Rowson wants to get Giants in the business of scoring runs as offensive coordinator

James Rowson, seen here from his time with the Marlins as their bench coach, watches batting practice before a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Saturday, April 16, 2022, in Miami. (Lynne Sladky/Associated Press) There's a new offensive coordinator in town, and this one isn't working out of Levi's Stadium.The San Francisco Giants hired James Rowson to be the franchise's first offensive coordinator, which means he'll be a hitting coach while also dealing with baserunning and other facets of the offense starting in 2027.Rowson, 50, asked for the title during the interview process, president of baseball operations Buster Posey explained. The Giants are likely to also hire a hitting coach to replace Hunter Mense, who left for the Kansas City Royals. The new coaches will work alongside assistant hitting coach Oscar Bernard, a holdover.For Rowson, the title of offensive coordinator speaks to his philosophy, that like football, there should be a coach who can tie all the facets of the offensive game together."In the NFL they have running backs coaches, they have wide receiver coaches, they have individual coaches for areas, but at the end of the day, they have an offensive coordinator who's trying to put all that together," Rowson said on Friday. "One who's trying to figure out what's the best way for us to go out there and score as a club."This isn't a new concept in baseball. The Milwaukee Brewers, Royals and Texas Rangers are among the teams with offensive coordinators."Offense is to score runs to win the game," Rowson said. "It's not about the individual and him getting a hit. It's about whether or not he touches home plate and scores a run."That means Rowson will get in on coaching baserunning. There has been a shift there already, with Taira Uematsu replacing Shane Robinson as the first-base coach. Every year, the Giants proclaim a push to create more runs on the bases with a focus on stealing bags and improved decision-making. But the Giants were hapless at times on the bases in 2026. The recorded minus-5.6 baserunning runs above average, ranking them the fourth-worst team in baseball at creating runs on the bases, according to FanGraphs. "Just being the aggressor," Posey said at the GM meetings in Las Vegas. "Even though I say it to them – there's not going to be repercussions if we get thrown out - there's still a hesitancy there."The baseball world saw the Milwaukee Brewers turn athleticism on the bases into a clear advantage in their World Series run. The Giants have simpler goals. If this team wants to stay clear of the 100-loss mark again, they'll need to generate more overall production from an offensive core they've heavily invested in. After a rough April, Rafael Devers slugged his way to a Silver Slugger candidacy, but injury-plagued and lackluster seasons from Matt Chapman and Willy Adames hampered the offense.The Giants' 4.13 runs per game ranked 26th in baseball last year, and their 97 weighted runs created-plus (or wRC+) was below average, ranking 24th in MLB. A contact-focused approach at the plate was partially to blame for a 7.4% walk rate that ranked as the worst in baseball. "A lot of times, walks are a byproduct of not getting the pitch you want. So it's not like you're going up to the plate looking for a walk. You're going up to the plate looking to get a pitch that you can drive or do damage on, something that falls into your game plan. And if you don't get that, at times the result will be walks," Rowson said, asked of his approach to getting that number up."The discipline comes from a lot of times being aggressive and being aggressive to what you do well, as opposed to being passive and thinking of the walk. A lot of times a walk is a byproduct of a good plate appearance, and that's kind of the way I talk about it and the way I teach it."Rowson will spend the next few weeks reaching out to all the hitters before the owners' lockout expected to begin on Dec. 1, after which teams – and coaches – will be restricted from contacting players. He lit up when asked about Bryce Eldridge, who made a splash his rookie year batting .269 with a .825 OPS and 17 home runs in 107 games. "How could you not be? He's a monster, right? So you go out there, you see this kid, and I'm like, man, this kid's a monster," Rowson said. "So I'm excited to get to know him and work with him and see how he thinks."Rowson served as a hitting coach in the minor and major leagues since 2012 for five different clubs, most recently as the New York Yankees hitting coach. With a short porch in left field, Yankee Stadium is considered a hitter's paradise compared to the cavernous and frigid Oracle Park. Rowson sees his new park as an advantage. "Your ballpark plays into it, but that's again allowing and learning these guys' strengths and weaknesses. … Making sure it's the low line-drive mentality, using the whole field, being able to do some things to create run production," he said. "Other guys are going to be able to, no matter what ballpark you're in, they have the power to hit that ball out of the ballpark consistently."You're going to get a chance to play in it all year long and find out all the nuances and do certain things in order to help yourself put more runs on the board, where other teams may come in and not play as much and try their same approach, and it may not work in our ballpark."SubscribeThere’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Rowson wants to get Giants in the business of scoring runs as offensive coordinator.