PaddleHeads Hire Patrick Chung As Interim Hitting Coach

A crowd favorite is making his return to Missoula in a new way. Patrick Chung became a fan favorite in Missoula appearing in nearly 200 games with the PaddleHeads over 3 seasons from 2022-2024. Now the native of Washington will be back in the Missoula dugout as a coach for the first time in professional baseball. Manager Michael Schlact, and the PaddleHeads front office have announced that Chung has been hired as an Interim Hitting Coach joining Schlact and current Assistant Coach Garrett Eddy. Chung will join the team for their upcoming series this week with the Oakland Ballers. Tyler Jeske was also relieved of hit duties as hitting coach on Monday. 

After signing with the PaddleHeads in 2022, Chung would blossom into one of the league's most consistent hitters at the top of the lineup. In 199 career games with the PaddleHeads Chung held a .365 career batting average in 768 career at-bats tallying 54 doubles, 10 triples, and 19 home runs. 

The Western Oregon product enjoyed his best season last summer in 87 games finishing with a .374 batting average with 32 doubles. Nick Gatewood is the only player in team history to finish with more doubles in one season (36). Gatewood would do so during the 2022 season as a teammate of Chung in his first season with the club. 

Chung will now impart his wisdom at the plate with this potent PaddleHeads offense that leads the league in home runs (36) while also batting .329 as a team. Missoula's lineup also features 6 players with an average over .300. This group will also be very familiar with Chung with the large number of returnees that are currently on the roster. Surely Chung will receive a big ovation when introduced to the fans at Allegiance Field. It also will give the long time PaddleHeads star an opportunity to make his presence known in the coaching world.