The Milwaukee Brewers officially announced their 2026 coaching staff on January 5, and the headline addition is a familiar name: former Brewers first baseman Daniel Vogelbach is joining manager Pat Murphy’s staff as a hitting coach.
It’s part of a broader reshaping of Milwaukee’s offensive group, with Eric Theisen promoted to lead hitting coach and former Blue Jays hitting coach Guillermo Martinez added as another assistant in a three-man hitting setup.
Key details (why this matters right now)
- Daniel Vogelbach returns to Milwaukee as a first-time big league coach, after beginning his post-playing career as a special assistant for hitting with the Pirates.
- Eric Theisen takes over as lead hitting coach, with Guillermo Martinez and Vogelbach as hitting coaches.
- Longtime instructor Al LeBoeuf is not returning as lead hitting coach, but is staying in the organization in a reassigned role.
- Milwaukee’s offense scored 806 runs in 2025 (third-most in MLB), but it also went through a very public October collapse in the NLCS.
Daniel Vogelbach returns to Milwaukee in a new role
Vogelbach, 33, is the most recognizable newcomer in the staff shuffle, and he’s not coming back as a late-inning bat this time.
He played for the Brewers in 2020-21, a stretch highlighted by a memorable walk-off grand slam against the St. Louis Cardinals in September 2021.
Now, Milwaukee is betting that the same traits that made him a frustrating at-bat for pitchers — patience, strike-zone awareness, and power — can translate into the coaching room.
Across parts of nine MLB seasons (2016-24), Vogelbach posted a .219/.340/.405 slash line with 81 home runs and an elite 15.1% career walk rate, per MLB Trade Rumors.
What the hitting-coach shakeup signals for 2026
The Brewers didn’t make these changes in a vacuum.
In 2025, Milwaukee’s offense was productive over 162 games, the team trailed only the Dodgers and Yankees in regular-season runs, while ranking 22nd in home runs.
But October was a different story. In the NLCS sweep against the Dodgers, the Brewers scored one run in each of four games and hit .118 as a team, numbers that put a spotlight on how hard it can be to score against elite playoff pitching.
That’s where the new structure matters. Theisen now leads a three-man group with Martinez (a long-time pro hitting instructor who previously spent six seasons as Toronto’s MLB hitting coach) and Vogelbach as new voices in the room.
Milwaukee also had a practical reason for reconfiguring the staff: hitting coach Connor Dawson left the Brewers for a job with the Kansas City Royals after the 2025 season.
More staff changes: new titles, more internal promotions
The hitting group wasn’t the only area with movement.
- Jason Lane moved from third base coach to “offense and strategy coordinator,” a role the Brewers noted as part of a broader reorganization.
- Matt Erickson will take over as third base coach while continuing his infield instruction duties.
- On the pitching side, Jim Henderson was promoted to “pitching coordinator,” while Juan Sandoval joins the MLB staff as assistant pitching coach.
- Spencer Allen was elevated to first base coach, replacing Julio Borbon, who (like LeBoeuf) is being reassigned elsewhere in the organization.
LeBoeuf’s shift away from the major league staff comes after he spent part of 2025 away from the club while undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, a situation the organization and players spoke about openly during the season.
What to watch next
Coaching changes don’t guarantee results, but they do signal priorities, and Milwaukee’s is clear: keep the regular-season offense productive, while raising the club’s “playoff-ready” floor against elite arms.
Brewers Announce Big Coaching Staff Shakeup Heading Into 2026