Derek Shelton, who lost his job with the Indians earlier this month when manager Eric Wedge was fired, is the Rays’ new hitting coach.

The Tampa resident replaces Steve Henderson, whose contract the Rays didn’t renew.

“I believe he is the kind of coach who can create a hitting program that will benefit the organization both at the minor league and major league levels,” said Rays manager Joe Maddon. “In our conversations, I found that we share the same philosophy on a number of different areas. He was very clear and concise on his intentions and in the end it was an easy decision.”

He becomes the sixth hitting coach in club history and the youngest. He follows Henderson (1998, 2006-09), Leon Roberts (1999-2000), Wade Boggs (2001), Milt May (2002) and Lee Elia (2003-05

For our full story, please go to TBO.com and navigate to the Rays page. We’ll update that one later after a conference call.