Houston Astros: Departure of hitting coach may be addition by subtraction

Par the course with a successful team, the Houston Astros once again have a coaching position open. Hitting coach Jeff Albert is heading back to his roots, the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Houston Astros have an opening on their coaching staff. Hitting coach Jeff Albert is heading to the St. Louis Cardinals as their new hitting coach. Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart broke the news yesterday on Astros.com.

Houston Astros President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Jeff Luhnow said in an off-season press conference last week that all coaches were under contract, but other teams have requested interviews from Astros coaches.

According to McTaggart, Astros bench coach Joe Espada has interviewed for the Rangers open managerial position. If Espada were to land the Rangers job, the Astros would have to find a fourth bench coach in as many years.

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Albert spent the last five seasons with the Astros as a minor league hitting coordinator and roving hitting instructor. In 2017, he was named the second hitting coach for the club.

Prior to joining the Astros, Albert was a minor league hitting coach for the Cardinal’s minor league system from 2008-2012. In 2008, he helped the Cardinal’s Class A short-season affiliate Batavia MuckDogs to a great season offensively, being shut out only once during the season.

Albert then moved on to their Palm Beach affiliate as their new hitting coach from 2009-2012. Albert is a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association and has his own website for baseball training and analysis, stringtraining.net.

While I am sad to see Albert go, its bound to happen after a team wins a World Series championship. Teams who are struggling or just missed the World Series want to strike the iron while it’s hot in hopes of capturing some championship magic for their team.

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While it may not be as flashy as some of the other offseason news, new coaching hires can change a franchise quicker than you might think, just look at what Alex Cora did with the Red Sox a year after being the Houston Astros bench coach, he won a World Series title in dominating fashion with his new team.

As for the Houston Astros, well, it may not be the worst news to lose Albert. The Astros hired Albert as a second hitting coach following the 2017 season to replace Alonzo Powell. Subsequently, a lot of the Astros fared worse at the plate in 2018 than they did in 2017. Whether Albert is responsible for that or not may be debatable but a fresh face could reignite an offseason that just wasn’t the same in 2018 as it was the year before.

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Regardless, best of luck to Albert with St. Louis. Albert joins Doug White as the second coach to depart the team this year so Jeff Luhnow will have to scout out at least two new faces, potentially three if Espada leaves, to round out the major league coaching staff.

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