The St. Louis Cardinals have another new bench coach. Thursday afternoon the Cardinals announced that Matt Holliday has resigned from the job and Joe McEwing is stepping in. Holliday, who was named bench coach in November, resigned to spend more time with his family, according to USA Today.
"Obviously, with my kids I wanted to be home and around them as much as possible -- and still do -- but this was an opportunity that I wanted to pursue and it's an opportunity I couldn't pass up," Holliday told MLB.com after being named bench coach in November. "You never know how often this type of job is going to come up. I felt like it was time to give this opportunity a chance."
The 42-year-old Holliday last played in 2018, and he had no prior coaching or managerial experience at the pro level prior to rejoining the Cardinals this offseason. He had served as an outfield and hitting coach for Oklahoma State, where his brother Josh is the head coach, from 2019-22. It's unclear whether he will rejoin the program.
Holliday's oldest son, Jackson, was the No. 1 pick in the 2022 MLB draft and is one of the game's best prospects. Holliday and his wife Leslee have two other sons, Ethan and Reed, and a daughter, Gracyn.
McEwing, 50, brings a wealth of experience to the Cardinals. He spent 16 seasons in the Chicago White Sox organization, working his way up from minor league coach to big league third base coach (2012-16, 2021-22) and bench coach (2017-20). McEwing was let go after the White Sox named Pedro Grifol their new manager in November.
The Cardinals won the NL Central with a 93-69 record in 2022. They were swept in the best-of-three Wild Card Series by the eventual National League pennant-winning Philadelphia Phillies.
