Phillies hire former Blue Jays Silver Slugger as hitting coach.
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The Philadelphia Phillies have hired former Toronto Blue Jays fan favorite and Silver Slugger Adam Lind as their hitting coach for the AAA Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.
Lind made his coaching debut last year with the Blue Claws this year after a 12-year big league career in which he hit 200 home runs including six seasons with at least 20 homers.
He played for Toronto Blue Jays from 2006-2014 followed by one year each with Milwaukee, Seattle, and Washington.
Lind was drafted the 3rd round by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2004 MLB Draft out of the University of South Alabama.
After ascending four minor-league levels in three seasons, Lind makes his major-league debut on Sept. 2 2006 in Boston and collects his first hit, a double, off Lenny Dinardo.
In 18 games, Lind hits .367 with two homers and a 1.015 OPS.
In 2007 Lind goes 3-for-5 on April 14 in his first game after call-up from Triple-A Syracuse to replace the injured Reed Johnson.
But the Jays send him back to Syracuse on July 7. He is batting .230. He returns in September and finishes with a .238 average, 11 homers, 46 RBIs and a .678 OPS.
In 2008 Lind is called up from Syracuse in late April but returns to the minors after going 1-for-19.
Recalled in late June, he finishes the season with a .282 average, nine homers, 40 RBIs and a .755 OPS.
In 2009Lind breaks out. Lind plays 151 games, hitting .305 with 35 homers, 114 RBIs and a .932 OPS.
A career lion against right-handers, Lind also hits .275 with a .780 OPS against lefties.
He has six RBIs on opening day, eight in one game at Texas in August and three homers in consecutive at-bats on Sept. 29 in Boston.
Lind caps his season by winning the Silver Slugger Award as the league's top designated hitter.
In 2010 Lind signs a four-year, US$18-million contract with club options for 2014, 2015 and 2016. It seems a bargain. In 150 games, he hits 23 homers and drives in 72 runs, but his batting average falls to .237 and his OPS to .712.
His woes against left-handers begin to glare: he bats .174 with a .341 OPS vs. lefties. More important than all of that, Lind marries Lakeyshia Bertie, a Toronto-area native, in November.
2011: Lind hits 26 homers and drives in 87 runs, but he lands on the DL for the first time in his career with the first in a series of back problems.
He hits .251 overall and .243 vs. left-handers.
2012: Even though he is batting .151 after 93 games, Lind is still shocked when the Jays put him on waivers, drop him from their 40-man roster and option him to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Before he goes, manager John Farrell tells him he is out of shape and needs to address that issue as well as his swing.
Working with Vegas hitting coach Chad Mottola, Lind hits .392 with eight homers in 32 games and is recalled on June 25.
«Whatever they asked me to do, I did,» he says. «It took a little bit longer than I had hoped, but I'm back up here and I'm happy.»
Just as he starts to heat up for the Blue Jays, Lind goes down for a month with back problems. He finishes with a .255 average, 11 homers, 45 RBIs and a .729 OPS.
2013: Seemingly strengthened by a new off-season training regimen, Lind is also happy that Mottola is the Blue Jays' new hitting coach.
«I know his personality and how to get him in the right position mentally to hit. Where he's been at in the past [when problems arose] has been mental.» says Mattola
Lind stays off the DL and enjoys a solid season, batting .288 with 23 homers and an .854 OPS.
Lind's career came to an end in 2017 when he signed with the Washington Nationals in which he hit 14 homeruns and 59 RBIs but was unable to get another chance in the MLB despite signing a few minor league deals.
Previously on Blue Jays Central
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