White Sox manager reveals hiring of bench coach Walker McKinven

White Sox manager Will Venable revealed during an appearance on Foul Territory Tuesday that the club will hire Walker McKinven as their new bench coach, per James Fegan of Sox Machine on X.

McKinven has been working with the Brewers for many years, holding various titles during that time. He has worked in scouting and coaching roles, with his most recent title being run prevention coordinator.

Per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com on X, McKinven was involved in daily game planning and the club’s catcher development. The Brewers have a reputation for maximizing catcher defense, with the most recent example being William Contreras. He was considered a poor defender with Atlanta, posting -11 Defensive Runs Saved before being traded to Milwaukee. In the two years since he has been worth +11 DRS.

The White Sox are remaking their organization at the moment. They set a modern-day record by losing 121 games in 2024 and cleaned house as that season played out. In August, they fired manager Pedro Grifol and three coaches, including bench coach Charlie Montoyo. For the season's final few weeks, Grady Sizemore took over as interim manager while Doug Sisson covered the bench coach job.

Venable was recently tapped to be the club’s new skipper and has poached McKinven from the Brewers to fill the bench coach role as the Sox look to emerge from their disastrous season and post better results in the future.