What will be happening down on the farm?
Of necessity, there is a large difference between a minor league preview and a major league preview. For one thing, full rosters for each of the affiliates are not yet known. For another, things change even more rapidly due to injuries. So there’s no sense in making preseason predictions. But there is still some ground to cover.
Basic Information
The Reno Aces will begin their season in Las Vegas on Friday night. The other three full-season affiliates will open one week later, on April 4. Amarillo will be in San Antonio, while Hillsboro and Visalia get to open their seasons at home.
As with the last couple of seasons, most series are six games, and every Monday is an off day. There are some exceptions; the first series is only three games long, and the first series after the All Star break is likewise three games. Presumably, the split-season format at each level will remain the same as last season, which means there can be a “pennant race” in June, leading up to the end of the first half.
All full-season affiliate games should be available to MLB.tv subscribers. Broadcast quality varies. Home team announcers will be providing play-by-play on the TV broadcasts, but Reno and Amarillo will have radio options to hear the affiliated broadcasters.
Speaking of which, some changes in that department. There will be a new voice in Visalia and a new main voice in Amarillo. Zach Goodman, who joined Stefan Caray on the broadcasts for the Soddies last year, will be the primary announcer. He is the son of Drew Goodman, TV broadcaster for the Rockies. Joey Gonzalez moved back to San Antonio to be the voice of the University of the Incarnate Word, and he is replaced by Griffin Epstein, who was the voice of the Brisbane Bandits in the Australian Baseball League over the winter. He also brings broadcast experience from the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League; he called games for them in 2023, just after graduating from Indiana University, and he also called games for the Wisconsin Rapids of the Northwoods League during at least one summer while he was a student.
Nash Walker returns in Reno and Rich Burk will be back in Hillsboro. He’s been calling games in the Portland area for around thirty years, including every Hops season. He’s joined by Matt Richert.
The short-season complex league will start later, and games will be on the back fields at spring training complexes. Admission is generally free, but they are generally not broadcast. If you are in the area, this is a good chance to get the first look at both young talent and players beginning rehab assignments. If you are not, you’re pretty much out of luck until something changes.
Where can I watch ______________?
Keep in mind that the only correct answer to this question is “I don’t know for sure.” But here is my best guess for where top prospects will spend most of their time.
Reno: Jordan Lawlar, Yilber Diaz, Adrian Del Castillo, Yu-Min Lin, Cristian Mena, Spencer Giesting, Jorge Barrosa, Tim Tawa.
Amarillo: Tommy Troy, LuJames Groover, Yordin Chalas, Joe Elbis, Dylan Ray, Gavin Conticello, Roman Angelo.
Hillsboro: Demetrio Crisantes, Ryan Waldschmidt, Druw Jones, Jansel Luis, Cristofer Torin.
Visalia: Yassel Soler, Daniel Eagen, Connor Foley, Alberto Barriga.
Complex: Slade Caldwell, JD Dix, Adriel Radney, Ivan Luciano.
I do not think that all of these players will open the season with these affiliates. Crisantes, for example, I would anticipate starts the year at Visalia, and Angelo and Chalas might well start at Hillsboro. Depending on how long it takes Yu-Min Lin to get ready, he might even pitch some at the complex before heading to Reno. But this is my best guess as to where they will spend the most time.
Coaching Changes
There were both a lot of changes and very few changes, depending on how you look at it. Just five coaches are in the same position, with the same affiliate, as they were last season. But there are only two completely new faces, and only one of last year’s group that left the organization.
It first appeared as if the Reno staff would only have one change from last season. But, after three seasons managing in Reno, Blake Lalli is off to the big leagues. He will be the third base coach in Miami. He is replaced by Jeff Gardner, who was quality control coordinator, and also had a huge impact on Corbin Carroll. “He would be…sitting behind home with me every night…it was a really neat look at the preparation piece of it and into some of the different approaches…the finer details that I definitely wouldn’t have had if I didn’t have access to that.” (Carroll to Arizona Republic, 2021, quoted in Diamondbacks Media Guide.) Hopefully, Gardner can have similar impacts on the players during his time in Reno. Also up to the major leagues is last year’s hitting coach, Travis Denker, who is now the assistant hitting coach in Phoenix. He is replaced by Terrmel Sledge, who spent last year in Amarillo. Jeff Bajenaru and Doug Drabek return as pitching coaches, as does Shawn Roof as Bench Coach. Jaime Del Valle, bench coach in Visalia last year, rounds out the Reno staff.
