On Aug. 23, 2021, the San Diego Padres decided their pitchers needed a new voice. They fired their veteran pitching coach, Larry Rothschild, and replaced him on an interim basis with bullpen coach Ben Fritz.
The Padres were 69-58 at the time, but finished the season four games under .500. With Fritz as the interim pitching coach, the staff fashioned a 5.25 ERA in 35 games to end the season.
Fritz went back to the bullpen coach role after the season. He's continued there ever since, and the Padres' results have given little reason to move him out of the role. From 2022-26, Padres relievers have the lowest expected ERA (3.53), second-most fWAR and sixth-best actual ERA in baseball.
How much of that success is attributable to Fritz is hard to discern at a distance, but at least one team might be willing to find out.
According to The Athletic, Fritz attracted interest from other teams looking for a pitching coach last offseason, before the Padres gave him a "significant raise."
One team is in the market for a pitching coach at the moment, and it happens to be the team perhaps most likely to be interested in bringing Fritz back.
The Oakland Athletics drafted Fritz, a San Jose native, in the first round (30th overall) of the 2002 MLB Draft. He pitched the next six seasons in the organization. A right-handed starter, Fritz was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 2007 Rule 5 draft but did not reach the majors.
Coincidentally, the A's have yet to name a full-time pitching coach after firing Scott Emerson at midseason. They did not remove the interim tag from his replacement, Dan Hubbs, leaving open the possibility for Fritz to get a promotion with the same organization that launched his professional career.
Fritz would also be able to return to his native Northern California with the A's, but only for a time. The team is playing out of Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento while a new Las Vegas stadium is under construction.
Other teams could also be in the market for a new pitching coach before next season, depending on changes in leadership at the manager and GM levels.
For what it's worth, the Padres are expected to retain most of their 2026 coaching staff.
“We expect a majority, if not all of them, to be back,” manager Craig Stammen said. “And a lot of that depends on contract stuff and offers from other teams and all that kind of stuff. We’ll have ongoing conversation here over the next couple weeks, but we hope to have everybody back.”
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