2015 Astros Minor League Coaching Staffs

The Astros announced their minor league coaching staffs, including roving instructors and coordinators, today. As was reported by Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle last week, three of last year's Astros minor league Managers are on the move with Rodney Linares going from Lancaster to Corpus Christi, Omar Lopez going from Quad Cities to Lancaster, and Josh Bonifay going from Greeneville to Quad Cities. Bonifay's replacement at Greeneville has not been announced at this time.

Other than numerous moves within the Athletic Trainer and Strength and Conditioning ranks, most remaining staff will stay put with a couple of notable exceptions. Ralph Dickenson, who was the Astros MLB assistant hitting coach in 2014, will rejoin the minor league ranks as the Roving Hitting Instructor. Dan Radison, who was a Special Assistant for Player Development in 2014, will join the Hooks as Hitting Coach, replacing Tim Garland who will be joining the Quad Cities team as an Outfield/Baserunning Coach. Garland replaces Vince Coleman in that capacity. Coleman and 2014 Corpus Christi Manager Keith Bodie, along with Oklahoma City Pitching Coach Steve Webber who announced he was leaving the team at the end of the 2014 season will not be returning. A former Cardinals minor league coach, Arthur "Ace" Adams, will replace Webber as Pitching Coach for the new AAA affiliate Fresno Grizzlies.

Doug Brocail, interim Pitching Coach for the Hooks in 2014, is now joining the team in that capacity officially as former Hooks Pitching Coach Gary Ruby will be a Pitching Advisor headquartered out of Kissimmee. Tom Lawless was originally intended to be an Infield Coach for Corpus Christi in 2014 when he was pressed into service as the interim Oklahoma City RedHawks Manager as Tony DeFrancesco went on medical leave. He later served as acting Manager of the Astros after Bo Porter was fired. Lawless will now be fulfilling last year's intended assignment and will report to Corpus Christi.

Here is how the rest of the assignments break down:

2015 MINOR LEAGUE COACHING STAFF

Coordinators, Rovers and Medical Staff

Special Assignment Coach - Morgan Ensberg
Pitching Advisor - Gary Ruby

Field Coordinator - Paul Runge
Pitching Coordinator - Dyar Miller
Hitting Coordinator - Jeff Albert
Infield Instructor - Adam Everett
Roving Pitching Instructor - Doug White
Roving Hitting Instructor - Ralph Dickenson
Roving Catching Instructor - Mark Bailey
Strength & Conditioning - Brendan Verner
Medical Coordinator - Jamey Snodgrass
Rehab Coordinator - Daniel Roberts
Rehab Coach - Mike Burns
Athletic Training Advisor - Mike Freer

FRESNO GRIZZLIES (AAA)
Manager - Tony DeFrancesco
Pitching Coach - Arthur "Ace" Adams
Hitting Coach - Leon Roberts
Catching Coach - Jeff Murphy
Athletic Trainer - Bryan Baca
Strength & Conditioning - Trey Wiedman

CORPUS CHRISTI (AA)
Manager - Rodney Linares
Pitching Coach - Doug Brocail
Hitting Coach - Dan Radison
Infield Coach - Tom Lawless
Athletic Trainer - Grant Hufford
Strength & Conditioning - Mark Spadavecchia

LANCASTER (Advanced A)
Manager - Omar Lopez
Pitching Coach - Don Alexander
Hitting Coach - Darryl Robinson
Infield Coach - Ramon Vazquez
Athletic Trainer - Michael Rendon
Strength & Conditioning - Taylor Rhoades

QUAD CITIES (A - Full Season)
Manager - Josh Bonifay
Pitching Coach - Dave Borkowski
Hitting Coach - Joel Chimelis
Outfield/Baserunning Coach - Tim Garland
Athletic Trainer - Corey O'Brien
Strength & Conditioning - Dwayne Peterson

