Rangers promote Hayes, add Conner to staff

January 6th, 2022

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers continued to finalize their Major League coaching staff, announcing the promotion of Brett Hayes to bullpen coach and the hiring of Seth Conner as assistant hitting coach on Thursday.

Hayes previously held the title of coordinator of run prevention from 2018-21 following a 13-year playing career with six different organizations. His previous job included preparing scouting reports and communicating with the players in order to limit runs throughout games.

With Hayes in the bullpen, both pitching coaches Doug Mathis and Brendan Sagara will coach from the dugout during the 2022 season. Last season, Mathis was in the dugout and Sagara was in the bullpen during games.

Conner has served as a hitting coach at various levels since the conclusion of his playing career. Most recently, he was the hitting coach with the Florida Complex League Twins in 2021. He also served as a hitting coach in the Dodgers organization from 2017-20. Rangers manager Chris Woodward and Hyers were both with Los Angeles in 2017.

Conner adds to a recently reinvigorated Rangers staff following the additions of both Ecker and Hyers this offseason. As offensive coordinator, Ecker oversees Texas’ hitting programs at both the Major and Minor League levels.

The trio of Ecker, Hyers and Conner will attempt to revive a Rangers offense that struggled throughout 2021, when the club ranked last in MLB in OPS (.670) and on-base percentage (.294) and 29th in batting average (.232). Only one player who began and ended the season with Texas had more than 20 home runs -- Adolis García, who finished with 31.

Texas averaged just 3.86 runs per game in 2021 as it finished with a 60-102 record.