Diamondbacks Announce New Coaching Staff

Staff. – The Arizona Diamondbacks announced today the hiring of its new coaching staff and it consists of the following: Ron Gardenhire as bench coach, Tony Perezchica as third base coach, Mike Fetters as bullpen coach and Robby Hammock as quality control/catching coach. Returning from last season are Dave Magadan (hitting coach), Mike Butcher (pitching coach), Dave McKay (first base coach) and Ariel Prieto (coach/interpreter).

Diamondbacks Executive Vice President and General Manager Mike Hazen and Manager Torey Lovullo made the announcement through a press release.

Diamondbacks Coaching Staff:

Gardenhire, 59, enters his first season in the D-backs’ organization and his first as a Major League bench coach. In 13 seasons as manager of the Minnesota Twins, he was the winningest manager in club history (1,608-1,039; .507), made 6 postseason appearances and was named the AL Manager of the Year in 2010.

Perezchica, 50, enters his 15th season in the D-backs’ organization and first as a coach at the Major-League level and his 32nd season in professional baseball. He was Arizona’s Field/Infield Coordinator for the last 3 seasons (2014-16) and Infield Coordinator for the previous 8 (2006-13).

Hammock, 39, enters his first season as a coach at the Major-League level, sixth in a managerial/coaching capacity, and 18th overall in the D-backs’ organization. Hammock caught Randy Johnson’s perfect game on May 18, 2004 at Atlanta.

Fetters, 51, returns for his fifth season as a member of the D-backs’ coaching staff and eighth in the organization, including his time in a front office capacity. He spent the previous 4 seasons as Arizona’s quality control coach, assisting with on-field preparations and scouting. Fetters pitched parts of 16 Major League seasons with the Angels (1989-91, ’98), Brewers (1992-97), A’s (1998), Orioles (1999), Dodgers (2000-01), Pirates (2001-02), Twins (2003) and D-backs (2002, ’04).

Magadan, 54, enters his second season as the D-backs’ hitting coach and his 15th overall in that position. Arizona’s offense ranked among the NL leaders in several categories in 2016, including triples (1st, 56), hits (2nd, 1479), average (3rd, .261), slugging pct. (3rd, .432), extra-base hits (3rd, 531) and total bases (3rd, 2446).

McKay, 66, returns for his fourth season as first base coach with the D-backs and 34th on a Major League coaching staff. Arizona led the Majors with an 81.5 stolen base pct. in 2016, and finished third overall with 137 steals, tying a club record set in 1999.

Butcher, 51, will return for his second season as the D-backs’ pitching coach, his

12th in that capacity. In 2016, the D-backs established a club record with 1,318 strikeouts, 15 more than the previous mark set in 2002 (1,303).

Prieto, 47, returns for his third season in the D-backs’ organization as a coach and interpreter. Prior to joining Arizona, he spent the previous 3 seasons in Oakland (2012-14) in a similar capacity.