TRI-CITY (A - Short Season)
Manager - Ed Romero
Pitching Coach - Chris Holt
Hitting Coach - Russ Steinhorn
Athletic Trainer - John Gregorich
Strength & Conditioning - James McNichol

GREENEVILLE (Rookie)
Manager - To be announced
Pitching Coach - Josh Miller
Hitting Coach - Cesar Cedeno

GULF COAST LEAGUE (Rookie)
Manager - Marty Malloy
Pitching Coach - Hector Mercado
Hitting Coach - Vinny Lopez
Coach - Wladimir Sutil
Strength & Conditioning - Julio Diaz

DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE (Rookie)
Manager - Johan Maya
Manager - Charlie Romero
Development Specialist and Pitching Coordinator - Rick Aponte
Pitching Coach - Erick Abreu
Hitting Coach - Luis Mateo
Hitting Coach - Sixto Ortega
Outfield Coach - Melvi Ortega
Catching Coach - Carlos Lugo
Athletic Trainer - Ambiorix Reyes
Athletic Trainer - Christian Bermudez
Strength & Conditioning - Geremias Guzman
Strength & Conditioning - Miguel Angel Cabrera

2014 Astros Minor League Coaching Staffs

Last week, the Astros had announced their minor league roving instructors and coordinators and today the remainder of the coaching staffs were revealed. By and large, the majority of the coaches, managers and other instructors have remained in place.

Jeff Albert went from Roving Hitting Instructor to Hitting Coordinator, a position which is not listed on today's official release. Ralph Dickenson held the Hitting Coordinator Position in 2013, but is now the Assistant Hitting Coach for the big league club, a position held by Dan Radison in 2013. Radison has been named a Special Assistant for Player Development. Doug White, the 2014 Pitching Coach for the Tri-City ValleyCats was promoted to Roving Pitching Instructor, taking over from Craig Bjornson who will return to the big league club in his prior position of Bullpen Coach.

On the team coaching staffs, all of the Managers, Pitching Coaches and Hitting Coaches are repeating from 2013 with very few exceptions. Edgar Alfonzo, Manager of the Gulf Coast League Astros in 2013 is being replaced by Marty Malloy who served as Hitting Coach for that team in 2013. Malloy is in turn being replaced by Ramon Vasquez as Hitting Coach. Also, Chris Holt, formerly a scout with the Orioles (and not the former Astros pitcher) will be Pitching Coach at Tri-City, replacing Doug White in that capacity.

Other notable moves include the addition of Jeff Murphy, formerly with the big league club, who will be the Catching Coach assigned to Oklahoma City; Tom Lawless' shift from Oklahoma City to Corpus Christi; and Mark Bailey's shift from Corpus Christi to Lancaster.

It is not surprising that the coaching core remains in place. These were the men who guided six of the eight 2013 Astros minor league teams to playoff berths. Don't mess with success!

2014 MINOR LEAGUE COACHING STAFF

Coordinators, Rovers and Medical Staff

Special Assistant, Player Development - Dan Radison
Special Assignment Coach - Morgan Ensberg

Infield Instructor - Adam Everett
Field Coordinator - Paul Runge
Pitching Coordinator - Dyar Miller
Hitting Coordinator - Jeff Albert
Roving Pitching Instructor - Doug White
Strength & Conditioning - Brendan Verner
Medical Coordinator - Jamey Snodgrass
Rehab Coordinator - Daniel Roberts

OKLAHOMA CITY (AAA)
Manager - Tony DeFrancesco
Pitching Coach - Steve Webber
Hitting Coach - Leon Roberts
Catching Coach - Jeff Murphy
Athletic Trainer - Mike Freer
Strength & Conditioning - Alex Pounds

CORPUS CHRISTI (AA)
Manager - Keith Bodie
Pitching Coach - Gary Ruby
Hitting Coach - Tim Garland
Infield Coach - Tom Lawless
Athletic Trainer - Bryan Baca
Strength & Conditioning - Trey Wiedman

