Cardinals announce 2018 minor league coaching staffs, assignments
ST. LOUIS -- Most of the managers remain the same, but there will be a lot of new pitching and hitting coaches in the mix in the St. Louis Cardinals' farm system this season.
The Cardinals announced their 2018 minor league coaching staffs and player development personnel Thursday. They have retained the incumbent managers for seven of their minor league affiliates, but there will be new pitching coaches at six of them along with seven new hitting coach assignments.
Stubby Clapp, Baseball America's 2017 Manager of the Year, returns for his second season at Triple-A Memphis. Johnny Rodriguez (Double-A Springfield), Dann Bilardello (Class A Palm Beach), Chris Swauger (Peoria – A), Joe Kruzel (State College – A), Roberto Espinoza (Rookie League Johnson City) and Fray Peniche (Dominican Summer League 1) also return to manage their respective teams.
Randy Niemann will move into a new role as minor league pitching instructor and Steve Turco will serve as minor league roving instructor. Former Cardinals All-Stars Ryan Ludwick (minor league hitting instructor) and Jason Isringhausen (minor league pitching instructor) have joined the field staff for 2018.
A complete listing of the Cardinals' 2018 minor league staffs and player development assignments:
* Returning manager/coach
^ Returning manager/coach with new assignment
| Team | Manager | Pitching coach | Hitting coach |
| Memphis (AAA) | Stubby Clapp* | Dernier Orozco^ | Mark Budaska* |
| Springfield (AA) | Johnny Rodriguez* | Darwin Marrero^ | Jobel Jimenez* |
| Palm Beach (A) | Dann Bilardello* | Will Ohman | Brandon Allen^ |
| Peoria (A) | Chris Swauger* | Cale Johnson^ | Russ Chambliss |
| State College (A) | Joe Kruzel* | Adrian Martin^ | Roger LaFrancois^ |
| Johnson City (R) | Roberto Espinoza* | Rick Harig | Cody Gabella^ |
| GCL Cardinals (R) | Erick Almonte^ | Giovanni Carrara* | Joshua Lopez |
| DSL Cardinals 1 | Fray Peniche* | Billy Villanueva* | Jose Leon |
| DSL Cardinals 2 | John Matos^ | TBD | Nabo Martinez |
2018 Cardinals minor league field instructors
Field coordinator – Mark DeJohn*
Assistant field coordinator – Ron “Pop” Warner*
Dominican Republic field coordinator – Jose Leger
Senior pitching coordinator – Tim Leveque*
Minor league offensive strategist – George Greer*
Manager/pitching analytics – Paul Davis^
Minor league pitching instructor – Randy Niemann^
Minor league roving instructor – Steve Turco^
Minor league infield coordinator – Luis Aguayo^
Minor league catching instructor – Travis Tartamella*
Minor league hitting instructor – Ryan Ludwick^
Minor league pitching instructor – Jason Isringhausen^