Cardinals Announce Minor League Affiliate Coaching Staffs and Player Development Assignments for 2026 Season
ST. LOUIS, Mo., December 18, 2025 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today the 2026 coaching staffs for their minor league affiliates, in addition to their player development, performance, and baseball technology personnel for the upcoming season.
Reigning Texas League Manager of the Year Patrick Anderson returns for his 2nd season at Springfield, while Ben Johnson (8th season), Roberto Espinoza (2nd season), Willi Martin (2nd season) and Fray Peniche (16th season) will also return to their managerial posts at Memphis (AAA), Peoria (A+), FCL (Rookie) and DSL (Rookie), respectively.
Rich Benjamin will take over the helm at Palm Beach (A) after joining the organization last season as a bench coach for the FCL Cardinals. Gary Kendall, who led the Beach Birds for the previous four seasons, will assume the role as FCL Bench Coach for the 2026 season.
Changes at the player development and performance leadership levels include a number of internal promotions (Emily Wiebe, Brock Hammit, Ryan Ludwick, Ross Hasegawa, Paige Schultz, Harben Filho Branco) as well as additions from other organizations across professional, collegiate and private sectors of baseball (Dalton Hurd, Casey Demko, Hugh Quattlebaum, Nick Coberly, Morgan Ivey, Julian Rip, Elliot Cox).
Additionally, each affiliate staff will expand in 2026 through the creation of new assistant coach roles, a co-pitching or hitting coach, and/or an assistant at the athletic trainer or strength coach level. New hires at this level include Rodrigo Vigil (Palm Beach assistant coach), Ollie Kadey (Memphis co-pitching coach), Jordan Hara (FCL hitting coach), and former Cardinals minor league catcher Wade Stauss (Peoria assistant coach).
Michael Habas (Peoria hitting coach), Evan Johnson (Palm Beach pitching coach), and Jason Eary (Peoria bench coach), and Ben Brooks (Palm Beach hitting coach) also join the organization as new coaches on the player development side. Jordan Hyink (Palm Beach ATC), Kily Gilbert (Peoria ATC), Robert Linares (DSL PT), Connor Greaves (DSL ATC), Sergio Jimenez (Palm Beach strength coach), Panagiotis Roxanas (FCL strength coach), and Manuel Estrada (DSL strength coach) join as new staff in the Performance department.
Following is a complete listing of the Cardinals 2026 Minor League Staffs and Player Development assignments:
Managers
Memphis (AAA) – Ben Johnson*
Springfield (AA) – Patrick Anderson*
Peoria (A+) – Roberto Espinoza*
Palm Beach (A) – Rich Benjamin^
Florida Complex League (Rookie) – Willi Martin*
Dominican Summer League (Rookie) – Fray Peniche*
Pitching Coaches
Memphis (AAA) – Darwin Marrero* & Ollie Kadey#
Springfield (AA) – Eric Peterson*
Peoria (A+) – Michael Oh^
Palm Beach (A) – Evan Johnson#
Florida Complex League (Rookie) – Dernier Orozco*
Dominican Summer League (Rookie) – Bill Villanueva* & Wilman Madera^
Hitting Coaches
Memphis (AAA) – Howie Clark*
Springfield (AA) – Elvis Rodriguez^
Peoria (A+) – Michael Habas#
Palm Beach (A) – Ben Brooks#
Florida Complex League (Rookie) – Erick Almonte* & Jordan Hara#
Dominican Summer League (Rookie) – Luis Reynoso*
Bench Coaches
Memphis (AAA) – Peter Mooney*
Springfield (AA) – Danny Black*
Peoria (A+) – Jason Eary#
Palm Beach (A) – Yucary De La Cruz*
