Giants hire two hitting coaches to complete Melvin’s 2025 staff originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – A former Giant received a notable promotion Thursday when Bob Melvin named his major league coaching staff.
Damon Minor will move from Triple-A Sacramento to become one of two assistant hitting coaches on the big league staff, joining Oscar Bernard, who was hired outside the San Diego Padres organization to serve as the other assistant under hitting coach Pat Burrell. The Giants were looking for new voices after Justin Viele left for the Texas Rangers and Pedro Guerrero was hired by the Miami Marlins.
Minor was a 12th-round pick by the Giants in 1996 and reached the major leagues four years later. The first baseman played 136 big league games, all for the Giants, and hit 13 home runs. He was the Triple-A hitting coach for nine seasons and received good reviews from Giants players, as well as managers and coaches.
Bernard spent nine seasons with the Padres, seven of them as their minor league hitting coordinator. He was an assistant hitting coach on the big league staff in 2023, when Melvin was manager. The 41-year-old played five seasons as a catcher and infielder in the Chicago Cubs minor league system and then tried his hand at being a relief pitcher for two years before transitioning to coaching.
The Giants also announced that Taira Uematsu will now be a quality control coach on the big league staff, a promotion for one of the few holdovers from Gabe Kapler’s staff. One of the others, JP Martinez, will serve as pitching coach, although the Giants opted not to fill the assistant pitching coach position that became vacant when Martinez was promoted to replace Bryan Price.
The new staff is smaller and has some notable departures. In addition to Viele, Guerrero and Price, Alyssa Nakken left the Giants to take a front office job with the Cleveland Guardians.
Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast
