Rays promote Moncada to bullpen coach

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays didn’t have to look too far, or too long, to find a bullpen coach.

Jorge Moncada, a longtime pitching coach and coordinator in Tampa Bay’s system, will be the Rays’ new bullpen coach, the club announced on Monday. Moncada will fill the vacancy on manager Kevin Cash’s coaching staff that was created when Stan Boroski, who had been their longest-tenured Major League coach, retired at the end of the season.

“I can’t say enough about Stan’s positive impact on our pitchers and clubhouse during his time here, and wish him the best during his retirement. We will miss him greatly,” Cash said in a statement announcing the move. “That said, we’re also very excited to add Jorge Moncada to the staff. Jorge has been integral to our pitching development over the last several years. He has tremendous knowledge of pitching and his work ethic, passion and humility make him a perfect fit for our staff and culture.”

Speaking last week at Tropicana Field, Cash said he expected the rest of the Rays’ coaching staff to return. Those plans could be disrupted if bench coach Matt Quatraro lands a job elsewhere, however. Quatraro, who has previously interviewed for several managerial openings, is expected to draw significant interest again this offseason.

This is Moncada’s first Major League coaching assignment, but the 38-year-old will be entering his 23rd season in professional baseball, including his 19th as an instructor, coach or coordinator. Having spent all but one season of his coaching career with the Rays organization, he is already deeply familiar with the club’s personnel and practices.

Moncada has been a Minor League pitching coordinator for Tampa Bay since 2016. He joined the Rays as a pitching instructor in February 2006, served as a pitching coach for their Rookie-level Venezuelan Summer League affiliate in '07 and spent seven years as the pitching coach for the VSL Rays. He finished the '13 season and spent all of ’14 as a pitching coach for the former Class-A Hudson Valley club, became an assistant pitching coordinator in ’15, then received another promotion to his most recent role prior to the ’16 season.

Moncada, a left-handed pitcher, played four seasons in the Astros' system after being signed out of Venezuela in 2001 by then-Houston scout Andres Reiner, an influential figure who went on to play an instrumental role in reorganizing the Rays’ Latin American operations from 2006-12. Moncada got his start as a coach with Houston, catching on as the VSL Astros’ bullpen coach in '05.

Moncada is the eighth bullpen coach in franchise history, following Boroski (2012-22), Bobby Ramos (1998, 2006-11), Matt Sinatro (’03-05), Glenn Ezell (’01-02), Darren Daulton (’01), Terry Collins (’01) and Orlando Gomez (1998-2000).

Boroski, who prepared the Rays’ relievers and worked closely with pitching coach Kyle Snyder to translate complex analytical data into useful information for pitchers, retired after 13 seasons on the Major League coaching staff and 11 full seasons as bullpen coach. Last month, Boroski explained he wanted to spend more time with his family.

“It is not a baseball decision. I love this game. It's in a great place. It's provided for myself and my family extremely well over the years, and I love it. I'm going to miss it every day,” Boroski said. “But it's just a point in my life where it's just time to do something else, because there's a lot of other things besides baseball that my family and I like, and it's time to do those things.”