Nationals announce Minor League coaching staffs
WASHINGTON -- The Nationals named their Minor League managers, coaches and coordinators for the 2014 season on Friday.
The Nationals promoted three complete staffs within their system, elevating manager Brian Daubach, pitching coach Chris Michalak and hitting coach Mark Harris from Class A Potomac to Double-A Harrisburg. Manager Tripp Keister, pitching coach Franklin Bravo and hitting coach Brian Rupp moved from Class A Hagerstown to Class A Potomac. Manager Patrick Anderson was promoted from the Gulf Coast League to Class A Hagerstown, and is joined on that staff by pitching coach Sam Narron and hitting coach Luis Ordaz.
Washington also promoted Paul Menhart from pitching coach of the Harrisburg Senators to the same position with the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs. Hitting coach Amaury Garcia moved from the Gulf Coast League to Class A Auburn and hitting coach Jorge Mejia was promoted from the Dominican Summer League to the Gulf Coast League.
Washington welcomes two new managers to its chain, selecting Billy Gardner Jr. to manage the Chiefs and Michael Barrett to lead the Gulf Coast League Nationals. In addition to those managerial and coaching changes, Joe Dillon has been hired as the hitting coach at Syracuse and Tim Redding will serve as pitching coach at Auburn. Barrett, Dillon and Redding join the coaching ranks after careers on the field.
Barrett is best known for his days with the Expos. His best season in Montreal was in 1999, hitting .293 with eight home runs and 52 RBIs. Dillon was a bench player during his four years in the big leagues, mostly with the Brewers, while Redding is best known for his days with the Astros and Nationals. His best year in the big leagues was in 2003, going 10-14 with a 3.68 ERA for Houston.
Former Syracuse manager Tony Beasley will join Jeff Garber as co-field coordinators, replacing Bob Henley, who was recently named the Nationals' third-base coach. Troy Gingrich fills the position of hitting coordinator made vacant by the promotion of Rick Schu to Nationals' hitting coach. Jon Kotredes moves to the position of medical and rehab coordinator after spending the 2013 season as Harrisburg's athletic trainer.