Rachel Balkovec is a former strength and conditioning coach for the Houston Astros and a minor league baseball manager in the United States.
Balkovec was selected manager of the Tampa Tarpons, a Class A minor league team, by the New York Yankees in 2022, making her the first woman to manage a big league-affiliated team as a full-time manager.
She is Major League Baseball’s first full-time female hitting coach and Minor League Baseball’s first full-time female manager.
Rachel Balkovec was waitressing and working at Lululemon in 2013, wanting to develop her coaching career. Despite this, she changed her name from “Rachel” to “Rae” on her résumé and email address after applying to 15 different teams in Phoenix and not hearing back.
Rather than emphasizing her status as a Division I collegiate softball catcher, she stated that she had done so.
This led to phone interviews, but after people heard her voice, Balkovec claims the only offers she received were for women’s sports. She claims that one team assured her that they would never hire a woman.
Table of Contents
Rachel Balkovec’s Profile
Before moving any further, let’s have a look at Rachel Balkovec’s profile.
| Full name | Rachel Balkovec |
| Common name | Rachel Balkovec |
| Gender | Female |
| Date of birth | July 5, 1987 |
| Place of birth | Omaha, Nebraska, United States |
| Age | 34 year old |
| Zodiac sign | Cancer |
| Father name | Not available |
| Mother name | Not available |
| Siblings | 2(Stephanie Balkovec and Valerie [Balkovec] Dorgan ) |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | Not known |
| Sexual orientation | Straight |
| Marital status | Unmarried |
| Spouse | Not known |
| Children | None |
| Education | The Skutt Catholic High School, Creighton University, The University of New Mexico, Louisiana State University, Vrije University |
| Profession | Hitting coach, Minor League Manager (New York Yankees) |
| Famous for | first full-time female hitting coach in Major League Baseball and first full-time female manager in Minor League Baseball. |
| Salary | Under review |
| Source of income | Hitting coach, Minor League Manager |
| Net worth | Under review |
Rachel Balkovec Age, Height and Weight
Balkovec was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States, on July 5, 1987. His height is 5 feet 9 inches or 1.75 m and weighs around 65 kg or 143 lbs.
There isn’t much information available about his body, but we will update you as soon as the information becomes available. He has brown eyes with brown hair and has a fit body type.
| Height | 5 feet 9 inches or 1.75m |
| Weight | 65 kg or 143 lbs |
| Body measurement | Not available |
| Eye color | Brown |
| Hair color | Brown |
| Body type | Fit |
Rachel Balkovec Education
Rachel Balkovec earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from the University of New Mexico in 2009.
She completed her master’s degree in kinesiology from Louisiana State University.
Balkovec began studying human movement sciences at Vrije University in the Netherlands in 2018.
Rachel Balkovec Career
Balkovec began her coaching career in Johnson City, Tennessee, as a temporary contract strength and conditioning coach for the St. Louis Cardinals’ minor-league squad. She was voted Appalachian League strength coach of the year in that position.
When she was hired full-time as the Johnson City affiliate’s strength and conditioning coordinator in 2014, she became baseball’s first female strength and conditioning coordinator.
In 2016, the Houston Astros recruited Balkovec to be their Latin American strength and conditioning coordinator.
In 2018, she was promoted to strength and conditioning coach for the Corpus Christi Hooks, a Class AA team.
After moving to the Netherlands, Balkovec worked as an assistant hitting coach for the Dutch baseball and softball programs.
After completing her graduation, she returned to the United States to pursue a fellowship at Driveline Baseball, where she studied hitters’ eye-tracking and pitchers’ hip movement.
Rachel Balkovec was named the New York Yankees’ new hitting coach in November 2019 and started spring training in 2020, making her the first woman to hold such a role full-time.
Balkovec interviewed for a position as a quality control coach with the San Francisco Giants in the fall of 2019, but she chose to stay with the Yankees.
Rachel Balkovec has been coaching in the Australian Baseball League since the COVID-19 outbreak halted the 2020 Minor League Baseball season. She was a member of the 2021 All-Star Futures Game coaching staff.
On January 11, 2022, the Yankees named Balkovec manager of the Low-A Tampa Tarpons, making her the very first woman to manage in affiliated baseball.
Rachel Balkovec Family
Balkovec was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska; she comes from very loving and supportive family background. Her father worked for American Airlines as a customer service manager, and her mother worked as a bookkeeper. She is of European descent and enjoys spending time with her family.
She has two sisters, an older sister Stephine Balkovec and a younger sister Valerie [Balkovec] Dorgan.
Balkovec attended Skutt Catholic High School in Omaha, where he played softball, soccer, and basketball. She began her softball career as a catcher at Creighton University, then transferred to the University of New Mexico to continue her career as a catcher.
Rachel Balkovec Social Media Presence
We can find him on Instagram as @rachel.balkovec, with 1,236 posts and more than 50.5k followers while following 1,231 people.
She writes in her Insta bio as
“New York Yankees MiLB Hitting Coach
10 yrs in baseball, 34 yrs in the human race.
I mentor women in career & confidence:
linktr.ee/rachel.balkovec “
Her Twitter Id is @rachelbalkovec, with 1,410 Following and more than 21K Followers.
She writes in her bio, “Coach with the NYY org. Ten years in baseball, 34 in the human race.”
You can find her on Twitter on Instagram as:
| Rachel Balkovec | |
| Rachel Balkovec |
Some Facts about Rachel Balkovec
- In 2019 November, she became the first woman to be named a full-time hitting coach for a Major League Baseball team.
- Rachel Balkovec is considered one of history’s most successful Sports Coaches in the United States of America.
- She learned Spanish for the job to interact more effectively with the players.
