Chicago White Sox hire former Twins assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon as hitting coach under manager Will Venable
The Chicago White Sox have added former Twins assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon to their staff as the hitting coach under manager Will Venable, according to MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
The Twins hired Shomon, 35, as a hitting coach for the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels in 2021. They promoted him to a hitting coach position with the Wichita Wind Surge in 2022. Then, Minnesota named him an assistant hitting coach in 2023.
He held the assistant hitting coach role with the Twins through the 2024 season before leaving to become an assistant hitting coach with the Miami Marlins after the Twins fired hitting coach David Popkins, who went on to help the Toronto Blue Jays win the American League Pennant in the 2025 season. Popkins is viewed by many as one of the best hitting coaches in the league, which likely positively impacted Shomon during his tenure with Minnesota.
Shomon began his coaching career with the Schaumburg Boomers in 2012 while still playing college baseball. School records confirm he played for Judson University (2010), the University of Illinois at Springfield (2013) and Indiana Wesleyan University (2016). He also reportedly played for one more college.
With the Boomers, Shomon served in many roles, including bullpen catcher, bullpen coach, catching instructor, bench coach, first base coach and strength and conditioning coach. In June 2016, he left Schaumburg to become the bullpen and catching coach for the Lake Erie Crushers. He then played in seven games for the Crushers in 2017 and two games for the Cleburne Railroaders in 2018 before returning to the Boomers' staff as a bench coach. He was supposed to become Schaumburg's hitting coach in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the Frontier League season.
The White Sox finished the 2025 campaign with the worst record in the American League (60-102), in large part due to their struggling offense; Chicago ended the season ranked 27th in batting average (.232) and on-base percentage (.302) and 28th in slugging percentage (.373). The team has plenty of young talent, however, and hopes Shomon can play a huge role in unlocking the best version of the team's young hitters.