SF Giant could tab popular postseason hero to be their new hitting coach

It was announced that SF Giants hitting coach Justin Viele will be leaving the organization to become the hitting coach for the Texas Rangers. This opening on the staff should be filled by none other than postseason legend Travis Ishikawa. 

This would not come entirely out of left field. In fact, if would come less out of left field than how out of left field it was when Ishikawa was made the starting left fielder towards the end of the 2014 season. Of course, this led to him providing one of the most iconic moments in franchise history with his game-winning 3-run home run in Game 5 of the 2014 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals which sent the Giants to the World Series for the 3rd time in 5 seasons.

Earlier it 2024 it was announced that Ishikawa would be the hitting coach for the San Jose Giants which is the Single-A minor league affiliate for the Giants. Prior to that he served as a hitting coach in the Arizona Fall League for the Giants so he has remained in the organization since his playing days ended in 2016.

SF Giants should hire franchise legend Travis Ishikawa as their new hitting coach

Ishikawa would be another hit of nostalgia on the coaching staff of the Giants since they already have Pat Burrell as hitting coach. He was hired in November of last year to be the hitting coach alongside Viele. Like Ishikawa, Burrell also served as the hitting coach for the San Jose Giants before becoming hitting coach of the San Francisco Giants. Burrell was a key part of the 2010 Giants as a player. The Giants picked him up midseason and “Pat the Bat” got hot and helped lead the team to an NL West title and their first World Series championship since moving to San Francisco.

 Hiring Ishikawa would definitely be a nice fan-service move, but it has the downside of fans getting angry at Ishikawa whenever the bats go cold. That is simply part of the territory as a hitting coach so the Giants may not want a franchise legend to catch flak from fans. But then again, Buster Posey is putting his reputation on the like to a certain extent in his new role as president of baseball operations so why not throw Ishikawa to the wolves as well.

Ishikawa would be the most fan-friendly choice, but they could opt to promote assistant hitting coach Pedro Guerrero to Viele’s position even though Guerrero is reportedly interviewing for a position with the Miami Marlins. They could just make Burrell the sole hitting coach, or perhaps they could get someone from outside the organization. Thus far, the Giants have made all of their promotions from within this offseason. J.P. Martinez was promoted from assistant pitching coach when Bryan Price stepped down and Zack Minasian was promoted from VP of Professional Scouting to the GM role. Therefore, promoting Ishikawa would be another internal hire but perhaps the Giants want to get him some more experience as a coach in the minor leagues before exposing him to the scrutiny that comes with being a hitting coach for a major league team.

No matter what, it is cool that Ishikawa is still part of the organization and whether it is now or somewhere down the road, it would not come as a huge shock to see him as the hitting coach of the Giants.