Robert Van Scoyoc (born November 16, 1986) is an American professional baseball hitting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Robert Van Scoyoc
Los Angeles Dodgers – No. 72
Coach
Born: (1986-11-16) November 16, 1986 (age 37)
Valencia, California, U.S.
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Career edit

Van Scoyoc attended William S. Hart High School in Newhall, Santa Clarita, California,[1] graduating in 2005.[2] and played college baseball at Cuesta College, describing his play as "pretty mediocre".[3]

Van Scoyoc began his coaching career in 2008, working with youth hitters in the Santa Clarita Valley and as a part-time assistant coach for Valencia High School.[2] From 2010 to 2011 he was the hitting coach and recruitment coordinator for San Diego Christian College.[2] After that he teamed with Craig Wallenbrock to mentor numerous college and professional hitters. They worked with J. D. Martinez in 2013, helping him to improve his swing.[3] He was a hitting consultant for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2016 to 2017,[4] and he helped Chris Taylor improve his results with changes to his swing.[5] The Arizona Diamondbacks hired him before the 2018 season as a hitting strategist[4] before he returned to the Dodgers as their major league hitting coach for the 2019 season.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ Negri, Landon (May 22, 2004). "No happy ending for 'Hawks baseball". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "We would like to introduce TZA Academy's Hitting Coach". TZA Academy. January 18, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Piecoro, Nick (October 7, 2017). "The coaching duo behind J.D. Martinez's dangerous swing". Azcentral.com. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Diamondbacks hope for edge with hitting strategist Robert Van Scoyoc". Azcentral.com. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  5. ^ Kepner, Tyler (October 20, 2017). "A Reinvented Swing Solves the Dodgers' Leadoff Problem" – via NYTimes.com.
  6. ^ Gurnick, Ken (November 28, 2018). "Ebel, Van Scoyoc join Dodgers' coaching staff". mlb.com. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
Preceded by Los Angeles Dodgers hitting coach
2019–present
Succeeded by
Incumbent