The Pittsburgh Pirates announced their 2015 minor league coaching staffs on Thursday. Lots of former Pirates players and also plenty of guys that made their living as catchers among the group of coaches named. There are also a lot of changes, though many are just moving from one team to another.
Indianapolis will be led by Dean Treanor for the fifth straight season. His hitting coach will be Butch Wynegar, while Stan Kyles takes care of the pitchers. Kyles was the pitching coach for Altoona the last two seasons. Wynegar has coached on and off in the minors since 1992, spending the last year eight seasons as the hitting coach for the Yankees AAA farm team in Scranton. He spent 13 seasons in the majors.
Altoona will be managed by Tom Prince. Kevin Riggs is the hitting coach and Justin Meccage will be the pitching coach. The entire Curve staff is new to the team this year. Meccage spent two years with State College and two years with Bradenton. Prince played seven seasons for the Pirates and has managed in their minor league system since 2004. He won a league title in the GCL in 2012 and led Bradenton to the playoffs last year.
Mike Ryan moves from West Virginia up to Bradenton to manage. His hitting coach is Ryan Long, and Scott Elarton will be his pitching coach. Elarton moves up from the GCL Pirates last year, his first season in the system. Long was the hitting coach for Altoona last year.
The West Virginia Power will be led by Brian Esposito, who will have Keoni De Renne returning as his hitting coach and Mark DiFelice as his pitching coach. Esposito managed Jamestown last year and DiFelice was his pitching coach.
The new West Virginia Black Bears(moved from Jamestown) will have Wyatt Toregas at the helm, Jonathan Prieto in charge of the hitters and Tom Filer taking care of the pitchers. Toregas was the Pirates video advance scout in 2014. He appeared in three games for the Pirates in 2011, then coached the next year in Indianapolis. Filer was the pitching coach for Indianapolis the last four years.
Bristol has Edgar Valera as the manager again, while Austin McClune makes the move from a player/coach that never played the last two years, to the team’s hitting coach. Jeff Johnson is the pitching coach. Johnson was the pitching coach for the Power the last two years. He also had the same job for Altoona in 2012 and before that he was with the Power from 2009 until 2011.
The GCL Pirates will have manager Milver Reyes, hitting coach Kory DeHaan and pitching coach Elvin Nina.
Finally, the DSL Pirates will be led by Mendy Lopez, while Osiel Flores is the hitting coach and Dan Urbina is the pitching coach. Urbina’s son Dan, pitched for Bristol last year.