Matt Holliday Announced as Cardinals Bench Coach
The St. Louis Cardinals have announced the following positions for the upcoming 2023 season.
Cardinals Hall of Famer and former outfielder Matt Holliday as Bench Coach, Dusty Blake as Pitching Coach, and Turner Ward as Hitting Coach. Followed by Brandon Allen, (a member of the Cardinals Minor League coaching staff), has been named Assistant Hitting Coach, and Julio Rangel, most recently a member of the Boston Red Sox staff, has been named Assistant Pitching Coach/Bullpen.
Oliver Marmol who is returning for his second season as Cardinals manager will have the staff of Patrick Elkins (Run Production), Stubby Clapp (1st Base), Ron “Pop” Warner (3rd Base), Willie McGee (Coach), Jamie Pogue (Bullpen Catcher) and Kleininger Teran (Bullpen Catcher all returning in 2023.
Holliday has been coaching alongside his brother at Oklahoma State University the past few seasons, takes over the vacancy left by Skip Schumaker who was revel named manager of the Miami Marlins. Matt had recently expressed an interest in the bench coach position on Hot Take Central (a radio show on 590 the Fan.)
This will be Holliday’s first coaching stint in MLB and he will surely be a great fit within an organization & fanbase that admires the recently inducted Cardinals Hall of Famer. Many fans & and media personnel had been clamoring for Holliday to get this opportunity prior to today’s announcement.
Ward, 57, has previously held the Hitting Coach position with Cincinnati (2019), Los Angeles Dodgers (2016-18) and Arizona (2014-15). He joined the Cardinals Major League coaching staff this past season as Assistant Hitting Coach where he worked side by side Jeff Albert.
Blake, 40, joined the Cardinals organization in 2021 as Pitching Strategist. He served as the Pitching Coach for Duke University from 2018-20 and pitched collegiately for Appalachian State University. He has worked closely with the Major League coaching staff, video team and pitchers. He takes over for Mike Maddux and is expected to do a great job with the pitching staff.
Allen, 36, spent four seasons (2009-12) in the majors playing outfield for Arizona, Oakland and Tampa Bay. He has been a member of the Cardinals minor league coaching staff since 2017, including the Springfield Cardinals & past three seasons as the Hitting Coach at Memphis (AAA) under manager Ben Johnson.
Rangel, 47, has served as the Red Sox Pitching Coordinator the last two seasons, and held the Major League Pitching Coach position for the Texas Rangers from 2019-20.
The Cardinals organization wasted little time in announcing the coaching changes & additions, as this comes one day after the conclusion of the 2022 World Series.