Florida Complex League (Rookie) – Gary Kendall^
Dominican Summer League (Rookie) – Wessley Cuas*
Assistant Coaches
Springfield (AA) – Luis Arenado^
Peoria (A+) – Wade Stauss#
Palm Beach (A) – Rodrigo Vigil#
Florida Complex League (Rookie) – Luis Cruz^
Dominican Summer League (Rookie) – Paul Benoit^ & Kelvyn Rodriguez^
Player Development & Performance Front Office
Assistant GM, Player Development & Performance – Rob Cerfolio*
Director, Player Development – Larry Day*
Director, Performance – Carl Kochan*
Director, Pitching – Matt Pierpont*
Director, Hitting – Dalton Hurd#
Asst. Director, Player Development & Performance Analytics – Emily Wiebe^
Asst. Director, International Operations – Joseph Quezada*
Manager, Player Development – Antonio Mújica*
Administrator, Dominican Republic Academy – Aaron Rodriguez*
Coordinator, International Administration – Esmeralda Hernandez^
Assistant, Player Development – Paige Schultz^
Minor League Coordinators & Instructors
Field Coordinator – Ryan Barba*
Pitching Coordinator – Austin Meine*
Pitching Coordinator – Rick Harig*
Hitting Coordinator – Brock Hammit^
Hitting Coordinator – Hugh Quattlebaum#
Catching & Baserunning Coordinator – Ethan Goforth^
Infield Coordinator – Casey Demko#
Outfield Coordinator – Ryan Ludwick^
Fundamentals Coordinator – José Oquendo*
Pitching Instructor/Special Advisor – Jason Isringhausen*
Pitching Strategist – William Peterson^
Rehab Pitching Coach – Walter Miranda*
Roving Coach – Bernard Gilkey*
Equipment Manager – Dave Vonderhaar*
Education and Life Skills Instructor – Briana De Moya*
Performance Coordinators & Specialists
Medical Coordinator – Chris Whitman*
Assistant Medical Coordinator – Nick Coberly#
Rehabilitation Coordinator – Morgan Ivey#
Dominican Medical Coordinator – Pedro Betancourt*
Strength & Conditioning Coordinator – Julian Rip#
Asst. Strength & Conditioning Coordinator – Harben Filho Branco^
Performance Nutritionist – Jen Goldstein*
Performance Science Coordinator – Ross Hasegawa^
Mental Performance Coordinator – Elliot Cox#
Biomechanics & Movement Specialist – Nicole Stafford*
Performance Acquisition Specialist – Jackie Gover^
Performance Analyst – Campbell Quirk^
Physical Therapist – Beau Caviness#
Performance Specialist – Megumi Pennebaker*
Athletic Trainers
Memphis – Alex Wolfinger^ & Riku Shabata^
Springfield – Kiomy Martinez-Ortiz^
Peoria – Kily Gilbert#
Palm Beach – Jordan Hyink#
Florida Complex League – Trista Hartman^ & TBD
Dominican Summer League –Robert Linares# & Connor Greaves#
Strength & Conditioning Coaches
Memphis – Jon Hill*
Springfield – Ryan Duffy*
Peoria – Ryuta Takahashi^
Palm Beach – Sergio Jimenez#
Florida Complex League – Panagiotis Roxanas#
Dominican Summer League – Gerardo De Leon* & Manuel Estrada#
Baseball Technology & Affiliate Associates/Fellows
Manager, Baseball Technology – DC MacLea*
Systems Coordinator, Baseball Technology – Brady Hall^
Personnel Coordinator, Baseball Technology – Colin Campbell^
Memphis Fellow – TBD
Springfield Associate – Michelle McMillan^
Peoria Fellow – Alexarmando Diaz#
Palm Beach Associate – Andrew Rankin^
Jupiter Complex Associate – Lily Coffey^
Florida Complex League Fellow – Noah Reichman#
Dominican Summer League Fellow – Glenn De La Cruz#
* Returning Manager/Coach/Staff
^ Returning Manager/Coach/Staff with new assignment or title change
# New Coach/Staff hire