41.5 F
Pittsburgh

Pirates Announce 2016 Minor League Coaching Staffs

Published:

The Pittsburgh Pirates have announced their 2016 coaching staffs for all eight minor league affiliates. Almost every manager from 2015 returns to the same level next year.

Indianapolis returns the same staff with Dean Treanor managing, Stan Kyles as the pitching coach and Butch Wynegar as the hitting coach.

Altoona has a new manager in long-time Major Leaguer Joey Cora. Kevin Riggs will be his hitting coach and Justin Meccage will be the pitching coach. Riggs and Meccage are returning for a second season in Altoona.

Bradenton has Michael Ryan at the helm, with Jeff Johnson moving up from Bristol to be the pitching coach and Keonni De Renne will be the hitting coach, moving up from West Virginia. Ryan returns for his second season.

West Virginia has Brian Esposito managing, Ryan Long as the hitting coach and Matt Ford as the pitching coach. Long was the hitting coach with Bradenton last year. Esposito is returning and Matt Ford was a player/coach last year, moving to pitching coach this season.

Morgantown will have Wyatt Toregas as the manager, Jonathan Prieto as the hitting coach and Mark DeFelice handling the pitchers. Toregas and Prieto return, while DeFelice drops down from West Virginia.

Bristol will have Edgar Valera as the manager, Austin McClune as the hitting coach and Tom Filer takes over the pitching coach spot. Filer was the Morgantown pitching coach last year, while the other two are returning from the 2015 season.

GCL will be led by Milver Reyes, with Elvin Nina as the pitching coach and Kory DeHaan for the hitters. This is the same group from 2015.

The DSL team will be led by Mendy Lopez again, while Dan Urbina will be the pitching coach again. They haven’t announced a hitting coach yet, but Cecilio Beltre and Greg Picart will be coaches with the team.

The only coaches from last year who didn’t return as coaches are Altoona manager Tom Prince, Bradenton pitching coach Scott Elarton and DSL hitting coach Osiel Flores. Prince and Elarton are still in the system, while Flores is unknown at this time.

Update 3:45pm: The Pirates also announced their Player Development staff on Tuesday. Tom Prince has become the Minor League field coordinator. Scott Elarton has become a special assistant in baseball operations. That’s a job also held by Grady Little, Kevin Young and Jamey Carroll. Andy Barkett has become the assistant hitting coordinator.

Tom Filer is an assistant pitching coordinator, a job he took over in 2015. Amaury Telemaco is the Latin American pitching coordinator.

Kimera Bartee (outfield/baserunning coordinator), Gary Green (infielder coordinator), Scott Mitchell (pitching coordinator), Larry Sutton (hitting coordinator), Dave Turgeon (coordinator of instruction) and Gera Alvarez(Dominican Summer League Academy coordinator) will return in the same roles from this past season.

Woody Huyke returns for his 47th season in the organization. He will be a senior advisor for player development. Mike Lum and Luis Silverio(Latin America) also will return in that same role.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

Related Articles

Article Drop

Latest Articles