Chris Hook Will Remain Milwaukee Brewers Pitching Coach, Signs New Multi-Year Deal

[Matthew Trueblood]

Every organization strives to be about more than a particular individual's strength or weakness. Having one person who effectively spreads a team's gospel is hugely valuable, though, and the Brewers have now ensured that one such person will remain with them for a while.

Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

It was never very much in doubt, because Chris Hook probably wasn't in as much demand outside the Brewers organization as he should have been. Unlike some other Brewers coaches, he wasn't likely to become a target for ex-Brewers manager Craig Counsell and the Cubs, who have retained their own pitching coach, Tommy Hottovy. Much of the rest of the league, meanwhile, has ideas about whether and how much to use offspeed stuff, how many different ways a pitcher should get their fastball to move, and mechanical cues that diverge sharply from those held by Hook and the Brewers.

These two parties deeply appreciate each other, though, and are on the same page. Hook is far from the only figure driving the many recent success stories of Brewers pitching adjustments and development, but he's an effective head for that department and a great communicator across both the big-league staff and the behind-the-scenes support structure. Under Hook, Milwaukee has a coherent and consistent pitching identity, and they retain the flexibility to help pitchers with very different skill sets and shortcomings.

Even if the real risk of a departure was small, this lingered all season as a story in the background. Hook's contract was set to expire Thursday, and while he might not be the most in step with the analytical orthodoxy of the moment, he would have had suitors as a free agent. With uncertainty about local TV revenue spreading across the sport and making teams uneasy about the huge expenditures required to add more talent, places where much less money can be spent to get more from the same amount of talent are more important than ever. For the Brewers, Hook is that kind of investment.

As good a job as the Crew did with Tobias Myers even in the minor leagues, Hook had his hands on that developmental project from the beginning, and he helped Myers make key adjustments throughout his rookie season, too. He's been essential to the emergence of Colin Rsa and a perfect messenger for the bundle of sm,all changes the team wanted pitchers like Trevor Megill and Bryan Hudson to make, unlocking new levels for each.

Now, the team can move forward knowing they have the linchpin of their run-prevention genius in place for years to come. It doesn't obviate the need to keep acquiring interesting, talented hurlers, but having Hook around both magnifies the value of that work and raises the organization's confidence that whatever moves they make with their staff will turn out somewhere on the high side of the range of potential outcomes.

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[Jim French Stepstool]

This is one of those things that isn't splashy AFA off-season moves are concerned, but extremely important. Keep the behind-the-boxscore mechanicals in place. Very good news.

[Samurai Bucky]

This is wonderful!!!!

[SF70]

Stability — An underrated strength of the MKE Brewers with their coaching staff.

Henderson-Hook-McKinven-Dawson-Theisen-LeBoeuf-Weeks-Murphy, even Charlie Greene have been with the organization for years and are familiar to all the players, even the young guys. 

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

5 hours ago, SF70 said:

Stability — An underrated strength of the MKE Brewers with their coaching staff.

Henderson-Hook-McKinven-Dawson-Theisen-LeBoeuf-Weeks-Murphy, even Charlie Greene have been with the organization for years and are familiar to all the players, even the young guys. 

 

Most definitely. And while he hasn't been with them as long as some of the others, I've been impressed with the work Quintin Berry does too.