Mike Jirschele returns to Omaha as KC Royals announce minor-league coaching staffs
The Kansas City Royals announced the respective coaching staffs for their minor-league affiliate teams, including the return of a familiar face to the Triple-A dugout.
Earlier this week, the Royals announced that Scott Thorman will shift from Triple-A manager to minor-league field coordinator for the organization.
On Friday afternoon, the Royals revealed that longtime member of the organization Mike Jirschele will take over as manager of the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers. Jirschele enters his 32nd season with the Royals organization. He served as bench coach for Double-A Northwest Arkansas in 2022.
Jirschele, a member of the coaching staff in KC from 2013-2019, previously managed the Storm Chasers from 1995-1997 and from 2003-2013. He led the club to Pacific Coast League championships in 2011 and 2013.
The Storm Chasers’ all-time winningest manager, Jirschele will begin the season five victories shy of 1,000 wins with the club. His record as Storm Chasers manager is 995-1,018.
Filling out the Storm Chasers coaching staff will be pitching coach Dane Johnson, hitting coach Bijan Rademacher, assistant coach Chris Nelson, athletic trainer James Stone, and strength and conditioning coach Yannick Plante. Mike Brown will serve as the coordinator of clubhouse operations.
The Double-A Northwest Arkansas staff will be led by manager Tommy Shields, who spent last season as the Triple-A bench coach. Larry Carter, the Royals’ bullpen coach the past three seasons, will serve as the pitching coach, and Andy LaRoche takes the role of hitting coach after spending last season in that same position at High-A Quad Cities.
Rounding out the Double-A staff will be bench coach Christian Colón, assistant coach Kevin Kuntz, strength and conditioning coach CJ Mikkelsen and athletic trainer Danny Accola. Danny Helmer, entering his 25th season in the organization, will be the coordinator of clubhouse operations.
Brooks Conrad returns as manager of the High-A Quad Cities River Bandits, and Derrick Lewis joins the staff as the pitching coach after two seasons with Northwest Arkansas. Ryan Powers will serve as hitting coach after having spent 2022 as assistant hitting coach at Triple-A Omaha.
David Noworyta moves from River Bandits assistant hitting coach to bench coach, while Brad Groleau will be the athletic trainer and Joe Pedulla will work as the strength and conditioning coach. Matt Resar will be the coordinator of clubhouse operations.
Tony Peña Jr. returns for his second season as manager of the Columbia Fireflies, and John Habyan joins him as pitching coach. Matt Schmidt will serve as bench coach, and new addition to the organization Ari Adut will be the club’s hitting coach. Nevan Dominguez returns as the athletic trainer, and Ted Elsner comes over from the Arizona complex to serve as strength and conditioning coach. Christian Andreas returns as the coordinator of clubhouse operations.
After two seasons as Columbia’s hitting coach, Jesus Azuaje will manage the Surprise club/Arizona Complex League team. The coaching staff will include co-pitching coaches Julio Pimentel, Jesús Delgado and Mark Davis. Andre David will serve as the bench coach. Ramon Castro returns for his third season as the Surprise hitting coach, and he’ll be joined by assistant hitting coach Alejandro Gomez. Miguel Bernard returns as the assistant coach. Kazuma Fukuzumi and Jeremy Goldklang partner as the athletic trainers, while Todd Jansen returns as the coordinator of clubhouse operations.
The Royals will have two teams in the Dominican Summer League again this year. They’ll be managed by Ramón Martínez and Sergio De Luna.
José Veras and Christopher Marte will be the pitching coaches, while Wilson Betemit Sr. and Fernando Martínez will serve as the hitting coaches with Joel Rivera as the assistant hitting coach. Quilvio Veras Sr. and Onil Joseph return as bench coaches. Jesus Atencio returns for his fourth season in the DSL as an assistant coach, while David Archer, Alessandro Bertozzo, Martin Berroa and Manuel Plaza will be the athletic trainers. Marcos Sierra and José Rosario will be the strength and conditioning coaches.
This story was originally published January 13, 2023 at 6:21 PM.
