MAYBE THE FEMALE PERSPECTIVE WILL GET THE BATS GOING

The New York Yankees are making major changes to their coaching staff this year.  With Larry Rothschild moving on from the Yankees this year to make way for more "increasing incorporation of analytics and biomechanics," the Yankees make another bold move to include a double-masters degree hitting coach that packs a powerful punch.  Oh, and did I mention, she is a woman?

Source: NY Times

32-year-old Rachel Balkovec will take hitting to a whole new level as the "first woman hired as a full-time hitting coach by a big-league team."  She signed with the club earlier this month, and will report to spring training on February 1st in Tampa.  She will work across the Yankee organization and could be in the Bronx in 2020.

According to the New York Times, "Club officials said they had hired Balkovec based on qualifications — including two master’s degrees in the science of human movement and experience at several minor league clubs — that were a natural fit with the coaching crew being assembled for next season."  

Balkovec broke into the baseball business back in 2014, when she was hired by the St. Louis Cardinals as the full-time minor league strength and conditioning coordinator and the first female strength and conditioning position in major league-affiliated baseball. But the road to career baseball was not easy for her, despite her years of experience playing catcher at Creighton University and New Mexico softball teams and her educational background.

"Being a woman has always been the biggest obstacle to her success, she said. After her messages were not answered when she initially applied for strength and conditioning jobs in baseball, she changed her first name on her résumé and applications to “Rae” from “Rachel.” Then the phone started ringing.

Once the door was ajar, Balkovec helped St. Louis and later the Houston Astros improve their hitting across the minor leagues.  The opportunity to come the Yankees stemmed from her work with Yankee hitting coordinator Dillon Lawson when they both were with the Astros organization in 2016.

“It’s an easy answer to why we chose Rachel for this role,” said the Yankees hitting coordinator, Dillon Lawson. “She’s a good hitting coach, and a good coach, period,” reported the Times' Lindsay Berra.

Balkovec brings a much needed modern spin to the Yankees after working at Driveline Baseball, a data-driven performance training center in Washington State, since August.  Her research on eye tracking for hitters and hip movement for pitchers will add tremendous value and currency to a team that desperately needs to elevate itself from a legacy team with 27 championships to a modern day dynasty.  I'm so elated for Rachel and as a female educator, director and journalist, I am excited to see how she will lift the Yankees hitters to new heights in 2020.

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof