MILWAUKEE (AP) Darnell Coles resigned as Milwaukee’s hitting coach Thursday and the Brewers fired bullpen coach Lee Tunnell and head trainer Dan Wright.
General manager David Stearns said Coles informed the team of his desire to seek other opportunities after four years as Milwaukee’s hitting coach.
Coles oversaw a group that finished fourth in the National League with a combined .747 OPS this season but struggled with situational hitting, especially during the NLCS.
Assistant hitting coach Jason Lane will be considered for the position but will also be allowed to seek other opportunities, Stearns said.
We’ve had a great run with `DC’,” Stearns said. ”He was just ready for a new challenge and a new endeavor.”
Tunnell was named interim bullpen coach midway through the 2012 season, when Stan Kyles was dismissed after spending the previous 3 1/2 seasons as Milwaukee’s minor league pitching coordinator. He oversaw a unit that was among the best in baseball, finishing second with a 3.47 earned run average and was instrumental down the stretch, posting a 1.98 ERA in September and 2.82 mark in postseason play.
”There was a really solid group effort from that unit as a whole,” Stearns said. ”We just felt that it was time to get a new voice on the coaching staff.”
Stearns said the remainder of Craig Counsell’s staff – pitching coach Derek Johnson, bench coach Pat Murphy, first base coach Carlos Subero and third base coach Ed Sedar – would all return, as would medical staff, with the exception of Wright.
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