LANCASTER (Advanced A)
Manager - Rodney Linares
Pitching Coach - Don Alexander
Hitting Coach - Darryl Robinson
Catching Coach - Mark Bailey
Athletic Trainer - Grant Hufford
Strength & Conditioning - Mark Spadavecchia

QUAD CITIES (A - Full Season)
Manager - Omar Lopez
Pitching Coach - Dave Borkowski
Hitting Coach - Joel Chimelis
Outfield/Baserunning Coach - Vince Coleman
Athletic Trainer - Michael Rendon
Strength & Conditioning - James McNichol

TRI-CITY (A - Short Season)
Manager - Ed Romero
Pitching Coach - Chris Holt
Hitting Coach - Russ Steinhorn
Athletic Trainer - Corey O’Brien

GREENEVILLE (Rookie)
Manager - Josh Bonifay
Pitching Coach - Josh Miller
Hitting Coach - Cesar Cedeno

GULF COAST LEAGUE (Rookie)
Manager - Marty Malloy
Pitching Coach - Hector Mercado
Hitting Coach - Ramon Vasquez
Coach - Gordy MacKenzie
Athletic Trainer - Christian Bermudez
Strength & Conditioning - Julio Diaz Berrios

DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE (Rookie)
Manager - Johan Maya
Pitching Coach - Rick Aponte
Hitting Coach - Luis Mateo
Outfield Instructor - Juan Zapata
Catching Instructor - Sixto Ortega
Athletic Trainer - Ambiorix Reyes
Strength & Conditioning - Geremias Guzman

An Interview with Strength and Conditioning Coach Mark Spadavecchia

I interviewed Lancaster JetHawks Strength and Conditioning Coach Mark Spadavecchia earlier in the season on one of my trips out West. I wanted to know what exactly a S&C Coach does. Everyone has seen the coach carefully watching pre-game stretches and warm-ups, but there is a whole lot more to the job that the casual fan doesn't see.

2013 was Spadavecchia's first season with the JetHawks. He has an undergraduate degree in Exercise Sciences from Marquette and, after interning with the Milwaukee Brewers major league organization, he went to Florida State where he earned his Masters in Sports Science.

When I asked Mark about his role on the team, he enumerated some of his duties, "My job basically is to work them [the players] out in the weight room with sports specific exercises to maximize their on-field performance and to prevent injury, keep them muscularly balanced and [help them to] play at the highest level that they can, and keep them fresh for the entire season so when it comes to the late months, they're still feeling strong. I back off a little bit at the end.

"We hit the major list. The legs ... we do a lot of exercises, squats and lunges, exercises like that. Then we try to do two back exercises to every one chest exercise to keep them loose in the upper body, keep their back strong for throwing the ball so they don't pull anything. Also help out with the different exercises they do before they throw to keep those small muscles in the shoulder healthy, especially for the pitchers."

I had seen Spadavecchia working in the weight room with Brandon Meredith on a very specific protocol in response to a minor injury that Meredith had suffered so I asked Spadavecchia about his responsibilities in dealing with injuries. He told me, "I'll work with the Athletic Trainer, Grant [Hufford], and we'll work together to see what they injured and then progress them slowly to get them back to playing. We'll look at what caused the injury and what muscles we can strengthen and progressively involve so that it doesn't happen again."

Spadavecchia spoke of his other duties, "I lead the stretches. I take times to first during the game and take a record of those. [I] try to keep track of their nutrition habits and give them guidance." I asked him how difficult it is for the players to eat properly with the crazy day-to-day schedule, "It's tough, especially on the road, because a lot of times you've just got to roll with it. You can't always get the best food that you want, but [I try to help them] make the best decisions possible."

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Thank you for your time, Mark. It's always fun to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes!

Astros Minor League Coaching Staffs for 2012

Here is the complete list of all the coaching changes announced for all Astros minor league affiliates for 2012.

