After multiple changes at manager and 14 consecutive seasons, Rick Honeycutt stepped down from his role as Los Angeles Dodgers pitching coach last fall. The possibility first surfaced in November 2017, though president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman refuted the report.
Of course, Honeycutt not only returned for the 2018 season but the ensuing one as well. He underwent back surgery last year and missed the start of Spring Training. Honeycutt nonetheless reported to Camelback Ranch earlier than expected and was with the team for all of 2019.
The physical toll that took was a factor in Honeycutt stepping away from his role as pitching coach. However, he has remained involved with the Dodgers organization as a special assistant.
In Honeycutt’s place, the Dodgers promoted Mark Prior from bullpen coach. The change is one manager Dave Roberts described as having gone smoothly, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“For me, it’s been pretty seamless,” manager Dave Roberts said of the transition so far.
Friedman similarly spoke highly of Prior succeeding Honeycutt:
“It’s working out even better than anticipated,” said president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who has overseen similar expansions in just about every department on his watch. “We’ve been fortunate to have Honey as long as we did, and it’s not like he’s riding off into the sunset. I see him impacting us as much as ever, just in a different role.”
Considering his tenure with the organization, Honeycutt was the lone pitching coach Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen and Walker Buehler, among others, have known. Furthermore, Honeycutt had a long track record of successful pitching staffs and reclamation projects.
Working in Prior’s favor was already serving as a coach on Roberts’ staff and developing his own relationships and familiarity with pitchers. That was one of the reasons Honeycutt was optimistic Prior would succeed in his new role.
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