Tampa Bay Rays‘ hitting coach Chad Mottola was recently elected to the International League Hall of Fame for his contributions as player.
Mottola is entering his third season with the Rays. Between 2017 and 2018, under Mottola’s guidance, the Rays made the biggest improvements in batting average, on-base percentage, and strikeout percentage in the entire league.
He began his coaching career in the Blue Jays’ organization in 2009. By the next season, he had taken over as hitting coach for the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate. Mottola was in that position for three seasons before being promoted to the big leagues as hitting coach for the Toronto Blue Jays.