Ducksnorts looks at the improvement of three young Padres since Merv Rettenmund replaced Dave Magadan as hitting coach.

Merv was very well known in his time as a player as an excellent person to platoon or use as a pinch hitter. He had a great OBA but not much power. I only remember positive things about him as a hitting coach over the last 25 years. His success with the three Padres chronicled above may tell why. He's not trying to get the three to do the same thing. He appears to look at each player, find his strength, and exploit that. This always struck me as the right approach. Find what the player can do, and teach him how to leverage his ability.