Michael McDermott
Shane Loux Discusses His Transition To Pitching Coach
Shane Loux is currently the pitching coach of the Arizona Diamondbacks' Double-A affiliate in Amarillo. Loux was formerly a second round selection in the 1997 Draft by the Detroit Tigers out of Highland High School in Gilbert, Arizona. He spent 18 years in affiliated ball, which included 58 major league apperances, 13 starts, two Tommy John surgeries and a World Series ring with the San Francisco Giants in 2012.
After retiring from independent ball in 2015, Loux turned to coaching. In his final years with the Giants' Triple-A affiliate, a coach saw him being "a guy that would be able to use my knowledge and experience to help out guys after I was done playing. I was starting to do that the last couple years of my career, in the dugout as an older guy on the team trying to take more of a mentor/leadership role to help bring some of the younger pitchers along when I was with the Giants". After retiring he began the transition into a coach, with the D-backs hiring him in 2017 when current general manager Mike Hazen took over the front office.
Loux began his coaching career with the D-backs' Advanced Rookie affiliate in Missoula, where he spent two seasons. In 2019, he was promoted to the organization's Advanced Class A Visalia. After the reclassification of the minor leagues in 2021 Loux returned to the organization's Advanced Class A affiliate, which is now in Hillsboro. With the successful season that Hillsboro had with some of the D-backs top pitching prospects, he was promoted to Double-A Amarillo for the 2022 season.
As a minor league pitching coach, there is a level of communication between them and the pitching coaches in the big leagues. Loux works closely with Assistant Pitching Coach/Minor League Pitching Coordinators Dan Carlson and Barry Enright on minor league reports on their pitchers. "DC has become more than a boss, he's become a mentor to me on and off the field. The leadership they provide and show us along the way, all the way back to Mike Bell, is just second to none. When new pitching coaches come in, Strom comes in, they don't need to do a lot of work as far as that goes, because DC's got it locked down for 10 years now". In the last year, Carlson's role has focused more in the big leagues as opposed to the minor league affiliates.
When it comes to the relationship with big league pitching coach Brent Strom, Loux relishes the chances he has to talk with the veteran pitching coach. "Anytime you can talk to Strom, you get smarter. We're lucky to have him around and he's so generous with his time."
Minor league coaches also play a pivotal role in an organization's player development process. Looking at the home ballpark for the team Loux coaches, Hodgetown is the most notorious hitter-friendly ballpark in the D-backs system. The combination of short fences in right field, an elevation of 3600 feet above sea level, and gusting winds has made it one of the most homer-friendly parks and presents a challenge for pitchers to stay aggressive in the strike zone. Earlier this year Strom called it a testing ground to see which pitchers have the fortitude to be able to pitch in the big leagues, using the phrase "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger".
Here is Brent Strom discussing tough pitching environments such as Amarillo:
When asked about the testing ground comment, Loux instills the belief in his players that they have "an opportunity to pitch in Amarillo, where everybody hates, because we learn that you can't get away with anything. I really believe it makes our guys better, earlier, because when you play in a huge ballpark and you fall behind in a 3-1 count you can throw a half fastball middle-away and know a guy can't hit a home run to right. You don't learn a lot. When you know from the first pitch of the game any mistake you make can be amplified into a home run, it forces you to be more disciplined and better from the first pitch. I honestly believe, even though they're going through growing pains, that pitching in a small ballpark in a place that makes you pay like Amarillo will produce better major leaguers".
Between both Loux's and Strom's comments on Amarillo, it's clear that the D-backs value having a park that inflates home runs as a way to develop their pitchers. Historically the franchise has had a mixed bag with developing pitchers into big league starters, so we'll see results on this approach over the next two to three years with the amount of talent coming up the system.
In his coaching career, he has had the opportunity to coach up all of the team's best pitching prospects the last two seasons between Hillsboro and Amarillo. The list of pitchers he's worked with over that time include Drey Jameson, Blake Walston, Slade Cecconi, Brandon Pfaadt, Bryce Jarvis and Ryne Nelson. Loux said what stands out the most about those guys is "you see flashes of elite from those guys. You watch those guys work and they do a lot of things really well".
He then talked about developing a baseball player as a man on and off the field, by asking them to handle tough assignments and show discipline. Loux believes that developing talent requires just getting more reps, but by developing the player as a man along with the talent, that the player can develop into the best version of himself. As a coach, Loux has learned patience, love, and a consistent voice through the best and worst of times for a player is what they need.
In six short years, Loux has worked his way from the bottom to near the top of the ladder in the D-backs minor league system. It would not be surprising to see him as a big league pitching coach in the near future.
Here's audio of the full interview:
