafted straight out of high school in the round of the 1987 MLB June Amateur Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. He opted to attend college at the University of Miami instead. He began playing pro ball in 1991 with the New York Mets Gulf League team. His playing career didn’t last long. In three minor league seasons, he batted .237 with just 37 RBIs and no home runs.
After he decided to hang up his cleats, he took a job as a coach of the Gulf Coast League Tampa Bay Devil Ray in 1997. While there, he worked with future All-Stars Josh Hamilton and Carl Crawford.
After two seasons, he moved to the Florida Marlins organization in 2000 to become a scout. He returned to a coaching role in 2003 as a hitting coach with the Minnesota Twins organization. After three seasons, he took his talents to Seattle for a duel job as the single-A hitting coach and scout for the Mariners. He was promoted to the team’s outfield and base running coordinator in 2008 and then again in 2009 to the lower-level hitting coordinator. He remained the team’s lower-level hitting coordinator until 2012.
The Dodgers then hired Tosar to be in their international scouting department, where he stayed for seven seasons before coming to the Royals.
Tosar was credited with helping the development of multiple big names on the Royals. Mike Moustakas selected Tosar to throw to him during the 2017 Home Run Derby. It speaks volumes about what players think of him as a coach.
Proven Track Record
In 2017 Grifol and Tosar worked in tandem to turn Jorge Soler into the force he is today. The pair communicated to assess Soler’s situation and formulated a plan, which began with a psychological approach. This helped build up his confidence.
A story from Alec Lewis in the Athletic documented how Tosar got to work with him in the batting cages and noticed something off with his swing. He felt he was swinging too lightly. Tosar had him focus on swinging deliberately during practice to replicate the in-game speed. Two years later, Soler led the league in home runs.
Salvador Perez saw what Tosar did to Soler, so he turned to him in for help before the start of the 2020 season. They worked together five days a week, doing drills to help give tighen up his swing. In 2021 Perez led the league with 48 home runs.
If Tosar can turn Soler and Perez into a home run machines, perhaps some of his magic can wear off on the White Sox.
The offense’s most significant issue last season was their lack of power. They were second in the league in hits but still managed to be middle of the pack in nearly every offensive category. Being ranked 22md in the league in home runs is why they were just 19th in runs scored. That, and poor plate discipline, is also one of the main reasons the White Sox parted ways with Frank Menechino.
Tosar joins a revamped coaching staff, including former Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo. Montoyo will serve as the team’s bench coach.
The Royals hitting record recently is not inspiring. Yet the Sox hire him. I don’t see how this is an improvement. But time will tell.