DALLAS — Assistant hitting coach Joel McKeithan has been plugged into first-year White Sox manager Will Venable’s staff, the final piece set in place following Venable’s hire as the Sox’ 44th skipper on Nov. 7.
McKeithan joins first-year bench coach Walker McKinven as a newcomer to the staff, the team announced Monday during MLB’s Winter Meetings. Hitting coach Marcus Thames, pitching coach Ethan Katz, assistant hitting coach Matt Wise, third base coach Justin Jirschele, first base coach Jason Bourgeois, catchers coach Drew Butera and former interim manager Grady Sizemore as returnees from the staff that oversaw the Sox team that lost a modern day record 121 games.
Sizemore takes on the role of offensive coordinator, a new title.
McKeithan, 33, joins the Sox after serving as the Cincinnati Reds hitting coach for the last two seasons. He joined the Reds organization as the assistant hitting coach before the 2022 season.
Prior to joining Cincinnati, McKeithan was the hitting coach for Class A Williamsport in the Philadelphia Phillies organization from 2019-20, director of hitting at X2 Baseball in Charlotte, N.C. in 2020 and minor-league hitting coordinator in the Detroit Tigers system in 2021.
Jirschele was promoted from his job as manager at Triple-A Charlotte to coach third base when Sizemore replaced fired manager Pedro Grifol on Aug. 8.
Bench coach Charlie Montoya, third base coach Eddie Rodriguez and assistant hitting coach Mike Tosar were fired with Grifol. Sizemore, a major league coach for the first time in 2024, was a candidate for the manager’s job.