Angels promote Hansen to hitting coach
Takes over from Baylor; Sorrento to be an assistant
ANAHEIM -- The Angels announced Tuesday that they have promoted Dave Hansen to be their new hitting coach, a move that had been anticipated for quite some time.
Hansen spent the last two years as an assistant under hitting coach Don Baylor, who has been asked to return in an advisory role but has yet to make a decision. Paul Sorrento, who spent last season with the team as something of a third hitting coach, will be Hansen's assistant.
Hansen's promotion comes a day after Charles Nagy was named pitching coach, replacing Mike Butcher, who's now with the D-backs. First-year general manager Billy Eppler continues to have conversations with the rest of Mike Scioscia's coaching staff regarding potential role changes.
• Angels pick Nagy for pitching coach
Hansen established himself as one of the game's premier pinch-hitters in a 15-year career that spanned from 1990-2005, with 11 of those seasons coming with the crosstown Dodgers. The 46-year-old holds the Dodgers' record for most pinch-hits in a single season (18 in 1993) and in a career (110). In 2000, he set a Major League record with seven pinch-hit home runs.
A Southern California native, Hansen was the Dodgers' hitting coach in 2012 and the Mariners' hitting coach in 2013. With the Angels in 2014, he assumed a lot of the full-time responsibilities as Baylor missed the first 12 weeks recovering from a broken thigh bone. The Angels led the Majors in runs that season, but struggled offensively this season, ultimately finishing 24th in OPS and 20th in runs.
Sorrento, 49, is entering his fifth season with the organization after previously serving as hitting coach for Class A Advanced Inland Empire and Minor League hitting coordinator. Sorrento played in the big leagues from 1989-99 and teamed with Nagy on the Indians from 1992-95, batting .261 while averaging 19 homers and 66 RBIs in that span.