Former White Sox outfielder/designated hitter Nicky Delmonico has rejoined the organization — but not as a player. The ChiSox announced this morning that the 29-year-old Delmonico will be the new hitting coach for their Class-A Advanced affiliate. Delmonico hadn’t made a formal announcement of his retirement, but it seems as though at least for now, he’s moving to another phase of the game.
A sixth-round pick by the Orioles back in 2011, Delmonico was traded to the Brewers in a 2013 swap that sent Francisco Rodriguez to Baltimore. After that K-Rod trade, Delmonico spent a couple seasons in the Brewers organization but never advanced beyond Class-A Advanced before being cut loose. He latched on as a minor league free agent with the White Sox the following offseason and righted the ship with solid showings at Double-A and Triple-A in 2015-16.
By 2017, Delmonico had been called up for his big league debut, turning some heads with a .262/.373/.482 showing through 166 plate appearances as a 25-year-old rookie. He’d spend parts of the next three seasons with the South Siders but was never able to recapture that rookie form. On the whole, Delmonico logged 574 plate appearances in the Majors and batted .224/.312/.384 with 18 home runs, 17 doubles and five triples. Delmonico was a better hitter in the upper minors, slashing .274/.342/.487 in parts of three Double-A seasons and .259/.342/.421 in parts of five Triple-A seasons.
Delmonico is the latest recent big leaguer to join the ChiSox’ minor league coaching ranks. The Sox hired Danny Farquhar as their Class-A Advanced pitching coach for the 2021 season and named former big league corner infielder Chris Johnson their Triple-A hitting coach in Dec. 2020. Former ChiSox infielder Chris Getz, meanwhile, heads up the team’s player development department and was elevated to assistant GM a year ago.
This is an instance of the blind leading the blind.
Not always. Sometimes, the player might not put it all together but understands how to demonstrate what he’s trying to do. Either way, he’ll be gone if there are no results.
@ old york
Then explain why Williams is still there.
He has something on Jerry! Gotta be……Williams is a bum. Delmonico’s is a good steakhouse in lower Manhattan. I recommend it.
However I can’t say the same thing about Nicky
You mean the Williams who built the only WS winning team in the past century? Who fielded a competitive team his entire tenure as GM? Who built the Cuban pipeline that has helped the current franchise?
The Williams who has a far superior record than the current GM?
Amen!
There are a lot of successful coaches and guys who work in player development who never had success as players.
His dad is a long time coach at Tennessee and coached the Netherlands in the WBC
So his dad is qualified? But they didn’t hire his dad.
Nicky Delmonico has a higher career WAR than Tony LaRussa. Daryl Boston and Joe McEwing weren’t anything much more than replacement level players themselves. Others didn’t even play in MLB.
You don’t need to be a good player to coach.
Context clues, stymee. If his dad is a coach, then Nicky likely has more insight to coaching than the average bear
And as joew said, his dad was the head coach of Tennessee from 1990 to 2007, and coached in the WBC to boot. That’s quite a resume
The Rodriguez you have linked is not K-Rod
Delmonico walk off vs. Boston, Conor McGregor strut.
It’s nice to see that Delmonico will have a steak in helping young hitters develop.
Put a fork in it. Wrong stake!
I think “steak” was pun intended!
“Don’t do it like this.”
The move signals to your minor league players that you run an organization that values loyalty. It’s not lip service for CWS. They consistently provide opportunity to former/retired players in various roles with room for promotion.
those who can’t do, teach.
Those who can’t teach, teach gym. Lol
Delmonico made it MLB. He can do just fine.
Those who teach, BTW, often do quite well for themselves financially, and over a longer period of time.
Dumpster Diving Rick!
This changes the balance of power.
@kingman I agree! Huge power move!
Like this move. Grinders/mutts always make the best coaches.
Lol you guys really care this much about an A level minor league instructor? Is he managing the team? No! will he have FO people instruct him on what certain players need to focus on? Yes. Does he know hitting drills? Yes.
He’s also a guy who had setbacks but still managed to make it to the show. He has a lot to teach.
Pretty sweet, best wishes Nicky D!
A few funny funny jokes here, but some of you people seem to seriously think all hitting coaches were Mickey Mantle in a previous life.
True. For every Rod Carew, Don Baylor, or Bobby Bonds there are dozens of Ty Van Burkleo’s, Lee Tinsley’s, and Howie Clark’s
I found the one about his having ADD and it being a reason that he shouldn’t have the job particularly offensive. People need to stop bashing mental health.
Nice to see Danny Farquhar still with the Sox!
Coaching.
Yes, most of us read the article.
Nice for both the fans and the current players within the organization to see this…. And feel this… Are there examples of former players out there with bad things to say about the organization? These moves are of little risk, but with great optics for the reputation of the franchise
Most coaches cannot play at almost any level. That’s whey they are coaches. However, Nicky played at the MLB level, so he got skills and is very smart. I expect him to do well at the lower end and work his way up. The same thing was said about Chris Getz, right?
This bold move should help fix the Sox sub-.500 record against good teams. They don’t need any free agent signings, I’m sure Kimbrel will win the Cy Young and Leury Garcia the MVP. So much to look forward to, can’t wait for the season to start even if it winds up being in August.