The White Sox have officially revealed their 2025 major league coaching staff under new manager Will Venable.
It was already reported that several familiar faces would be returning, with Ethan Katz serving as the pitching coach, and Marcus Thames as the hitting coach. Daryl Van Schouwen Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times also reported that Grady Sizemore would be back on staff, but with Walker McKiven named the team’s new bench coach, it was unclear what role Sizemore would serve.
Sizemore has been officially named the White Sox offensive coordinator. It’s a position the White Sox did not have last season. However, when Sizemore was initially brought into the White Sox organization it was under the designation of “Major League Coach” so the title should be taken with a grain of salt.
Sizemore is hoping to help revive an offense that ranked last in almost every major category last season. The former three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove Winner took the reins as interim manager after Pedro Grifol was fired and posted a 13-32 record. During his time as skipper, he appeared to earn the trust of the players, who once sported Sizemore t-shirts during pregame warmups. Given the rapport he had built, the front office felt it was important to have him back in the clubhouse for next season.
The rest of the coaching staff is as follows:
- Bench Coach: Walker McKinven
- Pitching Coach: Ethan Katz
- Hitting Coach: Marcus Thames
- Offensive Coordinator: Grady Sizemore
- First Base/ Outfield Coach: Jason Bourgeois
- Third Base/ Infield Coach: Justin Jirschele
- Assistant Pitching Coach: Matt Wise
- Assistant Hitting Coach: Joel McKeithan
- Catching Coach: Drew Butera
McKiven served as the Brewer’s run-prevention coordinator last season. The 35-year-old New Trier High School graduate has been commended for his work developing catchers and assisting with strategy. He played a role in William Contreras’s defensive turnaround and helped the Brewers win back-to-back NL Central titles.
Thames has been a major league hitting coach for eight seasons. Before coming to Chicago, he was the Angels’ hitting coach in 2023. That season their offense ranked third in the American League in home runs, fifth in slugging percentage, and seventh in OPS. While having Shohei Ohtani in the lineup certainly helped matters, it shows that a coach is only as good as the players he has around him. During his first season with the White Sox, the offense ranked near the bottom of the league in every major offensive category.
Jirschele was brought up from Triple-A Charlotte on August 8th to replace Eddie Rodriguez as third base coach. Bourgeois will enter his second season with the White Sox. He served as an outfield coach last season and assisted with baserunning. He previously spent five seasons in the Dodgers organization as the outfield and baserunning coach.
Wise is entering his second season with the White Sox. From 2021-23 he served as the Angels pitching coach. Butera is a 12-year MLB veteran with 521 games of catching experience under his belt. He was a part of the Royals 2015 World Series team alongside Pedro Grifol which is one of the he was brought on board. Like Wise, Butera will also be entering his second season with the White Sox.
McKeithan is one of the new faces on staff. The 33-year-old spent the last two seasons as the Cincinnati Reds hitting coach. McKeithan previously served as the hitting coach for Class A Williamsport in the Phillies organization before taking on an assistant hitting coach job with the Reds. The Raleigh, N.C. native played three seasons at Vanderbilt and spent multiple seasons in the independent Frontier League before switching to the coaching ranks.
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