Rangers hire former Giants' hitting coach

After losing hitting coach Tim Hyers to the Braves, the Texas Rangers were tasked with finding someone new to fill the position. Soon after losing Hyers, they decided to hire Giants' hitting coach Justin Viele to fill the vacant role.

Texas Rangers hire former Giants' hitting coach

This is the second coach from the Giants that the Rangers have hired within the past three years. After the 2021 season, Donnie Ecker was hired to be the team's bench coach and offensive coordinator. He coached alongside Viele in San Fransisco, and will now be reunited with him in Arlington.

Viele enters an offense that ranked in the bottom third of MLB in 2024 in OPS, batting average, slugging percentage, and doubles. There are only two offensive free agents, which means Viele will have nearly the same players the Rangers had last year. It will be a big job to fix the lineup's production, but when one considers what he has done in the past, there are clearly reasons to be optimistic.

In 2024, the Giants' offense was a middle of the pack sort of group. They ranked 19th in OPS at .701, 16th in home runs with 177, and 11th in doubles with 266. Even still, last season was a big improvement from 2023, where the group ranked towards the bottom of the league in various offensive categories.

Viele's best season with the Giants came in 2021. They ranked second in all of baseball in home runs with 241, fourth in OPS at .769 and slugging percentage at .440, and seventh in batting average at .249.

While it is easy to look at 2023 and 2024 as " down seasons," it is also key to remember that rosters constantly evolve. It is impressive that Viele was able to find some middle ground following a strong 2021 and work the Giants back towards that peak during their lean years. Such an approach could help the Rangers considering they are attempting to replicate what they were able to do in 2023.

The choice to hire Viele is definitely a solid move that should benefit the Rangers. If he can get Texas to hit like the 2021 Giants, then the Rangers could potentially become a threat to the win AL West once again.