Rachel Balkovec would become the first female manager in affiliated professional baseball to be tabbed by the Yankees to manage the Low-A Tampa Tarpons the following season. She confirmed the news to MLB.com late Sunday.
Balkovec, 34, served as a hitting coach in the organization's rookie-level Florida Complex League. She has been a coach in professional baseball for 10 years, becoming the first female full-time hitting coach in an MLB organization when she replaced her previous role in 2019.
"I'm not the first woman to be ranked in baseball, but I know it's a little different," Balkovec said when he was seen as the FCL team's hitting coach. "I'm the product of women who have come before me in sports. If anyone thinks I'm a trailblazer, great, because hopefully it's creating an opportunity to think that it's possible for [others]." "
Balkovec coached in the Australian Baseball League after the 2020 minor league season was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic, and was named to the coaching staff for the 2021 All-Star Futures Game at Coors Field before last season's Midsummer Classic .
Balkovec has an extensive background in cutting-edge analytics, researching eye tracking for hitters and hip movement for pitchers at Driveline Baseball, a data-driven performance center in Washington State. She also has a pair of master's degrees in the science of human movement.
With the FCL Yankees, Balkovec teamed up with several of New York's top prospects, including the franchise's No. 2 prospect (and No. 17 overall) per MLB pipeline, including center fielder Jason Dominguez. Dominguez was promoted to Low-A Tampa last year, the club Balkovec will reportedly manage.
"It's no secret, but it's been fun working with Mr. Dominguez," Balkovec said when both he and Dominguez were named to the Futures game roster. "He is incredibly intelligent, and his abilities are high. I would consider him a leader among the group here. Obviously, he is very young, but he carries himself in the right way. I work with him quite closely. What I have been able to do, and as far as their methods and the way they work, they are happy to work with.”
As she has climbed through the Yankees' organizational ranks, Balkovec has received rave reviews from colleagues, including senior director of player development Kevin Reese and minor league hitting coordinator Dillon Lawson, who appointed Balkovec to general manager for the FCL hitting coach position. Strongly recommend Brian Cashman. ,
“[Lawson] was extremely impressed with his background in strength and conditioning and the biomechanics side,” Cashman said at the time. "When I saw Kevin Reese and Dylan on such a level about him, it was all good enough for me."
Balkovec was asked in a January 2020 Q&A with MLB Pipeline about the challenge she was looking forward to becoming the hitting coach of the FCL Yankees.
"The swing mechanics are right up my alley; it's something I have great confidence in," Balkovec said. "So what I'm looking forward to is sitting next to the manager and leaning on the other hitting coaches who will be there for game strategy and approach."
Now, Balkovec will have the chance to fill out the lineup card himself.
"I'm having a blast," she said in July. "I'm being pushed here, and hopefully some people will be pushed along the way."