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The Marlins have hired Mel Stottlemyre Jr. (pitching coach), Trey Hillman (first base/infield coach), Jeff Livesey (assistant hitting coach) and Kevin Barr (strength and conditioning coach) to fill out Don Mattingly’s 2019 major league staff, the club announced Wednesday morning. The remaining positions will be filled by familiar faces from last season’s 98-loss campaign.
The Miami Marlins today announced the club’s Major League coaching staff for the 2019 season, including three coaches who are new to the organization.
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) December 5, 2018
Bienvenidos a Miami! #OurColores pic.twitter.com/CEmkMhmdae
And here’s the full press release:
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The Hillman hire confirms Clark Spencer’s report from Tuesday. No doubt, his previous experiences with Donnie—inside the Yankees organization during the 1990s and as a manager/bench coach combination for the 2011-2013 Dodgers—worked in his favor here. Perhaps even more important, Hillman has ties to high-ranking Marlins executive Gary Denbo:
Another tie in the Trey Hillman - Gary Denbo relationship:
— Wells Dusenbury (@DuseReport) December 5, 2018
When Hillman got a managing job in Japan in 2002, he brought on Denbo as hitting coach.
Now, Denbo #Marlins VP of Scouting & Player Development as Hillman comes in as assistant coach.
Stottlemyre’s father, Mel Sr., served together with Mattingly on the Yankees coaching staff in 2004 and 2005. Notable snubs for the pitching gig include Jeff Nelson and Roger McDowell.
President of baseball operations Michael Hill further justified all these additions in a brief video.
The door has now officially closed on 2018 coaches Juan Nieves, Perry Hill, Frank Menechino and Ty Hill. Perry Hill and Menechino already landed assignments with the Mariners and White Sox, respectively.
Overall, this gives the Marlins one of MLB’s oldest staffs, a questionable approach considering that they’re forecasted to have an extremely young roster next season. You wonder how well everybody will be able to relate to one another on and off the field.