MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers need a new hitting coach after Darnell Coles resigned this week following his fourth season on the job.
Coles informed manager Craig Counsell and general manager David Stearns shortly after the abrupt end to the Brewers' season in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series that "he was ready to take on a new challenge," according to Stearns. Stearns also announced Thursday that the club has declined to renew the contracts of bullpen coach Lee Tunnell and longtime head athletic trainer Dan Wright for 2019.
The Brewers will consider external and internal candidates for all of those openings, Stearns said, including assistant hitting coach Jason Lane for the top job vacated by Coles. During the search, the Brewers gave Lane permission to freely explore positions elsewhere.
Coles, 56, had managed in Milwaukee's Minor League system and had big league managerial aspirations before taking a job in 2015 as Detroit's assistant hitting coach. He returned to the Brewers that October and remained on staff through the transition from former manager Ron Roenicke to Counsell in May 2015.
This season, the Brewers ranked seventh in the NL with 754 runs scored and fourth with a .747 OPS. After setting the all-time Major League record for strikeouts in consecutive seasons from 2016-17, the additions of Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich helped Milwaukee move to 11th in strikeouts among NL teams last season.
If there was a criticism beyond the strikeouts, it was situational hitting. Over Coles' four-year tenure, the Brewers were ranked 25th in the Majors in average (.248) and tied for 21st in OPS (.745) with runners in scoring position. The club's 5,871 strikeouts with runners in scoring position since the start of 2015 are most in the Majors. In 2018, that all-or-nothing quality led to the Brewers being shut out 12 times, including 10 times in the first half.
"We had a great run with [Coles]," Stearns said. "Obviously, his time here predates me, and we're very appreciative of his contributions and all these guys' contributions. He was just ready for a new challenge and a new endeavor."
Asked whether Coles might have felt unappreciated, Stearns said, "Darnell is such an upbeat and positive person in general. Look, everyone goes through frustrations in their jobs, but I think Darnell cared about the players. He certainly cares about the Brewers. I think he just found he got to the point where it was time for him to pursue a different opportunity."
The bullpen was the Brewers' strength in 2018, so the departure of Tunnell, who turns 58 next week and had been on the job since July 2012, came as something of a surprise. Among the internal candidates sure to be discussed are Triple-A pitching coach Fred Dabney, who played a significant role in the development in many of the young arms that will form the core of Milwaukee's staff next season.
"I think our bullpen deserves a lot of credit for the success we had this year," Stearns said. "Our players deserve a lot of credit for that, and Lee certainly deserves a lot of credit for that. [Pitching coach] Derek Johnson deserves credit for that. Our bullpen catchers deserve credit for that. I think this was a really solid group effort from that unit.
"As we move forward, I think we just felt it was time to get a new voice on the coaching staff. Staffs evolve. We have been very fortunate that we have had a very stable staff here over the past three years. These are the first changes we have made since I came aboard. I think it's natural as time goes by to try to inject some different thoughts and a different voice into your staff."
The rest of the coaching and medical staff will return next season, including Johnson, a highly-regarded pitching coach. The other coaches are bench coach Pat Murphy, first-base coach Carlos Subero, third-base coach Ed Sedar and bullpen catchers Marcus Hanel and Robinzon Diaz.