"My way is staying positive with the players," Menechino said on Inside the Clubhouse on 670 The Score. "I try to keep everything upbeat. You must be available to them -- that the No. 1 thing. You learn to know when to push these guys and when to lay off. You must remember how hard it is to play this game. Sometimes when you have been coaching for a long time, you kind of forget how hard it is to play this game. Hitting is really hard. First and foremost, I am available and always here for them."
Menechino served as the Triple-A Charlotte Knights' hitting coach in 2019, but he also had the luxury of joining the big league club for the final month of the season. It was then that he got an up-close look at many of the players whom he'll be teaching this season.
In October, Menechino was named the White Sox's hitting coach after the team parted ways with Todd Steverson. Menechino had previously worked for the Marlins for five seasons, serving as their assistant hitting from 2014-'16 and then their hitting coach from 2017-'18.
A seven-year MLB veteran himself, the 49-year-old Menechino has a pugnacious edge to him that he'll utilize once he has gained a trust with his players.
"You must learn the person you are working with first," he said. "You got to learn what makes them tick and how they think. I need to know what the individual thinks is right or wrong and how they interpret it. I need to give the same message five different ways to get my message across to a group of hitters and the one I am working with right now.
"You will find I am only happy when I am (ticked) off. So really they learn not to worry about my face or me yelling. They understand when I am yelling and screaming and getting things done, it is only for their benefit."
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Menechino is looking to turn around an offense that ranked 13th in the American League in averaging 4.4 runs per game in 2019. The White Sox also ranked 12th in the AL with a .728 OPS.
"My motto is to get comfortable being uncomfortable, because that is the only way you will grow as a player," Menechino said. "Sometimes you must trick yourself into doing something that is right even if it doesn't feel right. If you keep doing it, boom, it clicks. You are trying to help young guys learn how to do things in the big leagues where it really counts. Money, numbers and your ego, it all counts. And when you are learning in the big leagues, it is all hard. When stuff goes bad and you don't feel good, you are going to revert back to your old habits. When stuff goes bad and the stuff hits the fan, we must teach our guys to go back to the basics -- pitch to pitch and one at-bat at a time. Let's get it rolling for the next 10 at-bats so we can save the next 50.
"I want my guys up there hitting, looking for the ball and being relaxed. 'I am looking for my pitch' and being confident in that is what I want for my guys to think. So I try to keep them in tune with themselves. I will even take a video of them when they don't know it. So if they are struggling and insist they are doing everything right, I can show them what things in the swing are off."
Menechino's promotion came after general manager Rick Hahn loved what Menechino instilled in players at the Triple-A level in 2019. Menechino worked closely with touted White Sox prospects Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal, both of whom are expected to play big roles for the White Sox in 2020.
"He's got a very sound message in his approach to hitting and teaching hitting," Hahn said.
"He is an effective communicator in getting that message across to players. He gets guys to buy into his methods, and he has different tools in his toolbox about how to get the message across."