The Texas Rangers have found their new hitting coach of the future. After their recent firing of the previous offensive coordinator, Donnie Ecker, who had been with the team since 2021, the team was looking for a new coach to fill the role. An extremely slow start to the year on the offensive side of the ball led to this decision, and ultimately forced them into a decision in which they had to make a mid-season firing and hiring.
The new hire is former MLB second baseman, and brother of New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, Bret Boone, as was reported by the team’s public relations account. He will join the team for their upcoming series against the Boston Red Sox, as was reported in the post. This will be Boone’s first hitting coach role of his career, but his track record as a player speaks for itself.
Over the course of 14 seasons, Boone slashed .266/.325/.442 with 252 home runs, 1,021 RBI, 927 runs, 94 stolen bases, and 1,295 strikeouts to 552 walks. This career would not be complete without mentioning that he has won the Silver Slugger Award twice, the Gold Glove Award four times, was an All-Star three times, and led the American League in RBI back in 2001 with a whopping 141.
This hiring choice comes down to a litany of factors, no doubt, but when looking at his resume, the first thing that jumps off the page was his abilities as a player at the plate. A long-time career like that stands out, and when a team is struggling immensely to put the ball in play like the Rangers have so far in 2025, turning to someone who was exceptional at doing so is not the worst idea.
