The Orioles announced multiple changes to their minor league coaching staffs on Monday.
Although none of the managers at the minor league affiliates is new to the organization, a number of coaches are.
Gary Kendall (pictured above) returns to Triple-A Norfolk for the second year, and Buck Britton will start his second year at Double-A Bowie. Kyle Moore, who had a successful season at Low-A Delmarva, is High-A Frederick’s new manager.
Dave Anderson, the former minor league infield coordinator, will manage the Shorebirds in 2020.
Kevin Bradshaw and Alan Mills return to Short Season Aberdeen and Rookie League Gulf Coast as managers.
Kennie Steenstra will begin his 16th season in the Orioles’ organization by moving up to Norfolk as its pitching coach.
Justin Ramsey, who debuted in pro ball last season as Delmarva’s pitching coach, will take Steenstra’s place at Bowie.
Josh Conway, who was Bowie’s development coach in 2019, will be Frederick’s pitching coach.
Robbie Aviles, who was Aberdeen’s pitching coach last season, will move up to Delmarva, and Joe Haumacher, who coached at Utah’s Dixie State University last season, will be Gulf Coast’s pitching coach.
The biggest changes were among organizational hitting coaches. Sean Berry, who was Norfolk’s hitting coach from 2015-201, will return to the Tides in the same role.
Tim Gibbons, who was the director of hitting at Be Elite sports organization, will make his professional debut as Bowie’s hitting coach.
Last season, Tom Eller split time between Delmarva and Aberdeen. He will be Frederick’s hitting coach.
Ryan Fuller, who also work at a private hitting school, will be Delmarva’s hitting coach, and Anthony Villa, who was a player/coach in the Texas Rangers’ organization in 2019, will be Aberdeen’s hitting coach.
Patrick Jones, a high school coach and private hitting coach in Cincinnati, will be Gulf Coast’s hitting coach.
The Orioles will have fundamentals and development coaches at each affiliate. Ramon Sambo, will return to Norfolk to supervise fundamentals, and Eli Steinfield, who was with Houston as its player development technology apprentice last season, will be the development coach.
Butch Davis, who was Norfolk’s hitting coach, will be the fundamentals coach at Bowie. The development coach will be Grant Anders, who comes from the Reds’ organization.
Frederick’s other coaches are Collin Woody (fundamentals), who played three seasons in the Orioles minor league system, and David Barry (development), who was Delmarva’s video technician last season.
At Delmarva, former Detroit Tigers scout Jeff Kunkel (fundamentals) and former college coach Matt Packer (development) will join the staff.
Brenden Becker, who played five seasons in the Orioles’ organization, will be Aberdeen’s fundamentals coach, and Joe Botelho, a former Orioles minor league staffer, will be the development coach at Aberdeen.
Gulf Coast’s new coaches will be college coach Christin Frias (fundamentals) and Tim DeJohn (development), who comes from independent ball.
Elvis Morel and Chris Madera will be the managers for the Dominican Summer League teams.
The Orioles announced the previously reported appointments of Eve Rosenbaum as director of player development, and Chris Holt as director of pitching. Holt was the team’s minor league pitching coordinator last season.
Longtime Norfolk pitching coach Mike Griffin will be the team’s pitching rehabilitation coach.
Kathryn Rowe, who formerly worked with the University of Rochester’s men’s soccer team, is the organization’s new sports psychologist.
Among those returning in 2020 are Kent Qualls, director of minor league operations; Dave Schmidt as rehab coordinator; and Dave Walker, the team’s longtime minor league medical coordinator.
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Interesting to see Elias’ decisions after a year of studying the organization. Seems like a good mixture of veteran coaches and newcomers — including those from private hitting academies, which clearly is a trend across the majors. Best of luck to everyone.
Noteworthy is the absence of Orioles MLB veterans. Conspicuous by their absence, and part of Elias' overall house-cleaning it seems.
We are going to do things the"Astros way, not the Orioles way. Complete with cheating I suppose.
Spare me.
It seems like most of the pitching coaches from last year each moved up a level. Is that a result of the pitching success at the lower levels or a desire to keep the coaches and pitchers together as they continue to develop or both?
Cedar, they moved up because it was felt they did a good job.