Nearly three weeks after Will Venable informally announced the identity of his new bench coach, the White Sox formally announced the hiring of Walker McKinven and the rest of the major league coaching staff today.
Daryl Van Schouwen reported at the start of the month that the White Sox were retaining a majority of their coaches, which members of the organization had signaled here and there with offhand references to coaches who could theoretically be replaced. Indeed, the White Sox limited the external hires to two positions: McKinven at bench coach, and the similarly, Irishly surnamed Joel McKeithan as assistant hitting coach.
The rest of the staff returns, albeit with a couple of tweaks. Grady Sizemore remains on the coaching staff after his stint as interim manager under the title "offensive coordinator," and Drew Butera returns to his post as catching coach after filling in as a co-bench coach following the firing of Pedro Grifol and Charlie Montoyo. After filling out Sizemore's staff to end the season, longtime organizational fixtures Mike Gellinger and Doug Sisson will remain longtime organizational fixtures, but the team says they will be reassigned elsewhere.
Here's another way to document the changes, or the lack thereof:
| Role | 2024 Start | 2024 End | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Pedro Grifol | Grady Sizemore | Will Venable |
| Bench coach | Charlie Montoyo | Doug Sisson Drew Butera | Walker McKinven |
| Pitching coach | Ethan Katz | Ethan Katz | Ethan Katz |
| Assistant PC | Matt Wise | Matt Wise | Matt Wise |
| Hitting coach | Marcus Thames | Marcus Thames | Marcus Thames |
| Assistant HC | Mike Tosar | Mike Gellinger | Joel McKeithan |
| First base | Jason Bourgeois | Jason Bourgeois | Jason Bourgeois |
| Third base | Eddie Rodriguez | Justin Jirschele | Justin Jirschele |
| Catching | Drew Butera | n/a | Drew Butera |
| Major league coach | Grady Sizemore | n/a | n.a |
| Offensive coordinator | n/a | n/a | Grady Sizemore |
We previously discussed McKinven's background with Milwaukee, which featured an assortment of titles culminating in his most recent position as run prevention coordinator. As for McKeithan, he spent the last two seasons as the primary hitting coach for the Cincinnati Reds. He was promoted from assistant hitting coach after the 2022 season, but he and the other two hitting coaches were fired as part of a staff shake-up preceding the hiring of Terry Francona in October. Before his major league stints, he'd served as a minor league hitting coach in the Phillies and Tigers organizations.
Questions that the press release invited and did not answer include but are not limited to:
- What does an offensive coordinator do?
- Did Will Venable get a chance to explore additional external hires?
- Why were so many coaches retained after the losingest season in modern MLB history?
Ostensibly, Venable and Chris Getz will get a chance to answer them later today here in Dallas.
