T-Rat Talk: David Tufo

Kyle Lobner brings David Tufo, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers bench coach, in for this edition of T-Rat Talk. Topics include the new agility field and what it means for the coaching staff, the additional coaching and staff available at the minor league level, his responsibilities on game day, and the opportunities to coach third base for the Rattlers.

On May 30 the Timber Rattlers unveiled one of the final and most-anticipated elements of last winter’s renovations to Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium when they invited the first fans to try out the Capital Credit Union slide in left field. A few weeks before that, however, another new addition to the facility opened with less public fanfare, but perhaps more excitement among the Timber Rattlers’ players and coaches.

One of the final additions to the new home clubhouse was an agility field attached to the batting cage. It’s one of several new or improved elements to the player training facilities at Neuroscience Group Field, which also gained an expanded weight room, two new indoor batting cages, expanded locker rooms for players and coaches and several new spaces for eating and relaxing. While most of those elements were ready when players arrived in April, the agility field still needed some finishing touches before it was ready to open in May.

“I can’t say enough about how much hard work they put into renovating. I didn’t get a chance to see what was here before, but from what I hear it’s night and day. So that’s something that I really appreciate,” Timber Rattlers bench coach David Tufo said.

Tufo, who previously managed one of the Brewers’ affiliates in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League, spends a lot of his time working with the Timber Rattlers infielders. As such, he was especially excited to have the opportunity to use the agility field for extra and more efficient work.

“The agility field, especially for me as a defensive guy, it’s right off the side of the (batting) cage so guys will get their cage work in pre-game, then we’ll come out to the agility field and we’ll go through that whole pre-ground ball sequence that we do, either home or on the road, but at home it gives us an opportunity to do it right there,” Tufo said. “I know with strength and conditioning, they have the space for guys to get their sprints in. So it’s just a very functional space that allows us to get a lot done without having to go back and forth to the field, back to the cages, back to the weight room, whatever it may be. It’s just a functional space where we can get a lot done efficiently.”

In addition to his time in the desert, Tufo was briefly assigned to the AAA Nashville Sounds during the 2022 season. During his time there he had an opportunity to see several facilities at Minor League Baseball’s highest level, and said the Timber Rattlers’ new additions are on par with them.

“I’ve heard it was already a good facility for the league, and now with the upgrades it’s hands down the best,” Tufo said. “From what I’ve heard from visiting teams, talking to them about it, and from players that were here last year, staff members that have been here multiple years, it’s night-and-day. It’s top notch. We have rovers (roving instructors) come in and they’re amazed at how beautiful it is, and how the upgrades are just so advanced and strong for this level of ball.”

The improvements to the clubhouse facilities continue a long trend of changes in player development across baseball. Less than a decade ago it was common for minor league teams to have a three-member coaching staff, one athletic trainer, a single-lane batting cage and a small player lounge in their home clubhouse, if they had one at all. For 2023, in addition to the renovated facilities, the Timber Rattlers now have a manager, four coaches, two athletic trainers, a strength and conditioning specialist and a technology operations coordinator working together to help develop players and prepare them for daily games.

“We’ve got more hands on deck, which allows us to focus in a little more on specifics when we don’t have to be spread so thin. Then having the upgraded facilities, we can do a lot more, more efficiently. We can have more one-on-one time with guys in a functional space, or with our schedule, it allows us to be better coaches both with more staff and the improved facilities,” Tufo said.

Tufo’s description of his typical day shows how the Rattlers are taking advantage of the opportunities gained by having more coaches.

“I’ll come in, get things prepared for our infielders for that day, whether it’s reviewing the spray charts or making adjustments to whatever the positionings may be for later in the series, go over some video with some of the guys, then we’ll go out and do some traditional short work to activate the infielders, short ground balls when they’re on their knees, isolating their hands. Then we’ll get into batting practice. I’ll throw batting practice and hit more ground balls then, then we’ll get into the game and we’re ‘go time,’ whether I’m coaching first or third that night,” Tufo said.

Coaching third base is traditionally the near-exclusive responsibility of a minor league manager. Tufo has done it before during his time in the Complex League, however, and has been out there for two games each series this season.

“It’s been great. It’s something that I’ve been doing the last couple of years, managing at the complex, and having a chance to do so with Joe (Timber Rattlers manager Joe Ayrault) here giving me the opportunity to coach a couple of days a week keeps me sharp, gives me different perspectives on the game, allows me to continue to grow as a coach, even though I know we’re here to develop the players,” Tufo said.

While he’s learning and developing in his role, however, Tufo said his primary goal remains to prepare players to advance and thrive in their own careers.

“Success for me personally is to continue to get these ballplayers better and get them to a point where they can be promoted and successful in promotions and continue to grow. Our job is, we want to win, obviously, but I think developing the players and getting them to play better results in wins. As you can see, as the year has progressed guys have been getting a lot better, we’ve been playing better, and that kind of goes hand-in-hand. So I think a successful year would be continuing to move these players up to the next level and get ready for the next batch that come through,” Tufo said.