Blue Jays select coaching staff for next season

Pete Walker will return as the Toronto Blue Jays’ pitching coach in 2019. Photo Credit: Wikipedia

November 27, 2018

Official Toronto Blue Jays Press Release

TORONTO, ONT - The TORONTO BLUE JAYS today announced the members of manager CHARLIE MONTOYO’S coaching staff for the 2019 campaign.

Returning to the staff are pitching coach PETE WALKER and third base coach LUIS RIVERA. The Blue Jays have also promoted from within the organization by naming GUILLERMO MARTINEZ as hitting coach and JOHN SCHNEIDER as Major League coach. Joining bench coach DAVE HUDGENS, the club has hired MARK BUDZINSKI as first base coach, MATT BUSCHMANN as bullpen coach, and SHELLEY DUNCAN as Major League field coordinator.

WALKER, 48, returns for his seventh season as Toronto’s pitching coach and his 11th campaign with the club. He began his coaching career in 2009, working with the team’s rehabbing pitchers before being named pitching coach for double-A New Hampshire in 2011. Walker then made his Major League coaching debut in 2012 as the Blue Jays’ bullpen coach.

RIVERA, 54, returns for his seventh season on the Major League coaching staff as third base coach and enters his ninth year with the Blue Jays organization. He previously served as coach and manager in the Cleveland Indians organization for 10 years, including four seasons on the Major League staff as infield and first base coach.

MARTINEZ, 34, spent last season as Toronto’s hitting coordinator after a four-year stint as hitting coach for Advanced-A Myrtle Beach in the Chicago Cubs organization. Prior to that, he served as Minor League hitting and infield coach for the Blue Jays in 2012 and 2013. The infielder from the University of South Alabama was drafted by the Florida Marlins in 2006. He then played three seasons with Florida and took part in three more campaigns in independent ball before founding Pro Hitting Baseball, a baseball academy in Knoxville, TN.

SCHNEIDER, 38, has spent the last 11 seasons with the Blue Jays organization, most recently managing the double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats to an Eastern League championship in September. As Major League coach, he will have an emphasis on the development of Major League catching. The Newark, DE, native began his coaching career as a hitting coach for the GCL Blue Jays in 2008, before serving as the team’s manager from 2009 to 2010 and again in 2013. He also managed the Vancouver Canadians (2011, 2014 to 2015), the Lansing Lugnuts (2016), and the Dunedin Blue Jays (2017), leading to a combined career managerial record of 381-347. The Blue Jays’ 2002 13th round pick out of the University of Delaware played six seasons in the Minors, advancing as high as triple-A Syracuse in 2007.

BUDZINSKI, 45, spent last season as a Major League coach with the Cleveland Indians, where he supported the coaching staff with advance preparation, player performance, and on-field pregame work. He previously managed for four seasons in the Indians system from 2014 to 2017. The Baltimore, MD, native was originally selected by Cleveland in the 21st round of the 1995 draft and played seven years in the Indians’ ranks from 1995 to 2001. He then spent time in the Chicago (NL), Milwaukee, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia organizations before retiring in 2005. The University of Richmond product made his Major League debut with the Cincinnati Reds on August 3, 2003 and appeared in four big league games with the club.

BUSCHMANN, 34, served as assistant director of player development for the San Francisco Giants last season. The 2006 15th round pick out of Vanderbilt spent 11 years in the Minors with San Diego (2006 to 2011), Tampa Bay (2012 to 2013, 2015), Oakland (2014), Cincinnati (2015), Baltimore (2015), and Arizona (2016). He made his Major League debut at 32 years old for the Diamondbacks, pitching in three games with a 2.08 ERA and three strikeouts over 4.1 innings. He also signed a Minor League deal with the Toronto Blue Jays in March 2017 and was assigned to triple-A Buffalo. Over his Minor League career, Buschmann accumulated a 92-79 record with a 4.20 ERA over 307 games (239 starts).

DUNCAN, 39, worked in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization for the previous four seasons, most recently serving as the manager for its double-A affiliate, the Jackson Generals. The Tucson, AZ, native was selected by the New York Yankees in the second round of the 2001 First-Year Player Draft and played seven Major League seasons with the Yankees (2007 to 2009), the Cleveland Indians (2010 to 2012), and the Tampa Bay Rays (2013). The former outfielder and first baseman hit a combined .226 (200-for-885) with 42 doubles, 43 home runs, and 144 RBI in 330 games.