ST. PETERSBURG — The Rays kept the managers of their five domestic farm teams in place, but made more than 30 changes to their coaching and training staffs for the 2022 season.
Among the notable moves:
• Three of the four hitting coach hires came from the college ranks: High A Bowling Green’s Paul Rozzelle (Catawba Valley Community College), Low A Charleston’s Perry Roth (Alabama-Birmingham), Florida Complex League’s Hez Randolph (New England Collegiate League). New Triple-A coach Will Bradley spent the last three years in the Angels organization; before that he was at St. Louis University.
• Two women moved into more prominent roles with teams, Mia Salvemini as conditioning coach with Charleston, and Halee Williams as an athletic trainer with the Port Charlotte-based complex league squad. A third, Sierra Hakanson, was hired as rehab coordinator with the complex team.
• Chris Osmond, who spent the past six years with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, was hired as strength and conditioning coordinator. He has prior baseball experience in the Orioles and Dodgers organizations. Chris Constantine is the new outfield and baserunning coordinator after spending the last three years in the Angels system.
• Kyle Wilson, who joined the staff in 2020, was promoted to hitting coordinator. Among others moving up were Frank Maldonado, to manager of hitting development; Winston Doom, to pitching strategist; and Joel Smith, to complex medical coordinator.
The Rays will return Brady Williams as manager at Durham, where he also has a new pitching coach, Brian Reith, who spent last year as a “fellow” with the big-league team, plus Bradley.
Some coaches were shuffled among other affiliates.
Morgan Ensberg returns to manage Double-A Montgomery, with new pitching coach Jim Paduch and bench coach Sean Smedley. Jeff Smith is back at Bowling Green with new pitching coach Alberto Bastardo and Roth. Blake Butera returns to Charleston with new bench coach Frank Jagoda and Rozzelle. And Rafael Valenzuela stays with the complex league but gets several new coaches: Levi Romero and Steve Watson (pitching), Jamie Nelson and Alejandro Segovia (hitting), Esteban Gonzalez (general).
Here is the full list of Rays’ minor-league staff:
Minor league coordinators
Field: Michael Johns, Alejandro Freire
Pitching: Rolando Garza, Jorge Moncada
Pitching Strategist: Winston Doom
Hitting: Steve Livesey, Kyle Wilson
Manager, Hitting Development: Frank Maldonado
Catching: Tomas Francisco
Infield: Ivan Ochoa
Outfield/baserunning: Chris Constantine
Affiliate medical: Marty Brinker
Complex medical: Joel Smith
Strength and conditioning: Chris Osmond
Assistant strength and conditioning: Paul Jones
Latin America medical sdministrator: Oscar Orengo
Latin America strength and conditioning: Cesar Gutierrez
Latin American cultural: Jairo De La Rosa
Education: Lenore Sanchez
Mental performance Josh Kozuch
Equipment manager: Tim McKechney
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Explore all your optionsAssistant equipment manager: Shane Rossetti
DURHAM (TRIPLE-A EAST)
Manager: Brady Williams
Pitching coach: Brian Reith
Hitting coach: Will Bradley
Bench coach: Reinaldo Ruiz
Athletic Trainer: Scott Thurston, Kris Russell
Conditioning coach: Carlos Gonzalez
MONTGOMERY (DOUBLE-A SOUTH)
Manager: Morgan Ensberg
Pitching coach: Jim Paduch
Hitting coach: Wuarnner Rincones
Bench coach: Sean Smedley
Athletic trainer: James Ramsdell
Conditioning coach: James McCallie
BOWLING GREEN (HIGH-A EAST)
Manager: Jeff Smith
Pitching coach: Alberto Bastardo
Hitting coach: Paul Rozzelle
Bench coach: Skeeter Barnes
Athletic trainer: Tsutomu Kamiya
Conditioning coach: Jordan Brown
CHARLESTON (LOW-A EAST)
Manager: Blake Butera
Pitching coach: R.C. Lichtenstein
Hitting coach: Perry Roth
Bench coach: Frank Jagoda
Athletic trainer: Ruben Santiago
Conditioning coach: Mia Salvemini
FLORIDA COMPLEX LEAGUE (ROOKIE)
Manager: Rafael Valenzuela
Pitching coach: José Gonzalez, Levi Romero, Marty DeMerritt
Rehab pitching: Steve Watson
Hitting coach: Jamie Nelson, Manny Castillo, Alejandro Segovia. Hez Randolph
Coach: Esteban Gonzalez, Jim Morrison, Hector Torres, Ronnie Richardson, Germán Meléndez
Athletic trainer: Peter Walukiewicz, Halee Williams
Rehab trainer: Sierra Hakanson
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