The Minnesota Twins made a move on Thursday and hired their Class-A Advanced skipper, Jeff Smith to first base coach on the big league team.
Smith has coached in the Twins Minor League system for the past 12 seasons, leading the Gulf Coast League Twins in 2005 as their hitting coach, and manager for Class A Beloit Snappers, former affiliate of the Twins from 2006-2007, Fort Myers Miracle (A+) from 2008-2009, also 2015-2016, and previously with the New Britain Rock Cats (AA) from 2010-2014.
Not only will Smith man the first base coaching box, he will also assist with the catchers and oversee base-running instruction.
“My ultimate goal was to get on a Major League staff and become a coach. I’m very thankful. I think the one thing that intrigued me was the opportunity to work with our catchers this spring. It’s something I have a passion for,” Smith told MLB.com.
MLB.com also reported that on the same day, the Twins announced the hiring of Jeff Pickler, who will join the big league coaching staff as an avenue between the front office and the coaches to share analytics with the staff and players. In his previous line of work, he was a special assistant for pro scouting and player development with the Los Angeles Dodgers and had scouting roles with the Arizona D-Backs and San Diego Padres.
