Meet the Diamondbacks' Impressive minor league Coaching Staff
By Jake Oliver
Let's get started with the Diamondbacks impressive crop of minor league coaches. Each slide will have an individual team on it. Let's get started with the Hillsboro Hops!
Recently, the Arizona Diamondbacks' High-A minor league team, the Hillsboro Hops, announced their coaching staff for the upcoming 2022 MILB season. It's an exciting for the Hops, based out of Oregon, as they have started to really prove themselves as a solid minor league franchise.
The Hops last year developed many of the Diamondbacks' top prospects, including Matt Tabor, Bryce Jarvis, Buddy Kennedy, Ryne Nelson, Brandon Pfaadt, Drey Jameson, and Luis Frias. Buddy Kennedy was a star in the Arizona Fall League while the rest of those names all grew a ton in their baseball development.
Returning as manager of the Hops is Vince Harrison. He is in his 2nd season with Hillsboro. The first was widely successful due to those players developing. It's his 7th year coaching in the Dbacks organization and had a 5 year playing career in the minors.
Jeff Bajenaru is the team's pitching coach. He's entering his 12th year with Arizona's coaching staff. The last two years, he has spent with the Aces. Twice, Jeff was named Coach of the Year in the organization, 2017/18. He played in 3 seasons in the MLB, all with the Chicago White Sox where he won the 2005 World Series.
The hitting coach for the Hops is K.C. Judge. This will be his 3rd year with the organization and 2nd with the Hops. Judge is a noted swing master and swing scientist. He's written about the spine and how to manipulate it to improve your swing. Additionally, he created a t-shirt that he sold on YouTube about launch angles.
dark. Next. What former Star KBO pitcher did the Diamondbacks just sign?
Ronald Ramirez is the Hops' coach. He's basically the bench coach. He'll be responsible for all the little things. This will be his 5th year on the Dbacks MILB coaching staff but his first year with the Hops. Jake Waldron and David Robertson are the trainer/strength & conditioning coaches respectively. It's their first season with the Hops. Last year, they worked at the Salt River Fields complex for the Arizona League team.