HOUSTON -- The Astros made two more additions to their coaching staff for 2026, naming Anthony Iapoce as assistant hitting coach and Dan Hennigan as director of hitting and offensive coordinator on Wednesday. They’ll be working with Victor Rodriguez, who was hired last week as hitting coach after two seasons with the Padres.
Hennigan, who won’t be in uniform, spent last season as the club’s director of hitting after two years as a hitting analyst with the Twins. Rodriguez will be the team’s main hitting coach, with Iapoce serving as an assistant. Hennigan will create game plans and is an expert in swing biomechanics. He’ll serve as a bridge to Rodriguez and Iapoce with the young hitters.
Astros general manager Dana Brown, who announced the new hires at the General Managers Meetings in Las Vegas, said there will be more structure and defined roles by the hitting coaches next season.
“Getting a guy like Vic Rodriguez, a veteran guy and No. 1 hitting guy, who’s worked with a lot of really good Major League hitters, he’s going to be leading the charge,” Brown said. “In the past, we didn’t have our No. 1 truly defined; they were kind of like co-No. 1s. I think these guys will all bring their own specialties.”
Iapoce, 52, joined manager A.J. Hinch’s staff in Detroit in 2024 after managing with Triple-A Toledo in 2023. He has a deep history as a hitting coach, including three years each with the Cubs (2019-21) and Rangers (2016-18) and a year as the Red Sox's senior hitting coordinator in 2022.
Rodriguez served the past two seasons as the Padres' hitting coach and was also assistant hitting coach for the Red Sox (2013-17) and Guardians (2018-23).
“I think Vic has a unique skill set into tapping into the psyche of a lot of players and some good players from the past,” Brown said. “Iapoce comes with a lot of energy and experience and has been doing it for six years as a No. 1. Dan Hennigan will help us from an analytic and data standpoint in terms of preparing and game-planning. It’s a complete overhaul of how we did things.”
The Astros still have open spots at pitching coach and catching coach. The club didn’t renew the contracts of hitting coaches Alex Cintrón and Troy Snitker or catching coach Michael Collins after last season. Pitching coach Bill Murphy was hired by the Pirates. Cintrón (Rangers) and Snitker (Mets) have both landed a new job.
A season after leading the AL in batting average (.262) in 2024, the Astros’ offense regressed this year, though injuries played a huge part. They ranked 21st in MLB in runs (686), tied for 16th in homers (182), 26th in walks (471), tied for 11th in average (.250), tied for 14th in OPS (.714) and 23rd in batting average with runners in scoring position (.245). Houston was 28th in pitches seen per plate appearance.
“A big part of it is just getting guys to lock in on their pitch, stay in the middle of the field, stay in the middle of the zone, be patient unless you get that type of pitch,” Brown said. “Don’t swing at that pitch early that’s right on the edges. I think we were doing that and getting ourselves out with early contact, and it took away from our slug. We weren’t getting good pitches to hit. We were hitting pitches that were sort of in the strike zone, on the edges of the strike zone, but not in the middle of the strike zone.
“Our goal is to be more patient all the way up to two strikes and try to get more pitches we can do more damage on. We got away from that. Guys were swinging on the edges, and it showed in terms of slug. I think we’ll get back to that with some veteran leadership.”
Many of the Astros’ diminished offensive numbers from last year can be attributed to losing elite offensive performers in Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman from the 2024 team. Plus, slugger Yordan Alvarez missed 100 games while recovering from a broken bone in his hand and missed the final 11 games with a sprained ankle. All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes missed more than two months with a hamstring strain, All-Star shortstop Jeremy Peña was out more than a month with a broken rib and Jake Meyers missed substantial time with a calf injury.