Tribe Hires Tim Belcher as Pitching Coach

The first surprise of the Cleveland Indians new coaching staff was it's first one.

Tim Belcher has been hired as the new pitching coach of the Cleveland Indians.

Most assumed that Scott Radinsky and Dave Miller were the favorites to fill the pitching job in Manny Acta's staff. While both still could get a crack at the bullpen job, Belcher's hiring as the pitching coach is a bit of a surprise given the talk, even if he was a candidate listed.

Many people don't know where this guy comes from, but they may remember his name. For the record, he's actually coming right from under your nose. Belcher's former position as of today, Special Assistant to Baseball Operations for... you guessed it, the Cleveland Indians. He's held that position for eight years.

Belcher is a 14 year major league veteran that accumulated 146 wins over his career. He spent his career in many different locations, including Los Angeles (Dodgers to start his career, Angels to end it), Cincinnati, Chicago (White Sox), Seattle, Kansas City, and Detroit. so in other words he's played for three AL Central teams and has been in the organization of a fourth and you may not know this, but he he was drafted by the fifth, the Minnesota Twins first overall in 1983, but refused to sign.

Many know him for a variety of reasons... Here are some of those reasons.

- He gave up the first major league hit to a shortstop who just recently won another World Series ring... I think his name is Jeter.

- He won a World Series game for the Dodgers in 1988, the year they won the World Series.

- His best season was a year later in 1989, when he led the NL in shutouts and complete games and placed sixth in the Cy Young voting.

- He led the AL in loses in 1994 for Detroit, and yes that was a strike year.

- And of course, the Chan-Ho Park incident. Love that flying kick sort of a thing from Park. What was that all about?

So a little shocking? To me it is.. His name was out there, but everything looked like if it was coming from inside the organization, it was going to be Radinsky or Miller.

He's certainly have the major league credentials..

Here is a quote from Ross Atkins from Minor League camp a few years ago. Blecher may have been in the Front Office for the past few years, but when Spring Training would roll around, it's clear he's been someone who's done some instructing.

"Every day, there's a different topic," Atkins said. "The importance of routines, the importance of getting guys out on three pitches, keeping your body in shape and making 30 starts a year ... Tim Belcher's voice is certainly loud in those settings."

It's not like this guy is foreign to instructing, but he hasn't done it full-time as a pitching coach for even a minor league team. I can see this getting met with disdain from some people, but let's wait and find out more before we judge and go crazy.

According to Hoynes, some of Blecher's duties included: Working with players in the development system, evaluation of pitching talent, advanced scouting of other teams for the major league pitching staff.

If you can believe the Indians Insider tweet, than he knows this organization in and out and that's something that is important, but realize it doesn't make him the best choice. We'll soon see what the Indians see in him, because there is definitely more to it.