PHOENIX — The Diamondbacks changed hitting coaches on Wednesday, promoting Rick Schu to replace Kevin Seitzer.
Third-place Arizona trails leader San Diego by 3 1/2 games in the NL West. The Diamondbacks have stayed in contention despite a .248 team batting average.
Schu, in his 10th season with the franchise, was the organization's hitting coordinator and served as the Tucson Sidewinders hitting coach in 2002.
Seitzer was in his first year as the Diamondbacks hitting coach.
"I think for most of the season our offense hasn't been quite as consistent as we'd like, especially this last stretch. It really cost us some games," general manager Josh Byrnes said in a telephone interview.
"It's unfair to say that Kevin Seitzer is to blame for that, but it's a change we need to make."
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The Diamondbacks just finished a 2-8 road trip that ended with a three-game sweep at Cincinnati last weekend. They open a three-game series at home against San Diego on Friday.
Arizona's batting average is 15th in the National League, and the Diamondbacks' 371 runs rank 12th in the NL.
"I think he has a lot of perspective to try to get us back on track and get the offense going in the right direction," Byrnes said.
