2019 Astros Minor League Coaching Staffs

The Houston Astros have released their minor league staff assignments for 2019. I'll update this post if/when they have the official press release.

(Coordinators, GCL, and DSL staffs from Climbing Tal's Hill)

COORDINATORS

Hitting: Jeremy Barnes
Pitching: Bill Murphy
Catchers: Mark Bailey
Fundamentals: Jason Bell

ROUND ROCK EXPRESS

Former Astro Mickey Storey moves up from Quad Cities to take the helm of the Express in the first season of their second stint as the Astros' Triple-A affiliate after being reclaimed from the Rangers.

Drew French and Ben Rosenthal both move up from Buies Creek, where they oversaw the Carolina League champions' pitchers and hitters, respectively.

Manager: Mickey Storey
Pitching Coach: Drew French
Hitting Coach: Ben Rosenthal

CORPUS CHRISTI HOOKS

Graham Johnson joins Omar Lopez's staff as the Hooks' pitching coach after spending 2018 with Quad Cities in the same capacity.

Tim LaMonte is new to the Astros organization. According to the Hooks' press release, LaMonte has been a private hitting instructor based in Texas for over 20 years and ran his own facility, In The Box Athletics, located in Sunnyvale, Texas, a small town near Dallas.

Manager: Omar Lopez
Pitching Coach: Graham Johnson
Hitting Coach: Tim LaMonte

FAYETTEVILLE WOODPECKERS

A new coaching staff will take over the Woodpeckers, who are finally getting the chance to settle into their new home after two seasons at Campbell University in Buies Creek.

Nate Shaver takes over as the manager; he was previously a development coach for Buies Creek.

New hitting coach Jason Kanzler played for three seasons in the Twins system after they drafted him in the 20th round of the 2013 draft, advancing as far as Class A Advanced. Prior to taking this job, Kanzler spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Katy High School.

Thomas Whitsett, the Woodpeckers' pitching coach, comes from the University of Arizona, where he was the Director of Player Development-Pitchers.

Manager: Nate Shaver
Pitching Coach: Thomas Whitsett
Hitting Coach: Jason Kanzler

QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS

Ray Hernandez gets his first shot at managing a team. In 2018, he served as a development coach for Fresno. He'll be joined by Rafael Peña and Erick Abreu.

Hernandez was drafted by the D-Backs in the 48th round of the 2011 draft out of Cal State Fullerton and pitched for two seasons in their system.

Abreu was originally signed by the Yankees in 2003 and pitched in the Astros system from 2008-12. He began his coaching career in the Dominican Summer League in 2013 and has moved up the organizational ladder one level at a time, spending last year as Tri-City's pitching coach.

Peña, the lone holdover from Quad Cities' 2018 staff, spent last season as the development coach.

Manager: Ray Hernandez
Pitching Coach: Erick Abreu
Hitting Coach: Rafael Peña

TRI-CITY VALLEYCATS

The defending New York-Penn League champions will have an all-new staff in 2019. As a side note... all of these guys are the same age as me. Well, they're all older than me but they were all born in the same year as me.

New manager Ozney Guillén is the youngest son of former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén. According to the ValleyCats' press release, Guillén just wrapped up his playing career, which was mainly spent in the independent leagues and Venezuela. In his first coaching job, he gets to take the reins of a team right out of the gate. He takes over for Jason Bell, who will assume a new role as Fundamentals Coordinator.

New pitching coach John Kovalik spent the last two seasons as the pitching coach at his alma mater, Slippery Rock University, a Division II school in Pennsylvania.

Sean Godfrey, the ValleyCats' new hitting coach, was drafted by the Braves in the 22nd round out of Ball State in 2014 and played in the Atlanta organization until 2016. He spent the last two seasons with the Schaumburg Flyers in the independent Frontier League.

Manager: Ozney Guillén
Pitching Coach: John Kovalik
Hitting Coach: Sean Godfrey

GULF COAST LEAGUE ASTROS

No changes for the Palm Beach Stros.

Manager: Wladimir Sutil
Pitching Coach: Jose Rada
Hitting Coach: Rene Rojas

DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE ASTROS

Carlos Lugo takes over as manager; he previously managed the now-defunct DSL Astros Orange team in 2016. Ernesto Irizarry is the new hitting coach.

Manager: Carlos Lugo
Pitching Coach: Rick Aponte
Hitting Coach: Ernesto Irizarry

There are no changes in the coaching staff down in the Dominican as Erik Acevedo, Alejandro Martinez, Selin Aquino, Luis Reynoso, and Starlyng Sanchez will all return as instructors in 2019.