Managers are typically made from catchers. Both current Giants manager Bob Melvin and former SF Giants manager Bruce Bochy were catchers. Recently, the Detroit Tigers announced that veteran catcher Tim Federowicz will take over as manager of their Triple-A club, carrying on the pattern
The former SF Giants catcher has been named minor league manager by the Detroit Tigers.
Anthony Iapoce, who was formerly the Tigers’ first base coach, was elevated to take over the role. The hitting coach on Federowicz’s staff is Mike Hessman.
The Atlanta Braves selected Hessman, a product of Santa Ana, California’s Mater Dei High School, in the fifteenth round of the 1995 MLB Draft. In 1996, at the age of 18, he started his professional career. He continued to play professionally until the end of the 2015 season. He hit 433 home runs in 19 minor-league seasons and finished with 14 major-league home runs in his brief careers with the Braves, Tigers, and New York Mets.
Conversely, FederowiczFederowicz concluded his eight-year major league career following the 2021 campaign. He played for the Dodgers’ Triple-A club in 2021, but he hadn’t played in the main leagues since 2019. In 2017, he spent a brief period of time with the Giants. With San Francisco, he made three recordings.
Overall, he posted a .568 OPS while making stops with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Giants, Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, and Texas Rangers. He rarely had consistent playing time as he accumulated over 100 plate appearances just once in his career.
However, the 36-year-old does hold a minor footnote in Giants history. He encouraged outfielder Mac Williamson to work out with a private hitting coach, Doug Latta, who is well-respected throughout baseball. This paid immediate dividends for Williamson and it looked like he was on the cusp of breaking out in 2018 before a concussion derailed his career.
For Federowicz, he jumped into coaching immediately after retiring, becoming the manager for the Seattle Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate for the 2022 season. He was named the catching coach on A.J. Hinch’s staff for the Tigers last year before being reassigned to be the manager of their Triple-A team for the 2024 season.
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