Cardinals cult hero José Martínez is back in MLB after landing hitting coach role

Jose Martinez will always hold a special place in the hearts of many St. Louis Cardinals fans, and now he's making his return to the sport as a hitting coach within the Minnesota Twins organization.

Martinez made the announcement on his personal X account on Friday, which comes months after Martinez expressed his interest in getting back into professional baseball as a coach.

Martinez came to the Cardinals organization in 2016, making his MLB debut with them later that season. Martinez had a ton of success at the plate for the Cardinals, posting a near .900 OPS in 2017 and .821 OPS in 2018. The biggest issue for Martinez was finding a defensive home, which played into why he did not stick with the Cardinals very long. Perhaps if the designated hitter role came to the National League sooner, he would have been around a lot longer!

Instead, Martinez was shipped to the Tampa Bay Rays, alongside Randy Arozarena, in the Matthew Liberatore trade.

Now, six years after his final Major League game, Martinez is making his comeback as a hitting coach.

The Cardinals are wise to pursue other hitting coach voices and pass on Jose Martinez

Back in May, Martinez expressed that he'd love to coach with the Cardinals, but it's not surprising to see his first shot come elsewhere, given how much the Cardinals like their current hitting staff at the minor league levels and the recent change to the lead hitting coach role in St. Louis.

The Cardinals announced the hiring of hitting coach Joel McKeithan this past week, who will be replacing the recently dismissed Brant Brown on the Cardinals Major League staff. McKeithan brings a mix of experience coaching with two other MLB organizations, most recently the White Sox, and prior to that, the Reds, as well as a history of working with Driveline. This seems to fit the mold of what Chaim Bloom and his team are looking for right now.

That's not at all to say that Martinez was a bad candidate or that he will not find success with the Twins, but it is to say that the Cardinals are wise to stick with their current plan and models, rather than going in the direction of Martinez at this current moment.

Martinez joins a wealth of former Cardinals in Major League Baseball filling different coaching roles. The Cardinals organization alone has Daniel Descalso, Jon Jay, Ryan Ludwick, Jason Isringhausen, Yadier Molina,

Across baseball, guys like Skip Schumaker, Shane Robinson, Corey Dickerson, Randy Flores, and many moreAlbert Pujols will soon join that list, once he lands a managerial role.

Congratulations to Martinez on his new role!

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