When the Twins break spring training in Florida and head north, two familiar faces will be among Ron Gardenhire’s coaching staff: ex-Twins Terry Stienbach (1997-99) and Tom Brunansky (1982-88).
Stienbach, a New Ulm native, joins his hometown team as Gardenhire’s bench coach and is expected to work closely with the catchers.
“I’m excited about getting back into the game at the major league level,” Stienbach told the Associated Press before spring training began. “I enjoyed, when I was catching, the mental part of the game.”
Brunansky, who helped the Twins win their first World Series title in 1987, is the new hitting coach, replacing Joe Vavra — who is now coaching third. Brunansky has been a hitting instructor with the Twins since 2010, jumping to Triple A last year.
Brunansky tells the Pioneer Press he will certainly ask Vavra and first base coach Scott Ullger (the Twins hitting coach before Vavra) for their advice this year, subscribing to manager Ron Gardenhire’s insistence that there will not be any turf wars.
“We all have to work together here,” Gardenhire said.
As Brunansky put it: “They’ve got enough information here to choke a cow.”
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