Bonds, 51, has never coached at any level in baseball and retired from the game in 2007.
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It looked to be heading in that direction, but now it’s official: the Marlins have named Barry Bonds their new hitting coach.
This will be the first time Bonds has been on a coaching staff since his career ended in 2007.
Bonds began testing the waters for a return to baseball as a special instructor for the Giants during spring training in 2014. He’s a career.298/.444/.607 (182 OPS+) hitter and the all-time home run king with 762.
New Marlins manager Don Mattingly also picked Tim Wallach as bench coach; Juan Nieves as pitching coach; Brian Schneider for catchers; and Lorenzo Bundy as outfield/baserunning coach, the Marlins announced. Bonds played 22 seasons in the majors, making the All-Star team 14 times and winning 12 Silver Slugger Awards.
Bonds will work alongside Frank Menechino, who returns as the team’s assistant hitting coach.
“The only way that I’m going to be able to give the information that I have in my brain is I’ve got to be in the trenches with them”. Wallach filled the same role for Mattingly with the Dodgers the past two seasons after serving as hitting coach the previous three seasons. “Me being there day in and day out, I think I bring a lot to the table”.
While speaking to reporters Friday, the topic of Bonds’ Hall of Fame candidacy inevitably arose.
Almost a year ago, in his third try on the ballot, Bonds received 202 votes for 37 percent from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
The voting, Bonds said, is out of his hands.
Right now, it appears Bonds will receive enough votes each year to remain on the ballot (five percent) but not enough for induction.
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Rodriguez, coming off a magical 2015 season in NY, already won many fans back over.
