Dodgers announce 2020 Minor League coaching staffs
LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday announced the coaching staffs for their Minor League affiliates for the 2020 season.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
Manager: Travis Barbary (26th season as coach in Dodgers' organization)
Pitching coach: Bill Simas (10th)
Hitting coach: Manny Burriss (2nd)
Bench coach: Mark Kertenian (4th)
Double-A Tulsa
Manager: Scott Hennessey (4th)
Pitching coach: Dave Borkowski (3rd)
Hitting coach: Brett Pill (1st)
Coach: Jeremy Rodriguez (4th)
Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga
Manager: Austin Chubb (5th)
Pitching coach: Ryan Dennick (3rd)
Hitting coach: Dustin Kelly (3rd)
Coach: Jason Bourgeois (2nd)
Class A Great Lakes
Manager: John Shoemaker (44th)
Pitching coach: Stephanos Stroop (2nd)
Hitting coach: Seth Conner (3rd)
Coach: Elian Herrera (2nd)
Rookie-Advanced Ogden
Manager: Anthony Cappuccilli (3rd)
Pitching coach: Dean Stiles (3rd)
Hitting coach: Dylan Nasiatka (1st)
Coach: Johan Garcia (1st)
Rookie-Level AZL Dodgers
Manager: Jair Fernandez (5th) / Danny Dorn (2nd)
Pitching coach: Rob Ellis (1st) / Ramon Troncoso (3rd)
Hitting coach: Jarek Cunningham (4th) / Keith Beauregard/David Popkins (2nd)
Coaches: Chris Gutierrez (3rd) / Pedro Montero (4th)
Dominican Summer League Dodgers
Managers: Cordell Hipolito (3rd) / Fumi Ishibashi (10th)
Pitching coaches: Andres Urbina (3rd) / Roberto Giron (7th) / Hector Rodriguez (2nd)
Hitting coaches: Sergio Mendez (5th) / Johermyn Chavez (7th) / Brady Conlan (1st)
Coaches: Dunior Zerpa (3rd) / Leury Bonilla (1st)
The Dodgers return seven familiar faces to lead the affiliates, as Travis Barbary (Oklahoma City), Scott Hennessey (Tulsa), Austin Chubb (Rancho Cucamonga), John Shoemaker (Great Lakes), Jair Fernandez (AZL Dodgers), Danny Dorn (AZL Dodgers) and Fumi Ishabashi (DSL Dodgers) all return to the helm, while new skippers Anthony Cappuccilli (Ogden), and Cordell Hipolito (DSL Dodgers) will all manage for the first time in the Dodgers' organization.
The Minor League affiliates finished the 2019 campaign with a .556 winning percentage (488-390) and five teams reaching the playoffs, while seven of nine clubs posted winning records. Following the trade deadline, MLB.com rated the Dodgers’ farm system as the third best in baseball. Dodgers rookie Gavin Lux was named Baseball America’s 2019 Minor League Player of the Year. Lux, 21, became the third Dodgers player to win the award since its inception in 1981, joining Mike Marshall in 1981 and Paul Konerko in 1997.
Barbary enters his second season as manager of the Oklahoma City Dodgers and 26th season with the Dodgers’ organization. Last season, he led OKC to a 62-77 record, fourth in the Pacific Coast League Southern Division, while graduating Matt Beaty, Edwin Ríos, Kyle Garlick, Gavin Lux, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Will Smith and Josh Sborz. He will be joined by Bill Simas (pitching coach), Manny Burriss (hitting) and Mark Kertenian (bench).
Burriss, 35, enters his second season with the OKC Dodgers after parts of seven seasons in the Major Leagues. The former first-round pick (33rd overall) of the Washington Nationals in the 2006 MLB Draft out of Kent State played in 325 games and hit .237 with 96 runs scored and 42 RBIs.
Kertenian joins OKC after spending last season as manager of Rancho Cucamonga, where he led the team to the California League playoffs after posting an 81-57 record in the Southern Division.
Hennessey, 49, enters his fourth season with the Tulsa Drillers after leading them to a second-place finish in the Texas League last year. The former amateur scout for the Dodgers' organization from 2007-16, was one game away from winning back-to-back championships, as his Drillers fell to Amarillo in the Texas League championship game, 8-3. In three seasons with the club, Hennessey has posted a record of 229-189 with one Texas League championship. He will be joined by Dave Borkowski (pitching), Brett Pill (hitting) and Jeremy Rodriguez (fourth coach).
Borkowski, who enters his third season as the pitching coach, appeared in 181 big league games (21 starts) over seven seasons, going 13-20 with a 5.87 ERA with the Tigers (1999-2001), the Orioles (2004) and the Astros (2006-08).
