The San Francisco Giants make history by hiring MLB’s first-ever female coach. Congratulations to Alyssa Nakken.
The MLB announced Thursday that the San Francisco Giants have added Alyssa Nakken to their coaching staff. Nakken, 29, was a college softball player at Sacramento State from 2009-12. At Sacramento State, Nakken was a three-time All-Conference first baseman and a four-time Academic All-American.
She joined the Giants organization in 2014 as a baseball operations intern. Nakken has been in charge of the players’ health and wellness initiatives since.
The team also announced they’ve promoted Mark Hallberg, who managed their Class-A affiliate last season.
“Alyssa and Mark are highly respected members of the organization and I’m delighted that they will now focus their talents on helping to build a winning culture in the clubhouse…In every organization, environment affects performance, and baseball clubhouses are no different. That’s why in addition to assisting the rest of the coaching staff on the field, Mark and Alyssa will focus on fostering a clubhouse culture that promotes high performance through, among other attributes, a deep sense of collaboration and team,” Manager Gabe Kapler said, per Maria Guardado of mlb.com.
The hiring of Nakken is historic. Rachel Balkovec also made history earlier in the offseason. She was hired by the New York Yankees to be a minor league hitting coach. Balkovec became the first woman hitting coach in baseball history.
The Giants interviewed Balkovec for the position that eventually went to Nakken.
Soon, more teams will be hiring more women in not only front office roles but coaching roles as well. Nakken has broken barriers for the sport and will look to help the Giants return to the postseason for the first time since 2016.
