CLEVELAND -- The Guardians lost a few pieces of their coaching staff this offseason, but through internal promotions, the new group of personnel is officially set.
The club announced on Tuesday afternoon that Triple-A Columbus pitching coach Rigo Beltrán will replace Brian Sweeney as the bullpen coach, Triple-A hitting coach Jason Esposito will replace Justin Toole as the run production coordinator and Hasani Torres will step up as the team’s assistant hitting coach, replacing Nelson Pérez.
Sweeney left the Guardians this offseason to become the pitching coach for the Royals, resulting in the opening for Beltrán to get the call up to the big leagues. Beltrán has spent the past four years as the Columbus pitching coach after he joined Cleveland’s organization in 2014. He also served as the pitching coach for Team Mexico in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and the 2020 Olympics.
Toole, who was a hitting analyst for the Guardians, became the director of player development for the Mariners this winter, which created the open position for Esposito, who was the Columbus hitting coach for the past two seasons. In 2020, Esposito worked with prospects at Cleveland’s alternate training site when the Minor League season was cancelled due to COVID-19. He’s been part of the organization since 2018.
The final coaching staff departure this year was Pérez, who left to become the strength and conditioning coach for the Tigers. Torres has been in the organization since 2013 and spent seven of those years working out of the Guardians’ Dominican academy. In 2022, he stayed at the team’s player development complex in Goodyear, Ariz., as the strength and conditioning coordinator, overseeing the entire Minor League system.