Sandberg to Return, Other Developmental Coaches Set

On Monday, the Phillies announced the return of Ryne Sandberg as manager of Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Sandberg, a Hall of Fame player, is back for his second season with the IronPigs after leading the club to its very first playoff appearance in 2011.

Sandberg, who was originally drafted by the Phillies in 1978 and dealt to the Chicago Cubs in 1982, became a legend in a different city. As a member of the Cubs, Sandberg became a 10-time National League All-star, a 9-time Gold Glove Award winner and 1984 NL Most Valuable Player. Last season, he returned to the Philadelphia organization after 29 years away.

The remainder of the Lehigh Valley coaching staff, Rod Nichols and Sal Rende, will return for the IronPigs as well.

New additions to the developmental coaching ranks include former Phillies Andy Tracy and Aaron Fultz. Tracy will manage the short season Williamsport Crosscutters, while Fultz will serve as that club's pitching coach.

Former Phillies second baseman Mickey Morandini will move from Williamsport to Class A Lakewood, where he will manage many of the same players he had during the 2011 season, as those individuals move up the minor league ranks. Morandini becomes the 10th manager in BlueClaws history. Hitting coach Greg Legg will return to Lakewood. Legg celebrated his 30th season in the Philadelphia organization in 2011. Former big league hurler Les Lancaster will join the 'Claws as pitching coach after filling that role with the Gulf Coast League Phillies in 2011.

Chris Truby, who managed the BlueClaws in 2011, will move up a level and lead the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers. Truby played in the Majors with the Astros, Expos, Tigers and Rays. Former Kansas City Royals manager John Mizerock returns for his second season as a coach for Clearwater and pitching coach Dave Lundquist will be back for his fourth.

Filling the void left by Mark Parent, who left the Phillies minor league ranks to join the Chicago White Sox as bench coach, Dusty Wathan will take over as the skipper of the Double-A Reading Phillies. Wathan managed the BlueClaws to the South Atlantic League title in 2009 and spent the last two years with Clearwater. Pitching coach Bob Milacki and hitting coach Frank Cacciatore will both return to the R-Phils

Roly de Armas will manage the Gulf Coast Phillies for the sixth consecutive season and ninth, overall. His coaching staff will be comprised of Kevin Jordan and Steve Schrenk, who are each spending the winter managing in the Australian Baseball League.

Another former big league player, Andy Abad, will join the ranks of the Phillies' roving minor league instructors and serve as the new outfield/baserunning coordinator for the developmental system.

Absent from the mix is Lance Carter, who served as pitching coach with Williamsport for two seasons. Carter was regularly praised by the Phillies' young pitching prospects. Young hurlers such as Eric Pettis, Colby Shreve, Jake Diekman have stated in interviews with PhoulBallz.com that Carter's influence greatly impacted their professional careers. Players will surely miss the former Royals, Rays and Dodgers pitcher.

Minor league coaches will report to Clearwater for spring training in late February.

___________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE

Stats to Ponder: Jimmy Rollins Edition

J-Roll has batted under .200 for a calendar month twice in his career. In April 2004, Rollins went 13-for-71, for a .183 average. The following month, Rollins went 30-for-107, which is a .280 average. And in August 2005, Rollins went 22-for-117, for a .188 average. The month that followed saw Rollins go 49-for-122 for a .402 average. Rollins is batting .171 so far in May 2009. Improvement is not far away for Jimmy. The Phillies are 10-2 in games this year which Rollins scores at least 1 run. The Phillies are 4-12 in games which Rollins does not score. Jimmy Rollins in 6 games against the Braves this year is batting .071 (2-for-28). In 2008 Rollins batted .284 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2007 Rollins batted .347 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2006 Rollins batted .367 against the Braves in 18 games. Jimmy Milestone Watch: 6 more RBI and Rollins will tie Scott Rolen for 25th all time in Phillies RBI leaders. 7 more triples and Rollins will tie Richie Ashburn for 4th all time i...

Former Player Proposes Marriage on the Field in Lakewood

Three's a crowd, Buster...Image- Jay Floyd For one New Jersey couple a unique meeting at the ballpark led to a new meaning for the term baseball diamond. Brian Parker spotted the woman of his dreams from the bullpen bench at Lakewood, NJ's FirstEnergy Park on July 9th, 2010. The right-handed reliever for the Orioles affiliate Delmarva Shorebirds wasn't summoned to pitch that night, but it didn't stop him from getting up and going through his usual warm up and stretching routines to inch closer to a young blonde Brick Township native that he felt drawn toward. "I was acting like I was staying hot, but really I was just trying to talk to her," Parker, a 19th round draft choice by Baltimore in 2007, stated. "I ended up putting my (phone) number on a baseball and we decided to hang out and throughout that whole next year it was back and forth trips between the both of us." The lady that caught Parker's eye was Kristin VanDeventer, who was ...

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog