Giants hire two hitting coaches to complete Melvin’s 2025 staff originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — A former Giant got a notable promotion Thursday as Bob Melvin set his major league coaching staff.
Damon Minor will move up from Triple-A Sacramento to be one of two assistant hitting coaches on the big league staff, joining Oscar Bernard, who was hired away from 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 departed 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 big leagues four years later. The first baseman played 136 big league games, all for the Giants, and hit 13 homers. He was the Triple-A hitting coach for nine seasons and got strong reviews from Giants players, as well as managers and coaches.
Bernard spent nine seasons with the Padres, including seven 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 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, J.P. Martinez, will serve as pitching coach, although the Giants elected not to fill the assistant pitching coach position that was vacated when Martinez was promoted to replace Bryan Price.
The new-look 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.
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