The Blue Jays are hiring Lou Iannotti to John Schneider’s coaching staff, reports TSN’s Scott Mitchell (X link). Mitchell suggests Iannotti is likely to take an assistant hitting coach role under first-year hitting instructor David Popkins.
Iannotti, 32, had been with the Dodgers as a minor league hitting coordinator. A collegiate catcher at Quinnipiac, he had a very brief stint as a professional player in the independent Frontier League. Iannotti quickly moved into coaching in the lowest levels of the Dodgers’ minor league system. He worked his way up to hitting coach for L.A.’s Double-A affiliate before landing the coordinator role that allowed him to oversee multiple minor league levels. This’ll be his first work on an MLB coaching staff.
The Jays already have Hunter Mense on staff as an assistant hitting coach. He’s a holdover from previous years. The Jays otherwise made changes to their offensive staff. Toronto fired previous hitting coach Guillermo Martinez at the end of the season. Don Mattingly, who’d served as offensive coordinator in addition to bench coach, will only have traditional bench coach responsibilities with Popkins coming on as hitting coach.
