Rachel Balkovec Yankees
Courtesy YES

Rachel Balkovec just shattered one of baseball’s glass ceilings.

New York Yankees minor league hitting coach Rachel Balkovec is moving onwards and upwards.

Per Lindsey Adler, Balkovec is set to shatter one of baseball’s many glass ceilings and become a minor league manager. Her charge? The Yankees’ Low-A affiliate Tampa Tarpons.

A strength and conditioning coach by trade, Balkovec, 34, first joined the Yankees’ staff in 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic upended the season and spring training. In 2021, she was the hitting coach for the Yankees’ Rookie-affiliate Florida Complex League Yankees.

Now, Rachel Balkovec is set to break even more barriers with an even bigger responsibility. The New York Yankees are renowned for their minor league depth. If Balkovec is being tasked with this level of responsibility, then one thing is certain.

Expect to hear her name bandied about in baseball for a long, long time.

Josh Benjamin has been a staff writer at ESNY since 2018. He has had opinions about everything, especially the Yankees and Knicks. He co-hosts the “Bleacher Creatures” podcast and is always looking for new pieces of sports history to uncover, usually with a Yankee Tavern chicken parm sub in hand.