In a historic move, the New York Yankees reportedly have hired Rachel Balkovec to manage their Low-A affiliate, the Tampa Tarpons, for the upcoming season, according to Lindsey Adler of The Athletic. Balkovec is the first woman to manage an affiliated minor league team, via JJ Cooper of Baseball America.
The 34-year-old played softball at Creighton and the University of New Mexico and got her full-time start in baseball in 2014 as a minor league strength and conditioning coach with the St. Louis Cardinals, according to her website. She then was the the Latin American strength and conditioning coordinator for the Houston Astros and later worked with their Double-A affiliate.
Balkovec originally joined the Yankees organization in 2019 as a minor-league hitting coach.
While this appointment certainly is historic, the Red Sox shattered some ceilings in their own right last January, when they hired Bianca Smith as a minor league coach and thus made her the first Black female coach in professional baseball.
