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Rachel Balckovec, first female coach in professional baseball
The first female manager to lead a professional MLB team.
At 34, Balckovec had been serving as a hitting teacher at the amateur level for the Yankees in Florida. She has been a baseball coach for 10 years. In 2019, she became the first full-time female instructor.
The coach claims to be the product of the struggle of women in sport, rules out being the pioneer, but hopes to be a source of enthusiasm for other women in sport. While she is not the first woman with a position in baseball, she is the first professional coach.
Through the suspension of the 2020 season of the minor leagues in the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Balckovec was an instructor in the Australian professional baseball league.
Also, at Coors Field, he was a member of the group of instructors at The Future Stars Game.
His trajectory
Balkovec has two master's degrees in the science of human movement, this together with his great analytical skills, has worked perfectly for him to detect batting movements, ball eye tracking and hip movements of pitchers.
With the Yankees, Balkovec worked hand in hand with some players with more projection and more valued, including the Dominican Jasson Domínguez (number 2 of the Yankees, number 17 in the general table). Dominguez was elevated to Class-A Low-A Tampa last season, right where Balkovec will take over.
The manager assures that it has been positive for her to work with Jasson Domínguez in the Future Stars game.
He highlighted the player's intelligence and great aptitude, highlighting him as a great leader in the team. "Even being young, he handles himself in the best way," he concluded.
Other league managers have sent congratulations to Balckovec, including Kevin Reese, the Yankees head of player development. Additionally, minor hitting director Dillon Lawson was the one who recommended Brian Cashman as a hitting instructor for Balkovec's team.
Speaking at a news conference with MLB Pipeline in January 2020, Balkovec commented on what else he would like to work on with his team as a hitting coach for the Yankees FCL. “Swing mechanics is a specialty; I feel very confident with that”, said the coach. "I already want to sit next to the manager and depend on the other hitting coaches for strategy and game mentality".
I assure that I am enjoying the moment very much and appreciates all the support that he is receiving from his colleagues to improve and be able to improve his players. Balckovec will be in charge of developing the lineup.
