MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Brewers have hired Jacob Cruz as assistant hitting coach. Jason Lane, who served as assistant hitting coach from 2016-19, was appointed first base coach. The announcement was made by President of Baseball Operations and General Manager David Stearns.

  Cruz, 46, served as assistant hitting coach with the Pittsburgh Pirates last season. From 2017-18, he worked in the Chicago Cubs organization as hitting coach at Double-A Tennessee (2017) and as minor league hitting coordinator (2018). He began his coaching career in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, where he served as hitting coach at Class-A Yakima (2011), Class-A Visalia (2012), Double-A Mobile (2013-14) and Rookie Arizona (2015-16).

  The former outfielder/first baseman played nine Major League seasons with San Francisco (1996-98), Cleveland (1998-2001), Colorado (2001), Detroit (2002) and Cincinnati (2004-05). He also played in Korea (KBO) with the Hanwha Eagles (2007) and Samsung Lions (2008) before finishing his career in Mexico with Dorados de Chihuahua (2009-10).

  Cruz graduated from Channel Islands (CA) High School before attending Arizona State University. He and his wife, Rebeca, have three children: two daughters named Sophia and Isabella, and a son named Jacob Jr.