Pill, 35, will be in his first season with the team. The former Cal State Fullerton star appeared in 111 big league games in his career, batting .233 with nine homers and 32 RBIs. He was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the seventh round of the 2006 MLB Draft.
Rodriguez, 30, enters his first season with Tulsa and his fourth with the Dodgers’ organization. The Southern California native played in parts of five Minor League seasons (2011-15) in the Padres' organization after being selected by the Padres in the 16th round of the 2011 Draft out of Cal State Bakersfield.
Chubb, 30, begins his first season with Rancho Cucamonga and his fifth with the Dodgers’ organization. Last season, he served as the manager for Rookie-advanced Ogden, leading them to a Pioneer League-best 54-22 mark. In 2017, Chubb became the first American manager in the history of Campo Las Palmas, and prior to becoming the skipper, he entered the coaching ranks as Ogden’s hitting coach. His staff will be rounded out by Ryan Dennick (pitching), Dustin Kelly (hitting) and Jason Bourgeois (fourth coach).
Bourgeois, 38, enters his second season with the Dodgers’ organization and his first with the Quakes. The former second-round pick of the Houston Astros played parts of eight seasons in the Majors, batting .253 with six homers and 44 RBIs.
Shoemaker, 63, embarks on his 44th season in the Dodgers’ organization and 27th as a Minor League manager. Selected by the Dodgers in the 35th round of the 1977 MLB Draft, Shoemaker has been with the club ever since, as a player (1977-80), manager, coach and coordinator. In 2015, he was appointed as the Dodgers’ “Captain of Player Development.” His staff will include Stephanos Stroop (pitching), Seth Conner (hitting) and Elian Herrera (fourth coach).
Herrera, 34, returns for his second season with the Dodgers' organization and his first as the fourth coach with Great Lakes. The former infielder played in parts of four Major League seasons from 2012-15, including two seasons with the Dodgers from 2011-12. He hit .253 with eight homers and 55 RBIs in 223 big league games.
Cappuccilli, 39, returns for his third season and his first at the helm of the Ogden Raptors and his third season with the organization. Prior to joining the Raptors, Cappuccilli served as a coach for the AZL Dodgers from 2018-19. He will be assisted by Dean Stiles (pitching), Dylan Nasiatka (hitting) and Johan Garcia (fourth coach). Stiles returns to Ogden for his third season while Nasiatka will join the organization for the first time. Garcia, 33, returns to the Dodgers' organization after spending 2006-10 in the Dodgers’ farm system. The former infielder played in 273 Minor League contests, accumulating a .234 batting average with 49 extra-base hits and 85 RBIs.
Fernandez enters his fifth season with the Dodgers' organization and his second leading one of the AZL teams. Prior to taking over as manager of the AZL Dodgers, Fernandez spent two seasons with Great Lakes as the hitting coach. His staff will include Rob Ellis (pitching), Jarek Cunningham (hitting) and Chris Gutierrez (fourth coach). Cunningham enters his fourth season as the hitting coach after spending eight seasons at both the Minor League level and independent leagues prior to joining the Dodgers. Gutierrez enters his third season with Dodgers' organization after an 11-year Minor League career that included stops with the Blue Jays’, Angels’ and Marlins’ organizations.
Dorn, 35, will lead the other AZL squad as he enters his second season in the organization. The former backstop enjoyed a 10-year Minor League career, which included two stints in Korea and 23 Major League games for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2006. The San Dimas, Calif., native was drafted in the 32nd round out of Cal State Fullerton by the Cincinnati Reds in 2006. He will lead Ramon Troncoso (pitching), Keith Beauregard (hitting) and Pedro Montero (fourth coach). Troncoso returns for his third season as pitching coach. Troncoso spent five years in the Majors (2008-11, 2013), including four seasons with the Dodgers (2008-11), going 8-8 with six saves and posting a 3.92 ERA in 175 relief appearances.
The Dominican Summer League Dodgers will be led by Cordell Hipolito and Fumi Ishibashi. Hipolito will serve as a manager for the first time after spending his first two seasons with the Dodgers' organization as a bench coach for Ogden. Ishibashi, 36, returns to the Dodgers' organization for his 10th season with the club after spending last season in the same role. They will be assisted by Sergio Mendez, Johermyn Chavez and Brady Conlon, who will serve as hitting coaches, while Andres Urbina, Roberto Giron and Hector Rodriguez will coach the pitching staff. Dunior Zerpa and Leury Bonilla will round out the staff as fourth coaches.