I went through the list and noted all of the changes for Manager, Pitching Coach and Hitting Coach for each team.  The odd men out are John Moses (Hitting Coach for Corpus), Tom Spencer (Manager for Lancaster) and Travis Driskill (Pitching Coach for Lancaster).  Leon Roberts (Hitting Coach for OKC) is new to the system.  Ivan de Jesus (Manager for Lexington) and Cesar Cedeno (Hitting Coach for Greeneville) are returning to the system.

2012 MINOR LEAGUE STAFF

ROVING INSTRUCTORS
Field Coordinator - Paul Runge
Pitching Coordinator - Jon Matlack
Hitting Coordinator - Ty Van Burkleo
Roving Infield Instructor - Tom Lawless
Roving OF / Base Running - Milt Thompson
Roving Catching Instructor - Danny Sheaffer
Strength & Conditioning - Frank Renner
Medical Coordinator - Jamey Snodgrass
Rehab Coordinator - Daniel Roberts

OKLAHOMA CITY
Manager - Tony DeFrancesco
Pitching Coach - Burt Hooton
Hitting Coach - Leon Roberts – New to system

  (Replaced Keith Bodie who went to Corpus)
Athletic Trainer - Mike Freer
Strength & Conditioning - Gary McCoy

CORPUS CHRISTI
Manager - Keith Bodie – was hitting coach at OKC

   (Replaced Tom Lawless who became roving infield instructor)
Pitching Coach - Gary Ruby – was pitching coach at Tri-City

   (Replaced Don Alexander who went to Lancaster)
Hitting Coach - Joel Chimelis – was hitting coach at Lexington

   (Replaced John Moses)
Athletic Trainer - Eric Montague

LANCASTER
Manager - Rodney Linares – was manager at Lexington

   (Replaced Tom Spencer)
Pitching Coach - Don Alexander – was pitching coach at Corpus Christi

   (Replaced Travis Driskill)
Hitting Coach - Darryl Robinson
Athletic Trainer - Bryan Baca

LEXINGTON
Manager - Ivan De Jesus – Back in organization for 1st time since 2006

   (Replaced Rodney Linares who went to Lancaster)
Pitching Coach - Dave Borkowski
Hitting Coach - Josh Bonifay – was hitting coach at Greeneville

   (Replaced Joel Chimelis who went to Corpus Christi)
Athletic Trainer - Grant Hufford

TRI-CITY
Manager - Stubby Clapp
Pitching Coach - Rick Aponte – was pitching coach at Greeneville

   (Replaced Gary Ruby who went to Tri-City)
Hitting Coach - Mark Bailey
Athletic Trainer - Michael Rendon

GREENEVILLE
Manager - Omar Lopez
Pitching Coach - Hector Mercado – was pitching coach for GCL

   (Replaced Rick Aponte who went to Tri-City)
Hitting Coach - Cesar Cedeno – back in organization for 1^st time since 2001

   (Replaced Josh Bonifay who went to Lexington)
Athletic Trainer - Corey O'Brien

GULF COAST LEAGUE
Manager - Ed Romero
Pitching Coach - Jaime Garcia – was minor league pitching coordinator

   (Replaced Hector Mercado who went to Greeneville)
Pitching Coach - Charley Taylor
Hitting Coach - Edgar Alfonzo
Assistant Coach - Gordy MacKenzie
Athletic Trainer - Steve Miller

DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE
Manager - Luis Martinez
Pitching Coach - Jose Martinez
Bullpen Coach - Joel Santo
Hitting Coach - Luis Mateo
Infield Instructor - Johan Maya
Assistant Coach - Ramon Garcia
Outfield Instructor - Juan Zapata
Catching Instructor - Sixto Ortega
Athletic Trainer - Ambiorix Reyes
Assistant Trainer - Edwin Garcia
Strength & Conditioning - Geremias Guzman