Guardians' New Hitting Coach Talks Team's Approach For 2025 Season

After an impressive 2024 season, which took them all the way to the American League Championship Series, the Cleveland Guardians were in search of a new hitting coach.

This was because former Hitting Coach Chris Valaika was hired by the Cincinnati Reds as their Director of Hitting & Hitting Coach less than a week after the Guardians' campaign ended.

Cleveland eventually promoted Grant Fink, the team's Minor League Hitting Coordinator for the previous three seasons, the following month to take Valaika's place.

In a recent interview on the "Guardians Weekly" podcast, Fink discussed the team's approach at the plate ahead of the 2025 campaign. He explained that while the Guardians look to expand on their strengths, including a recent increase in power, they will also likely focus on another key area.

"I think we're just going to continue to build on it," Fink said. "We have an incredibly athletic team, and a lot of our players can get the bat to the ball. And I would think this year we're going to put a lot more emphasis on decision-making, and continue to learn how to take chances, and maximize our power when it's the right time. But also continue to play that gritty baseball that we've been playing the last couple years. There's no reason why we can't do both of those things."

Cleveland had a strong power jump last year. After hitting the second-fewest and fewest home runs in MLB in 2022 and 2023, respectively, the Guardians ranked tied for 12th in MLB with 185 homers in 2024.

A navy and red bag filled with baseballs next to a stack of white towels. — Jun 30, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Cleveland Guardians ball bag sits in the dugout prior to the game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

While Cleveland's batting average has dropped from .254 to .238 over the past three seasons, the team has displayed remarkable strike zone discipline during this span. The Guardians have ranked top-four in MLB in fewest strikeouts each of the last three years (fewest in 2022 and 2023, fourth-fewest in 2024).

Ultimately, Fink aims to build on Cleveland's hitting fundamentals, which have been instilled and put into action throughout the organization.

"I think we set a foundation in our Minor Leagues the last few years, and it's moved its way up into the Big Leagues," Fink said. "And when [Valaika] was here, we worked hard together to work on those transitions. So just continuing with moving the needle there, we saw some progress last year, and we're going to continue to push that a little bit as we get going the next few years."

Read More Cleveland Guardians Coverage