Rays coach Jonathan Erlichman is Tampa Bay’s dugout Jedi
When a Major League Baseball team takes batting practice, the cacophony of batters howling at gently thrown pitches is interrupted by instructors ripping grounders to infielders, the balls making their way home via an unseen human conveyor belt.
Even if the instructors are over 60, they always keep the beat of the ritual, even if it’s been decades since they last played.
Jonathan Erlichman stands out in this environment.
The Tampa Bay Rays coach could be seen lingering near the buckets of balls around home plate, glove in hand, collecting incoming tosses from infielders. Despite this, his base is narrow, his body practically sinking under the ball like a kick returner seeking a fair catch.
Once the game begins, Erlichman may be the one flinching when a line drive rips toward the dugout rail, his internal clock not quite as conditioned to react with aplomb as his teammates.
Yet, with each passing season – and this is Erlichman’s sixth as the Rays’ process and analytics coach – the fact that Erlichman never played baseball beyond his early youth fades into the background. You can see it in Erlichman’s moves in and around the clubhouse and dugout, a man confident that no one will ask for his rank, serial number, or major league service time to explain his presence.
And while the Rays continue to cycle through players while remaining one of the game’s most consistently outstanding clubs, heading to the playoffs as they have in every year of Erlichman’s dugout stay, word is spreading across the league.
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