Formerly the franchise’s advance scouting coordinator, he’ll assist Dusty Baker in a...
Tommy Kawamura, the Astros’ major league game-planning coach, holds a degree in mathematics and economics and never played professional baseball. Kawamura’s path to the major leagues is emblematic of the shifting dynamics of major league coaching staffs.WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The new coach needs no introduction. He took a circuitous path toward this lifelong goal, from a small liberal arts college in Salem, Ore., to behind the scenes of a dynastic run.
Kawamura is the only new member of the Astros’ major league coaching staff. His background and title epitomize the sport’s shifting staff-building dynamics. Only a handful of other teams employ a game-planning coach. The Los Angeles Dodgers had one before restructuring their staff this winter. Former major league catcher Jason Varitek still holds a similar title for the Boston Red Sox.
“The inspiration was it might be nice to have that person be more accessible, potentially in-game to be a little closer to the field so they don’t have to walk back into the clubhouse,” Kawamura said. “It was kind of a long road. It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. I had expressed that I wanted to try coaching again.”
Kawamura never had any illusion he’d play professionally. He earned a degree in mathematics and economics and learned to write code, giving him a perfect skill set for baseball’s analytics movement. The New York Mets hired him as an advance scouting intern in 2015. “I was very pleased with the impact I could make without playing at the same level all these guys played,” Kawamura said. “Once I got out of it and into advance scouting, that was a great job, but there was always something kind of calling me back to try and get back on the field. I’d like to try to stay on the field side, if possible. It’s nice to be active and be a lot more relationship-based.”
“I’m certainly not qualified to talk about hitting or pitching mechanics or anything like that or even infield or outfield technique,” Kawamura said. “Certainly, I’m a lot more here to help the players and coaches with kind of the same stuff I’ve been doing in advance scouting.”
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