“It’s a results-oriented job,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill told reporters in Miami on Apr. 19 after firing hitting coach Mike Pagliarulo. “Offensively, we haven’t been getting it done. Just felt like it was time for change.”
Hill promoted Jeff Livesey to interim hitting coach and reassigned Eric Duncan from minor league hitting coordinator to fill Livesey’s shoes as assistant hitting coach. I expected the team’s performance at the plate to improve following these changes, not because of the coaches themselves, but because the Marlins were on a historically bad pace. Too much talent for that to continue.