Padres announce 2022 Minor League coaching staffs

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Padres today announced the coaching staffs for their minor league affiliates for the 2022 season.

Jared Sandberg joins the Padres organization at the helm of the El Paso Chihuahuas, assuming the role after spending the last two seasons as the bench coach for the Seattle Mariners. In 2019, he served as the Mariners’ Major League field coordinator, and he spent the 11 prior seasons in the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization (2008-18), including 10 as a minor league manager. Also in his first post in the Padres’ organization, Mike McCarthy serves as the Chihuahuas’ pitching coach, joining the club after spending the last four seasons in the Twins’ organization with Triple-A St. Paul, most recently as the team’s pitching coach in 2021 and as bullpen coach from 2018-20. Hitting Coach Jonathan Mathews returns for his sixth year with the Padres and enters his first season with El Paso after serving as a Major League coach in 2017 and as hitting coach for Fort Wayne from 2018-19 and 2021. Robby Hammock joins the team as bench coach after spending the last five seasons as quality control and catching coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Hammock spent nine seasons as a coach in the D-Backs’ organization, managing Double-A Mobile (2015-16), Single-A Visalia (2014), and Rookie-Level Missoula (2013). The Chihuahuas training staff will be led by athletic trainer Brad LaRosa and strength coach A.J. Russell.

The San Antonio Missions will be managed by Phillip Wellman, with 2022 marking his seventh year with the Padres, his 34th as a coach, and 23rd as a minor league manager. Pete Zamora returns for his seventh year in the San Diego organization and second as pitching coach for the Missions after being slated to serve as pitching coach for El Paso in 2020. Zamora previously held pitching coach duties for Lake Elsinore from 2018-19 and for the club’s Rookie-Level affiliates in Peoria from 2016-17. Hitting Coach Raul Padron returns for his seventh year with the organization and fifth with the Double-A affiliate after serving as hitting coach for Lake Elsinore in 2017 and as a coach for Fort Wayne in 2016. Shane Robinson joins the organization as the Missions’ bench coach after playing parts of nine Major League seasons between the St. Louis Cardinals (2009, 2011-14), Minnesota Twins (2015), Los Angeles Angels (2016-17) and New York Yankees (2018). San Antonio’s training staff will be led by athletic trainer Nick Coberly and strength coach Mark Spadavecchia.

Fort Wayne will be managed by Brian Esposito, who enters his first year at the helm after spending the last nine years in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization, including the past four as manager of Triple-A Indianapolis Indians (2018-21). 2022 marks his seventh season as a minor league manager, also having led the Single-A West Virginia Black Bears (2017), the Single-A West Virginia Power (2015-16), and the Single-A Jamestown Jammers (2014), following a stint as a player/coach for Indianapolis in 2013. Jimmy Jones, who enters his 14th year with the Padres, will lead the TinCaps pitching corps after serving as the organization’s Double-A affiliate pitching coach from 2009-19 and pitching coach for two seasons in Peoria. Hitting Coach Randolph Gassaway enters his first season as a coach for Fort Wayne, having played parts of seven minor league seasons between the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates’ organizations (2013-19). Jhonaldo Pozo will assume the role of Fort Wayne’s bench coach, having spent 2021 as a coach for Lake Elsinore and the Arizona Complex League. Prior to 2021, he served as a coach for the Dominican Summer League Padres, and he spent five seasons as a catcher/infielder in the San Diego organization (2007-11). The TinCaps training staff will be led by athletic trainer David Bryan and strength coach Jim Buckley.

In Lake Elsinore, Eric Junge will manage the Storm after beginning the 2021 season as El Paso’s pitching coach before taking over as manager for the Chihuahuas in mid-August for the remainder of the season. The 2022 season marks his 10th year with the Padres, serving as pitching coordinator from 2019-21, pitching instructor from 2015-17, and advance scout with the major league club from 2013-14. Pitching Coach Leo Rosales enters his fifth year in the organization and second with the Storm after being slated to lead the Lake Elsinore pitching corps in 2020. Rosales served in the same capacity for Tri-City in 2019 and the AZL Padres in 2018. Hitting Coach Pat O’Sullivan enters his fifth year with the Padres and his second on the Storm’s coaching staff, having previously served as hitting coach for Tri-City from 2018-19. Bench coach Felipe Blanco returns for his fifth year in the organization, his second with Fort Wayne, and his first with the Storm in his current role, having previously held the position of fielding coach for Lake Elsinore (2019 and 2021) and Tri-City (2018). The Storm training staff will be led by athletic trainer Maritza Castro and strength coach Austin Harris.