After a successful 2023 campaign, Rutgers baseball has already started preparing for next season. On Friday, the Scarlet Knights announced that Mike Garza will take over hitting coach duties. For the past two years, Garza has served as a volunteer assistant with the Scarlet Knights.
While Garza has filled various roles at Rutgers, he has proven invaluable, regardless of his position. That is one of the reasons head coach Steve Owens made the change.
“Mike will enter his third year in our program and will take over the primary hitting responsibilities with our team,” Owens said. “As he did with our infield, Mike will establish strong relationships with our hitters and develop specific plans to help them perform consistently. He is excited to get to work on evaluating our strengths and building our 2024 offense around them.”
We are proud to officially announce Mike Garza as our new Hitting Coach ‼️@Coach_Garz has done an exceptional job with our infielders and hitters the last two seasons and we're excited for the future with him leading the charge!
🔗 https://t.co/G48CNDllM3#TCD pic.twitter.com/08wlX9M9c9
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) July 21, 2023
This past season, Garza oversaw a defense that ranked fourth in the Big Ten with a .976 fielding percentage. The Scarlet Knights also turned 54 double plays, which was the most in the Big Ten. Under Garza’s guidance, infielders such as Josh Kuroda-Grauer and Danny DiGeorgio earned consideration for the Brooks Wallace Award. The award is given to the best shortstop in college baseball.
Before arriving in Piscataway, Garza spent three years at the University of Virginia as the program’s coordinator of video and scouting. In his final season with the Cavaliers, they advanced to the College World Series. Garza was also an assistant coach at Navy in 2018.
✔️ Jersey native
✔️ Rutgers legacy
✔️ Postseason provenJohnny Volpe is our newest Scarlet Knight! ⚔️
Excited to bring home the Sea Girt native to finish out his collegiate career at Rutgers!#TCD pic.twitter.com/5ucTzdFhUe
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) July 14, 2023
While Garza has had plenty of success as a coach, he also has an impressive resume as a player. The Texas native was drafted in the 20th round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. After posting a .283 batting average in 260 minor league games, he spent two years in the Independent League.
As Rutgers looks to build on their success next season, their offense is in good hands with Garza leading the way.
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