Gardenhire assembles Tigers’ coaching staff
New Detroit Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire finished assembling his coaching staff for the 2018 season on Thursday.
Gardenhire opted to keep third base coach Dave Clark and hitting coach Lloyd McClendon, who were both on the staff of former manager Brad Ausmus. As well, former Tigers infielder Ramon Santiago will join next year’s staff as the first base coach.
Gardenhire also named Chris Bosio as pitching coach, Rick Anderson as bullpen coach, Phil Clark as assistant hitting coach, Steve Liddle as bench coach and Joe Vavra as quality control coach.
“I’m thrilled about the coaching staff we’ve been able to assemble,” Gardenhire said in a release. “Collectively, this group has extensive playing and coaching experience at both the Major and Minor League levels, and has a proven track record of developing young players.”
The 55-year-old Clark will be entering his fifth season with the Tigers after coming to Detroit following five seasons with the Houston Astros. He served as Houston’s manager for the final 13 games of 2009.
The 58-year-old McClendon has spent 37 years in professional baseball. He coached for the Tigers from 2006-13 and the club advanced to the playoffs in four of those eight seasons.
He left in 2014 to become manager of the Seattle Mariners, but returned to the Detroit organization in 2016 as manager of the club’s Triple-A farm in Toledo. He returned to Detroit last season as hitting coach.
“Lloyd and Dave, who were both here previously, stood out when looking at the pool of available candidates, and I’m really excited to have them continue to develop our players,” Gardenhire said. “I’ve worked with many of these coaches before, and I’ve seen firsthand their passion for teaching the game of baseball and seeing it played the right way. I’m confident that our time in Detroit will be successful.”
The 38-year-old Santiago has spent 13 seasons in the majors, including 10 with the Tigers.
The 50-year-old Anders served as Gardenhire’s pitching coach from 2002-14 with the Minnesota Twins. Over his 13 seasons with the club, the Twins issued the fewest walks in Major League Baseball.
The 54-year-old Bosio joins the Tigers after spending the past six seasons with the Chicago Cubs, which included a World Series title in 2016.
In 2015, the Cubs boasted Major League Baseball’s lowest earnedrun average and Jake Arrieta won a Cy Young Award.
The 49-year-old Clark joins the Tigers after serving the previous three seasons as a hitting coach in the organization, while the 58-year-old Liddle also has ties to Gardenhire in Minnesota, having spent 11 seasons with the Twins from 2002-12.
Vavra, 57, also has ties to the Twins, having spent 16 years with the club, including the last three as the team’s bench coach.