Tigers finalize 2024 coaching staff with 4 hires
Zawadzki, Iapoce, Cora and Sienko will assist Hinch
Evan Petzold
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – There are four newcomers to the 2024 Detroit Tigers’ coaching staff.
Assistant hitting coach Lance Zawadzki, first base coach Anthony Iapoce, third base coach Joey Cora and catching coach Ryan Sienko have joined the Tigers, hired by manager A.J. Hinch.
“All of these guys make players better,” Hinch said Monday at Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. “They all have a development background. They all have a coordinating background. They’ve all done a ton of things to be the best at what they do.”
The Tigers also moved Gary Jones, who coached third base last season, to the bench as a major league coach. His responsibilities include teaching team fundamentals and facilitating communication between the replay room and dugout for in-game challenges.
Here’s the full 2024 coaching staff: manager
A.J. Hinch, bench coach George Lombard, pitching coach Chris Fetter, assistant pitching coach Robin Lund, assistant pitching coach Juan Nieves, hitting coach Keith Beauregard, hitting coach Michael Brdar, assistant hitting coach Lance Zawadzki, major league coach Gary Jones, first base coach Anthony Iapoce, third base coach Joey Cora and catching coach Ryan Sienko.
Hinch, Lombard, Fetter and Nieves are entering their fourth seasons with the Tigers. Lund, Beauregard and Brdar are entering their second seasons.
This offseason, the Tigers hired Zawadzki (assistant hitting coach) from the Boston Red Sox and Cora (third base coach) from the New York Mets.
Cora, the older brother of Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora (who coached under Hinch in Houston before getting the Red Sox job), spent the past two seasons as the Mets’ third base coach. Before that, the 58-year-old worked as a coach for the Chicago White Sox (2004-11), Miami Marlins (2012) and Pittsburgh Pirates (2017-21).
“I would never call Joey old school,” Hinch said, “but he has been around the game for 30plus years at this level, working with some of the best infielders in the game. He has a direct style of coaching while still growing and learning the progressive side of the sport as the infield positioning has changed.”
As for the internal hires, Iapoce (first base coach) and Sienko (catching coach) worked for vice president of player development Ryan Garko last season, with Iapoce as the Triple-A Toledo manager and Sienko as the catching coordinator.
Iapoce, 50, previously worked as the hitting coach for the Texas Rangers and the Chicago Cubs, as well as the hitting coordinator for the Boston Red Sox. He managed top hitting prospects Colt Keith and Justyn-Henry Malloy with the Mud Hens in 2023.
Sienko, 48, previously spent seven years with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a catching coordinator and eight years with the Baltimore Orioles as an associate scout. He played a key role in helping catcher Jake Rogers improve his pitch framing techniques while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
“One, Gark is doing a tremendous job developing players and also developing coaches,” Hinch said. “Two, it has to be well-timed. When we need something, the fact that we can turn to our minor leagues and see the answer is very important.
“It’s good for the organization health, and it’s also good to still set the bar really high, and when you have internal people that can exceed that and be the choice, I think it’s an organizational win.”
Zawadzki, 38, replaces James Rowson — who departed in mid-November to become the New York Yankees’ hitting coach — as the assistant hitting coach in the three-man hitting department, alongside Beauregard and Brdar. He is the other external hire.
Zawadzki, who retired from his playing career after the 2017 season, played 20 games in his MLB career with the San Diego Padres in 2010, hitting .200 with two doubles, five walks and seven strikeouts in 42 plate appearances. He also played seven seasons in the minor leagues, five seasons in an independent league and two seasons in a Mexican league.
After his playing career, Zawadzki immediately latched on with the Red Sox as a coach for the 2018 season. He served as the hitting coach for Double-A Portland in 2020-21 before the Red Sox promoted him to hitting coordinator in the player development department in the 2022-23 seasons.
“He has a playing background,” Hinch said. “He has a feel-good vibe to him. He has a ton of knowledge, a ton of great feel with players in how he interacts with the different hitters. He brings a different element to our hitting department that we lost with J-Row going to the Yankees.”