DETROIT — Twenty-five years after Kimera Bartee stole 20 bases as a rookie for the Tigers, the former outfielder is back at first base in Detroit. The team has promoted Bartee to first-base coach in the latest shuffling of its coaching staff.
Bartee essentially fills the void left by third-base coach Chip Hale, who left last week to become the new head coach at the University of Arizona. Ramon Santiago, who had been the Tigers’ first-base coach, shifts over to third. George Lombard, who coached at third in Hale’s absence last week, returns to his primary job as bench coach.
“For me, this decision was built on the overall function of our staff,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I got a full week to see George do both jobs and how the dugout functioned. I have complete confidence that we could have held serve, so to speak, and stayed with the status quo. We just felt like we were missing something at a couple of different spots.”
Bartee is no stranger to the role, having worked as Pirates first-base coach from 2017-19. The 48-year-old had been working in the organization as the Tigers’ roving outfield and baserunning coordinator. He played parts of four seasons in Detroit, leading the team in stolen bases in 1996.
Hale was the second member of Hinch’s staff to leave in-season for a college head coaching job. Both times, the Tigers have promoted from within their farm system to fill the opening with coaches in similar positions. Mike Hessman jumped from Triple-A Toledo to become assistant hitting coach last month after José Cruz Jr. took over as head coach at Rice.
“For us, adding Kimera was very easy,” Hinch said. “He’s been at first base before, he’s been in the big leagues. He’s done our outfield and baserunning this season, albeit from a distance in the Minor Leagues. And he can learn and adapt under George as an extension of what George does in the outfield and baserunning here.
“Ramon obviously was very excited to move over to third base. It is deemed somewhat of a promotion going from first base to third base. He did it a little bit last year, which gave me a little bit of comfort for the remaining part of this season. So it’s a sum of all those parts.”