Luisa Gauci Joins The Brewers Minor League Staff

[Jake McKibbin]

Luisa Gauci has had a trailblazer’s career in her playing days and more recent coaching roles. Can her modern approach to the game significantly boost the Brewers' minor-league hitters?

Image courtesy of Luisa Gauci

Luisa Gauci has a reputation as a strong modern baseball mind, with four years of experience with Driveline baseball, bringing a particular data-driven set of skills to the coaching role that should bring a lot of excitement to the Brewers minor league affiliates. Her journey from Australia to the minor league coach is intriguing, and it could benefit the forward-thinking Brewers immensely.

Gauci left Brisbane, Australia, at the age of 16 to pursue her baseball dreams, becoming the first woman to earn a baseball scholarship in the North West Atlantic Conference; she was only growing up in the sport because her mother mistook baseball for softball... and the baseball field was five minutes closer to home. Her teammates in LA were taken aback at first, but to quote one of them, “She’s a hustler, and she can ball.” From there, she got a job with the baseball institute “Driveline,” an organization that uses specialist motion capture technology, personalized coaching, and physical therapy to train young players.

For the last four years, Gauci has worked with the best resources baseball offers, bringing her modernized experience to play for the Brewers' young, malleable talent. With high-upside bats like Cooper Pratt, Eric Bitonti, Yophery Rodriguez, and more, Gauci will no doubt be champing at the bit to get into her new role.

Gauci was asked about her ambitions after her scholarship, to which she said: 

"After I transfer to a four-year [university], I'm planning on working in professional baseball," she said. "I want to work on the field not just in the front office. So hopefully, I can be a bench coach one day, a first base coach, or pretty much anything on the field." 

It seems she’s well on the way to accessing her dreams. Best of luck, Luisa!

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[jay87shot]

I am sure she knows Sabermetrics and this is a low ranking job but just watching this video makes me cringe that she is going to help develop Yophery, Pratt, and other young developmental players.

 

[wiguy94]

29 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

I am sure she knows Sabermetrics and this is a low ranking job but just watching this video makes me cringe that she is going to help develop Yophery, Pratt, and other young developmental players.

Before making ignorant comments you should probably look at what Driveline actually does. Has nothing to do with "sabermetrics"

[Joseph Zarr]

30 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

I am sure she knows Sabermetrics and this is a low ranking job but just watching this video makes me cringe that she is going to help develop Yophery, Pratt, and other young developmental players.

 

[Jake McKibbin]

5 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Before making ignorant comments you should probably look at what Driveline actually does. Has nothing to do with "sabermetrics"

This

[jay87shot]

My bad for not knowing what driveline does. 

My point still stands, that video is cringy for someone getting hired to train mlb prospects even if it was 6 years ago. Maybe her job will be way different than what I am imagining but it seems like she is coaching not doing analytics or scouting.

[Jake McKibbin]

11 hours ago, jay87shot said:

 

I am sure she knows Sabermetrics and this is a low ranking job but just watching this video makes me cringe that she is going to help develop Yophery, Pratt, and other young developmental players.

 

I thinkthe important thing to remember is that being a good player isn't a mandate for being a good coach. There have been a lot over the years with just that résumé, but Gauci has worked in a really interesting role for a while with drive line and also has coaching experience with the Scottsdale scorpions in AFL this season. She's fresh and new, and honestly her passion for baseball seems to have filtered to those around her in her career so far.

We're not asking Luisa to hit 100 mph fastballs out of the park, we're asking her to understand baseball mechanics and techniques and pass those onto the players.

I will say in my experience of high level sports (none of which were baseball) I actually found the best coaches weren't ex players so often as students of the games they loved

[jay87shot]

What was her role at driveline and the AFL? All I see from driveline is that she trained, was an intern, and coached u14-16 girls baseball team. I agree you don't need to be a great player to be a good coach. However to be a coach in a major league organization you should be qualified. I don't see anything about a degree in kinesiology or related field. If passion is all it takes to join a big league club their are likely hundreds if not thousands of more qualified women who played baseball/softball and have degrees or have been around the game longer. 

[wiguy94]

35 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

What was her role at driveline and the AFL? All I see from driveline is that she trained, was an intern, and coached u14-16 girls baseball team. I agree you don't need to be a great player to be a good coach. However to be a coach in a major league organization you should be qualified. I don't see anything about a degree in kinesiology or related field. If passion is all it takes to join a big league club there are likely hundreds if not thousands of more qualified women who played baseball/softball and have degrees or have been around the game longer. 

She was Manager of Baseball Technologies at Driveline lol. You really put in an effort to look into it. 

 

[Jake McKibbin]

46 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

What was her role at driveline and the AFL? All I see from driveline is that she trained, was an intern, and coached u14-16 girls baseball team. I agree you don't need to be a great player to be a good coach. However to be a coach in a major league organization you should be qualified. I don't see anything about a degree in kinesiology or related field. If passion is all it takes to join a big league club their are likely hundreds if not thousands of more qualified women who played baseball/softball and have degrees or have been around the game longer. 

If you have a look through her twitter account, you'll see a lot of what she's been working with and using, and as mentioned above she got a role in the AFL as a coach this season off the back of things.

It's not just passion, but I'd say the Brewers have hired someone because of their eye for detail as a coach and ability to improve hitters over a period of time. With that in mind, despite no specific instruction otherwise, I'd say it's safer to assume Gauci worked at a high level in Driveline

edit: @wiguy94has got the details

Edit 2:

I'm addition to wiguys search, here are a list of some of the players using Driveline so far this offseason

Working with major league regulars and stars, her input and knowledge will be a huge asset for what isn't a renowned strength of the brewers system in developing bats

[Michael Trzinski]

I say let her do her job and see how it goes. At the end of the year, we can talk then...

Good luck, Luisa!!

[jay87shot]

OK here is my last point and I am done with this subject.

No way is she a key member in training Paul Goldschmidt or those other mlb players. Is she in the room learning maybe but a 24 year old woman with minimal experience isn't fine tuning veterans swings or pitching mechanics. 

[Jake McKibbin]

25 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

OK here is my last point and I am done with this subject.

No way is she a key member in training Paul Goldschmidt or those other mlb players. Is she in the room learning maybe but a 24 year old woman with minimal experience isn't fine tuning veterans swings or pitching mechanics. 

"Manager" of baseball technologies my friend, she's going to be highly involved in some regard, though it's conjecture on both our parts at this point. Either way I hope we can agree that the new age advantage she brings could be very beneficial to the Brewers?

[Underachiever]

Ask yourself if you apply the same scrutiny to other coaches and analysts that the Brewers hire for their system. Or is it just the females.