Mickey Hatcher, the longtime Angels hitting coach who was fired six weeks ago amid the team’s disappointing start, has joined the Dodgers as a special assistant to the general manager, according to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com.
At the time of Hatcher’s firing the Angels were 16-21 and averaging 3.6 runs per game. Since replacing Hatcher with Triple-A hitting coach Jim Eppard the Angels are 24-12 and have averaged 4.6 runs per game.
How much of that is on Hatcher and how much it stems from Albert Pujols getting his act together and Mike Trout coming up from the minors as an immediate MVP candidate is open for debate, of course, but the move certainly had the intended impact.
Hatcher spent the first two seasons and last four seasons of his dozen-year career with the Dodgers and joined the Angels as hitting coach in 2000.