While Gardner is moving from player development to the dugout, Tim Bogar, manager in Amarillo last year, is going the other direction. He is now “Player Development Staff Advisor/Special Assignment Coordinator.” Tom Gorzelanny, his pitching coach last year, is now rehab pitching coordinator. Also moving on from Amarillo is Ronnie Gajownik. In fact, the Sod Poodles have an entirely new dugout staff, including a new trainer and a new strength coach. Javier Colina, Gaby Hernandez, and Ty Wright were all promoted from Hillsboro. The lone entirely new face is the new bench coach; Canadian-born former-catcher Jordan Procyshen joins the organization. He just turned 32, and was a 14th round pick of the Red Sox in 2014. The closest he ever got to the big leagues was a spring training invite in 2017; he moved on to the Dodgers, Cubs, and Rangers organizations before going unsigned after 2023. Conventional wisdom says that catchers make the best managers, and Procyshen might wind up being a rising star in the profession.
LUIS ROBAYO/AFP via Getty Images
Long-time Diamondbacks’ bullpen coach Mark Reed takes over management duties in Hillsboro. He was bench coach there last year. Joining him are promotions from Visalia Tyler Mark (pitching coach) and Brad Marcelino (hitting coach). The other new face to the organization is another Canadian-born coach, the second-generation big leaguer Jim Adduci, who will serve as assistant hitting coach. Ronald Ramirez, who coached in the complex last year, will be the new bench coach. Trainer Cat Widay also was promoted to Hillsboro from Visalia, indicating that the Diamondbacks want as much continuity as possible for their young prospects.
Dee Garner remains as manager in Visalia (the only level which does not have a new manager.) South African Gift Ngoepe moves from managing the complex team to being the bench coach for the Rawhide. Josh Goosen-Brown also moves from the complex as pitching coach, and Luis Sumoza comes over from the Boca Chica D-backs in the Dominican Republic to be hitting coach.
Juan Francia, one of a number of hitting coordinators last year, is the new manager of the ACL D-backs. Ronnie Gajownik will coach the ACL D-backs while also managing the complex. John Pachot is back as a coach, joined by Brad Arnsberg (who was the pitching coach on the 2003 Marlins), Chuy Mendoza, Dylan Olsonawski, Tommy Murphy, and Jancarlos Cintron. The middle infielder found his playing days ended after a dismal performance with the bat in winter ball, but he remains with the only major league organization he’s known. Across seven seasons, he played in exactly 600 games, had 2448 plate appearances, and collected 610 hits. Cintron was a 24th round pick in 2017; he stuck it out a long time. He seems to be exactly the kind of voice the young players in the complex will need. The contraction of the draft and the minor leagues may be a big money saver, but one wonders what will become of the “baseball lifer” who, like Cintron, was never a prospect, but hung around the minor leagues for a long time, and then went straight into coaching.
Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images
The Other Kind of Promotions
One of the more fun aspects of minor league baseball is the crazy promotions that are at the ballpark. Last year was the year of the Malmo Oat Milkers, a promotion by Oatly in which every minor league team played a home game as the Oat Milkers. For the record, Malmo went 64-56, and will apparently be back again in 2025. Copa de la Diversión is an ongoing promotion across the minor leagues as well, with many teams (but not all) adopting alternate Spanish-language identities.
All affiliates have alternate identities. They’ll all be celebrating similar event nights (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Disney, etc.) Fireworks is likewise common to all teams. So what is unique?
In Reno, you can get a Tasmanian Devil bobblehead on May 24 and a Woodstock (the one from Peanuts, not the music festival) bobblehead on July 14. The Aces will wear Silver Sox throwbacks on Thursdays, play as the Micheladas de Reno three times, and probably wear their “Biggest Little City” alternates frequently.
Amarillo will host four drone shows and give away mystery t-shirts and a mystery bobblehead, all of these likely current Diamondbacks who came through Amarillo. Of note this year is another alternate identity joining the group in Amarillo. The Calf Fries and the Pointy Boots de Amarillo have been around for a bit, and are popular. But blowing into the Yellow City are the Pigweeds. Here’s hoping there will be more hitting than tumbling!
Michael Cuviello / Amarillo Globe-News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Beer nights are common everywhere, and Hillsboro is no exception, but they also have an opportunity for wine tasting on multiple days throughout the season. They’ll play as the Soñadores de Hillsboro several times. Most teams celebrate Christmas in July, but the Hops are taking it one step further and celebrating Halloween on May 9. Fittingly, given that the Hops were the first team at the High-A level to have a woman as a manager, they will celebrate women and girls in sports on August 13.
Visalia will host “Free to be Me Night” on April 15, and those with developmental disabilities and their families will receive free tickets. I find this special, as I’ve worked with people with developmental disabilities and one of my children is non-verbal. They’ll giveaway a Max Scherzer bobblehead on April 19, a Paul Goldschmidt bobblehead May 10, and throwback jerseys from the various iterations of minor league baseball in Visalia will be given away throughout the season.
Conclusion
Regular updates on minor league happenings will be here throughout the season. I always enjoy writing these updates, and I’m looking forward to 2025!