Meet with new White Sox coaches on Pedro Grifol’s staff

Meet with new White Sox coaches on Pedro Grifol’s staff originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

The White Sox announced their coaching staff for the 2024 season. Here’s the full staff.

· Bench Coach: Charlie Montoyo
· Pitching Coach: Ethan Katz
· Assistant Pitching Coach: Matt Wise
· Hitting Coach: Marcus Thames
· Assistant Hitting Coach: Mike Tosar
· First Base/Outfield Coach: Jason Bourgeois
· Third Base/Infield Coach: Eddie Rodríguez
· Catching Coach: Drew Butera
· Major League Coach: Grady Sizemore

Wise, Thames, Bourgeois, Butera and Sizemore are new to the organization. The rest are returners from last season. Here’s a quick bio for the newcomers.

Matt Wise

Wise, 47, was named the pitching coach for the Los Angeles Angels in 2021. He’s been with the staff since 2020.

The White Sox reassigned their bullpen coach, Curt Hassler, to a different role in the organization. The organization also hired Brian Bannister to become the director of pitching this offseason. Ethan Katz remains the pitching coach since he was hired in 2021.

Wise was accredited with the Angels’ top ten ERA in 2022. The staff regressed in 2023, finishing with a 4.64 ERA, which ranked 24th in MLB. Their 1.46 WHIP ranked 26th in MLB, too.

Marcus Thames

Thames, 46, played in the major leagues for 10 seasons between the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers. He slashed .246/.309/.485 over his career with 115 career home runs and 301 RBIs.

In 2013, Thames started his coaching career with the Yankees’ farm system, becoming the hitting coach at every single level at some point. In 2015, Thames became the hitting coach for the major league ball club.

He stayed with the Yankees for five seasons until 2021, when he moved to Miami to become the Marlins’ hitting coach. Thames spent the 2023 season as the hitting coach for the Los Angeles Angels.

Jason Bourgeois

Bourgeois, 41, played in MLB — if you count his seasons in the minor leagues — for 18 seasons. He played in the major leagues for eight seasons, including two different stints with the White Sox.

From 2007-08, he played between the White Sox’ major league team and the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. Later, in 2016, he was traded back to the White Sox, where he played entirely on a minor league deal with the team.

He’s been coaching in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ farm system since 2019.

Drew Butera

Butera, 40, played 12 seasons in the major leagues with several clubs. He played predominantly with the Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers. Butera played in Kansas City while Grifol was the team’s bench coach.

Since igniting his coaching career, Butera’s first coaching stint began in 2022 as the Los Angeles bullpen catcher/coach.

Grady Sizemore

Sizemore, 41, played eight seasons with the then-Cleveland Indians. He was a regular adversary of the White Sox and a good one at that. He earned MVP votes for three straight seasons, along with two Gold Gloves and a Silver Slugger award.

In 2017, directly after his playing career, Sizemore joined Cleveland as an advisor to their player development department. He hasn’t earned any other experience since then.

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