4 updated hitting coach ideas for the Cardinals after Turner Ward's firing

Gary Pettis

Gary Pettis is a former player who became a coach after his playing career, as is the story for most coaches on an MLB staff. Pettis played for a decade from 1982 until 1992, and he won five Gold Gloves during his time in the league. He wasn't much of a hitter, but that doesn't mean he can't be a solid hitting coach.

After hanging up his cleats, he began a lengthy coaching career with the then-California Angels in 1995. Stints with the Chicago White Sox (1997-2002), New York Mets (2003-2004), and the Texas Rangers (2007-2014) ensued. What Pettis is most known for, however, would be his time with the Houston Astros since 2015. He was a part of two World Series teams in 2017 and 2022 while in Houston.

It was recently announced that the Astros would not renew Pettis's contract for the 2025 season, thus making him an available candidate. Pettis, 66, also served as a third base coach, baserunning coordinator, and an outfield coach in Houston. Under his leadership, the Astros led the league in wRC+ (112), slugging percentage (.441), and they've had the second-best OPS (.770) in baseball.

Pettis would be a great addition to the Cardinals' staff. He was instrumental in leading young players like Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, and Yordan Alvarez in Houston, and his additional experience as an outfielder and baserunning coach would deepen the organization's coaching outreach. Additionally, Pettis is an outside voice, something the organization has been leaning towards since hiring Chaim Bloom last year.

Kevin Seitzer

Kevin Seitzer actually made my list back in August, but things have changed quite dramatically for Seitzer since then. At the time of publication, Seitzer's inclusion on my list received some flak. Fans were adamant that the Atlanta Braves would retain him for 2025, but that didn't end up being true.

The Braves fired Seitzer on October 10th after coaching in Atlanta for a decade. Seitzer resides in a suburb of Kansas City, and the 2024 season was tumultuous for him in more ways than one. On the field, the Braves experienced multiple injuries to stars like Ronald Acuna Jr., Austin Riley, Sean Murphy, Ozzie Albies, and Michael Harris II. It would be tough for any hitting coach to make up for those losses.

Off the field, Seitzer's wife was battling cancer for the second time in her life, this time colon cancer. Seitzer, in an interview with The Athletic, spoke of this battle. “She beat cancer for the second time,” Seitzer said of Beth, who battled ovarian cancer 20 years ago. “Going through what we did with that this year, and to be able to come out on the other side, I couldn’t be more thankful."

Since 2021, the Braves have had the 4th-best wRC+ (109), the second-best OPS (.772), and the 4th-best team batting average (.254), and those figures include a down 2024 season. They've also led the league in home runs since 2021 along with scoring the second-most runs in baseball in that time.

Seitzer, 62, would, in theory, provide a boost to the Cardinals' offense if he were to join the staff. He's a midwestern man who was born in Springfield, Illinois, and has spent a lot of his playing and coaching time with Kansas City, Milwaukee, and Cleveland. He would be an excellent outside hire for the organization, and he would hopefully be able to turn the tides in St. Louis.

Ryan Ludwick

Ryan Ludwick is the lone internal candidate on this list. He is currently a roving instructor for the St. Louis Cardinals, and he was instrumental in orchestrating a swing change for rookie center fielder Victor Scott II in July and August.

Howie Clark, the Triple-A hitting coach, was insistent on Scott adjusting his swing, but it took advice from former Cardinal Ludwick for things to change. Ludwick and Scott worked on shortening Scott's leg kick prior to swinging and instead using his athleticism in his swing; dividends showed pretty quickly. His average exit velocity increased, and he saw more power and home runs with his revamped swing.

Ludwick is listed as a special advisor with Jason Isringhausen for the minor league teams, but he could see his role grow this offseason. As a player, Ludwick had a slash line of .260/.330/.451 with 154 home runs in 12 seasons. He won a Silver Slugger award in 2008 thanks to a .299/.375/.591 slash line and an OPS+ of 151. He slugged 37 home runs and drove in 113 runners that year.

Ludwick has held his role as a special advisor and roving instructor in the minors since 2022. Perhaps a more stationary role in St. Louis with the big-league club would be enticing to Ludwick, now 46 years old. His coaching career has been spent solely with the Cardinals, as he has never been an instructor or coach for another team. This would be a risky internal hiring, but it would be a sign of a change of pace in the organization.

John Soteropulos

John Soteropulos is not a coach I was familiar with, so I can't take credit for mentioning him here. Kareem Haq was actually the person whom I saw bring up his name first as an option for hitting coach, and Kareem's reasoning is quite sound.

Soteropulos is a former Division 1 baseball player who attended the University of California, Berkeley. A few years after graduating, John combined his baseball acumen with his degree in English and Education to join Driveline, a company that specializes in data analytics in baseball. He worked for Driveline for almost four years before being hired by none other than Chaim Bloom in Boston as a roving hitting instructor. He has since been promoted to a hitting coordinator in Boston.

According to Kareem, Lars Nootbaar has worked with Soteropulos to improve bat speed. As is the case with most Driveline coaches, analytics and data are paramount for Soteropulos. He uses objective feedback like biomechanics, bat speed, and batted ball data to best help hitters find their stroke.

While he hasn't worked in isolation, Soteropulos's Red Sox have seen tremendous growth in their hitters since he joined the team two years ago. With Jason Ochart, the Director of Hitting Development and Program Design for the Red Sox, Soteropulos has helped Boston improve bat speed, bat-to-ball skills, swing decisions, and the flight of the ball via launch angle, barrel percentage, and exit velocity.

Red Sox hitters barreled baseballs at the 7th-best rate in 2024, the 13th-fastest average exit velocity in baseball, and the 9th-fastest bat speed in baseball in 2024. Boston also pulled fly balls, the best type of hit for damage offensively, at the 8th-highest rate in baseball in 2024.The changes that Soteropulos and his team implemented last year have been paying dividends already.

John Soteropulos's connections to Chaim Bloom make him a viable candidate to become the Cardinals' newest hitting coach, and his analytical approach to hitting would be a welcome change for an organization that has become stale in its coaching style.