Menechino named White Sox hitting coach

CHICAGO -- As the Triple-A Charlotte hitting coach taking part in White Sox big league camp, Frank Menechino got his first feel for the players making up the White Sox roster back in February and March.

Menechino, who was named the new White Sox hitting coach on Thursday, gained even greater knowledge after joining the team for the bulk of September after the conclusion of Charlotte’s season.

“In Spring Training, I watched them, and it’s totally different in Spring Training that it is during the season,” said Menechino during a conference call. “Watching them in the season come together and pull for each other, hold each other accountable and stuff like that, it was really fun to watch.”

General manager Rick Hahn and manager Rick Renteria joined Menechino on Thursday’s call, marking their first comments made since the team announced it was parting ways with hitting coach Todd Steverson and not extending the contract of assistant hitting coach Greg Sparks. Another coach will be added to the hitting mix, per Hahn’s comments on Thursday.

Charlotte topped the International League in runs scored (792), ranked second in on-base percentage (.352), slugging percentage (.472) and OPS (.824) and third in home runs (208) under Menechino’s guidance, marking his first year with the White Sox organization. Among the players Menechino coached at Charlotte were catcher Zack Collins, infielders Nick Madrigal and Danny Mendick and outfielder Luis Robert -- the No. 3 prospect in baseball, as ranked by MLB Pipeline -- all of whom figure to play a role on the 2020 White Sox and beyond, with Robert, Madrigal and possibly Collins at the forefront.

But Menechino will be entrusted with taking the White Sox offense as a whole to the next level, as the organization prepares to move from the end of the beginning rebuild phase into more of a contention posture.

“I'm not going to make any bones about it: It's time to turn the page, it's time to get us to another level of performance,” Renteria said. “That goes across the board, it goes with all aspects of our game.”

“His reputation in the game is very strong and for good reason given his knowledge and his passion and work ethic,” said Hahn of Menechino. “We really feel very strongly that he's the right guy to help take this offense to the next level as we put ourselves in a position to contend for championships.”

“If we want to win, and Ws are the only thing that matters, if everyone plays for the 'W', everyone will have their numbers at the end of the season,” Menechino said. “So collectively is where it’s at. We have to come together, play together as a team and if everybody is out there fighting for each other I can live with the results.”

Prior to joining the White Sox organization, Menechino spent five seasons (2014-18) on the Miami Marlins Major League staff. That time included three as the assistant hitting coach (2014-16) and two as the hitting coach (2017-18). Menechino worked with players such as Dee Gordon, Marcell Ozuna, J.T. Realmuto, Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich as part of the Marlins, stressing Thursday young hitters need three years in the big leagues or roughly 1,500 at-bats to figure out who they are.

Of course, Menechino should have the benefit of working with accomplished veterans as well following what should be an active White Sox offseason. But after working behind Steverson from 2014-19, the team felt it needed a new voice and a new way of communicating.

“He's got a very sound message about his approach to hitting and teaching hitting. He's an effective communicator in getting that message across to players,” Hahn said. “And he has a number of different tools in his box about how to get that message across and different ways to teach and effectively get guys to buy in to what he's preaching from an offensive standpoint.”

“I train these guys how to get the most out of what they have, and I train these guys to win,” Menechino said. “You deal with different stuff at different levels, you deal with different talent at different levels. But in the big leagues it's about winning, and the talent pool is there and it's my job to get the most out of them.”