The Tulsa Drillers announced their coaching staff for the 2024 season, which will again be led by manager Scott Hennessey. Hennessey is set to return for his seventh campaign as skipper of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate.
The 2023 season was the first in which the Drillers posted a sub-.500 record under the guidance of Hennessey. The 53-year-old took a medical leave of absence after being diagnosed with Stage 3 squamous cell carcinoma, but he is now cancer free.
Hennessey has compiled 392 wins since taking over as the Drillers manager midway through the 2017 campaign. That ranks second among skippers in Tulsa professional baseball history, behind only Bobby Jones, who accumulated 496 wins.
The Drillers coaching staff for the 2024 season will include several holdovers from last year, with pitching coaches Ryan Dennick and Durin O’Linger, as well as athletic trainer Jesse Guffey returning to the team.
Dennick is returning for his third season as Drillers pitching coach, and the 2024 campaign will be O’Linger’s second in the role. The two helped lead the Drillers pitching staff to the lowest ERA in the Minors over the first two months of the 2023 season.
Guffey is additionally back for his third season as the Drillers athletic trainer and seventh in the Dodgers organization. He was named Texas League Trainer of the Year during the 2022 season.
New additions to the Drillers coaching staff are bench coach Ronny Paulino, hitting coach Dylan Nasiatka, performance coach Ethan Quarles and video associate Tyler Hollow.
Paulino is officially part of the Drillers coaching staff after spending time with the team last season during Hennessey’s medical leave of absence. The 2024 season will mark the former MLB catcher’s third in the Dodgers organization.
Quarles is heading into his first season with the Drillers and third overall in the Dodgers organization. He had been part of the High-A Great Lakes coaching staff in each of the past two seasons.
Hollow rounds out the Drillers coaching staff, who is entering his first season in the Dodgers organization.
Tulsa Drillers begin 2024 season in April
The Drillers will open the 2024 regular season on the road for a matchup against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Friday, April 5. After their three-game road series, they will return to Tulsa for the home opener against the Arkansas Travelers at ONEOK Field on Tuesday, April 9.
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