The Los Angeles Dodgers have hired a former White Sox hitting instructor. MLB insider Francys Romero claims that Mike Tosar was rehired by the Dodgers as a scout.
After a terrible 2022 season in which a White Sox club that was favored to win the division finished in the bottom half of the league in terms of runs scored, Tosar was brought in to replace White Sox hitting coach Frank Menechino.
After spending some time together in the Royals organization, Pedro Griol hand-picked Tosar. Prior to Tosar moving to Chicago with the recently hired Grifol, the Royals attempted to keep him on as their Special Assignment hitting coach in 2023. He appeared to be a valuable addition to the White Sox staff at the time.
In 2020, Tosar made his Royals debut. Prior to that, he worked with the Dodgers from 2012 to 2019 as an International Scout and Special Assignment Hitting Coach. Additionally, he has worked with the Rays, Marlins, Twins, and Mariners organizations. Romero claims that during his time with the Dodgers, he was instrumental in the acquisition of Andy Pages, Miguel Vargas, and Yordon Alveraz. Vargas was transferred to the White Sox in exchange for Michael Kopech last season.
When Tosar was younger, he played for Grifol in Miami. The Milwaukee Brewers selected him in the first round of the 1987 MLB June Amateur Draft, right out of high school. But instead, he chose to enroll at the University of Miami. In 1991, he joined the New York Mets Gulf League affiliate to play professional baseball. He had a brief playing career. He batted.237 in three minor league seasons, but he only had 37 RBIs and no home runs.
In 1997, he accepted a position as coach of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays of the Gulf Coast League after deciding to put up his cleats. He collaborated there with Carl Crawford and Josh Hamilton, two future All-Stars.
After two seasons, he became a scout for the Florida Marlins organization in 2000. In 2003, he went back to instructing, this time as a hitting coach for the Minnesota Twins. After three seasons, he brought his skills to Seattle to work as the Mariners’ single-A hitting instructor and scout. In 2008 and 2009, he was elevated to the positions of lower-level hitting coordinator and outfield and base running coordinator, respectively. Up until 2012, he continued to serve as the team’s coordinator of lower-level hitting.
Tosar was acknowledged for having contributed to the rise of some well-known Royals players. He was chosen to throw to Mike Moustakas at the 2017 Home Run Derby.
Regretfully, Tosar’s brief time with the White Sox was marred by subpar performance. The squad finished 29th in MLB in runs scored, 25th in batting average, and 20th in home runs in 2023, but they also had the poorest on-base % in baseball. The White Sox lost to 28-91 the next season, which led to the dismissal of Grifol, Tosar, bench coach Charlie Montoyo, and third base coach Eddie Rodriguez.
