Anthony Iapoce is moving on up in his new job with the Texas Rangers as the team's hitting coach having previously served as a minor-league hitting coordinator and roving hitting instructor for the Chicago Cubs.
And while Rangers fans should be excited about Iapoce working with the team's younger hitters like Joey Gallo and even guys like Rougned Odor and Elvis Andrus, the new hitting coach says he also has a lot to learn from the team's veterans, notably consummate professional Adrian Beltre.
In speaking with the G-bag nation on 105.3 The Fan, Iapoce said he will have a lot to teach but also will look to learn on the job from guys like Beltre and Prince Fielder.
"You're learning from Adrian and a lot of those guys. You're learning from the players. Anything that you've used to help other players, you don't necessarily learn from the coaches, you learn from the really good players and you pass that knowledge down on down to other players you work with. So having the opportunity to be around Adrian to figure out how things work, what the team needs, what he thinks worked well. He's been around a long time and he's played every day. He's got that grind, killer instinct mentality, but he loves to play and he's a great teammate. It comes down to me learning from him, and learning from Prince, and learning from Choo, all these guys, and figure out how to pass that knowledge off to the young guys."
The excitement surrounding Iapoce's addition to the Rangers' staff is very real, not only because of his resume but because of his willingness to soak things in and learn as a relative newcomer to the job capacity.
