A few years ago the Dodgers and perhaps other MLB teams developed a minor league coaching system that included fourth coaches. That is, a coach listed in addition to a manager, a pitching coach and a hitting coach. There had already been a system of roving coaches and instructors but now a fourth coach is listed for all Dodger affiliates.
Their duties rarely seem to be revealed and initially it was thought that the fourth coach would be Spanish speaking to help with the transition of so many young players coming out of Latin America. That no longer seems to be the case but all Dodger minor league affiliates do have a Spanish speaking coach on their roster. For some , the fourth coach role has morphed into a bench coach position. That is the role for Jeremy Rodriguez with the OKC Dodgers and Pedro Montero with the Tulsa Drillers. Other fourth coaches work with hitters, infield players, outfield players, etc.
Both Jeremy Rodriguez and Pedro Montero have previously been profiled.
https://ladodgertalk.com/2019/01/24/oklahoma-city-dodgers-coaching-staff-part-2
/https://ladodgertalk.com/2019/01/28/meet-pedro-petie-montero/
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes – Elian Herrera
Herrera was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, a city known as the “Cradle of Shortstops”. During his playing career he played some shortstop but more so at second base, third base and in the outfield.
He was originally signed by the Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 2003. He then spent the next ten years in the organization before being called up to play with the Dodgers in 2012. In his first 30 games with the Dodgers he hit .305 before settling in to hit .251 over 67 games.
In 2013 Herrera appeared in only four games with the Dodgers before being claimed off waivers on November 4 by the Milwaukee Brewers. He played two seasons with the Brewers in 69 games for the 2014 campaign and 83 in 2015 in which he posted a combined triple slash of .253/.289/..376.
A switch hitter, he was originally signed by the Dodgers as a catcher but eventually evolved into a utility player capable of playing every infield spot other than first base and all three outfield positions. Being a utility player was not his own personal option.
“I was a catcher when the Dodgers signed me,” said Herrera, who was batting .250 in 12 games at Nashville. “When they first started moving me around to different positions, I was like, ‘Ah, I don’t want to do this. I just want to be at one position and show what I can do.’”
His versatility gained him more time on the Brewers 25-man roster. He actually caught bullpen sessions for the Brewers when catching depth was becoming an issue for them due to injury and suspension. Brewers manager, Ron Roenicke, was most appreciative of Herrera’s versatility.
“Herrera can bunt, steal bases. He has some speed, a good arm. If suspensions come down, the catching part is going to be big. Center (field) is big, too. We don’t have anybody else who can play center.”
He finished out his playing career with short stints in Oklahoma City in 2016, Japan in 2017 and Mexico in 2018. Now 34, Elian Herrera is back home and begins his first year as a coach in the Dodgers organization.
Great Lakes Loons – Jason Bourgeois
Bourgeois was born in Houston, Texas and attended high school at Forest Brook High School in Houston. He was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 2nd round of the 2000 First-Year Player Draft.
He has played all or part of 19 seasons in minor league baseball and part of eight seasons in MLB with the White Sox, Brewers, Astros, Rays and Reds. In all, he has played for 25 different teams during his professional career.
At the minor league level he has played 1681 games including 41 in Mexico in 2018. He is best known for his time with the Charlotte Knights of the AAA International League. Bourgeois, who has played for the Knights in 2007, 2008, 2016, and 2017, is among the franchise leaders in a number of categories. He is third in hits (401), third in games played (363), third in at-bats (1,397), third in runs scored (190), second in stolen bases (71), and tied for second in triples (11). He is only the third player to ever reach the 400-hit mark with the Knights.
At the MLB level he has played 317 games in which he posed a triple slash of .253/.300/.326. The highlight of his MLB career was playing in his hometown of Houston. In 2011 he had his best year as he hit .294 and stole 31 bases in 93 games with the Astros.
“Anytime you get to play in the big leagues it’s a great opportunity, but playing (in your hometown) is the ultimate goal,” said Bourgeois, who now resides in Cypress which is just about 20 miles from downtown Houston.
An additional bonus in his 2011 season was that he again became a teammate with fellow outfielder Michael Bourn. They are long time friends who played little league baseball together.
On June 29, 2015 Bourgeois got razzed a bit in New York. He had just been called up by the Cincinnati Reds and entered the game in the sixth inning. His unique last name apparently lacked recognition at Citi Field and was listed in the Cincinnati lineup as “No. 30, Unknown, RF.” It was quickly corrected, but not quick enough.
“Of course, the fans in New York will let you know about it,” Bourgeois said when back at Great American Ball Park. “I’ll make a name for myself. I love that stuff. It keeps me motivated.”
Following his 2018 season in the Mexican League, the 37-year-old Bourgeois signed on with the Dodgers to begin his coaching career.
Discussion (45)
Disagree, not disagreeable
You know Ham, I think I do in my closet somewhere, next to Harper’s contract, which the Phillies in 4 years (like the D-bags with Grienke right now) will be bitching about financial flexibility. We can thank our cheap ass GM for our good fortune right now.
This is my story and I’m sticking to it.
1. Doesn’t matter who pitches opening day, purely ceremonial and NOBODY will remember in October. With that said, throw Dick Mountain out there, he has been making guys look flat out foolish so far, he is dialed in big time.
2.110% agree with Mark, Justin Turner can roll out of bed with a double. He is the KEY to the Dodgers coming out of the gate on fire. Him, Hill, Kershaw, are the old dogs who will bring up the future leaders this year,(Bellinger, Seager,Bueller)and show the way through the fire.
3. If I hear one more time about Freidman being cheap, I am going to hurl my Dodger Dog in your lap. After the Harper drama, on SportsTalk LA, Roggin and Rodney couldn’t believe that Andrew offered 45 million dollars and 4 years for a guy that couldn’t hold Trout and Arenado’s jock strap. They called that insane, but at least Freidman tried. After following Freidman since he took power, I have learned that he is a patient poker player. Sometimes that bites him in the ass, but overall he has protected the Dodgers from 10 year albatross contracts. After watching most of the spring training games, he has a buttload of chips at the poker table come July 31st when we need That Guy.
4. Not gonna back it off, we will be in the World Series again this year, and who knows what will happen, but all we have to do is get there and let the players take care of it
If anyone is going to be in Denver April 8 – 11, I can get you into the National Craft Beer Conference.
I have a meeting with George Stienbrenner IV later this month. He lives in Indy and owns an Indy Car team. He wants us to sponsor a car and I told him I’d talk to him, but we do the water treatment for a lot of race teams already and probably can’t draw lines in the sand, and besides that I’m a Dodger fan! i can’t deal with no damn Yankee. They still want to explore options… so OK. At least we can talk baseball. 😉
We are also currently doing the home of a significant foot ball player. I can’t tell you who but with a little luck, you might guess it.
From Gammons:
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The Dodgers can afford to take it slowly with Clayton Kershaw, who still might be ready to open the season. Teammates point out that he worked so intensely this winter than his body was going to hit a temporary wall. The Dodgers are very good in their rehab programs, especially since Andrew Friedman brought Ron Porterfield west from Tampa Bay; two of Porterfield’s former rehab pitchers, David Price and Nathan Eovaldi, called Kershaw to tell him to completely trust Porterfield.
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The Dodgers also have unusual starting pitching depth. Another Porterfield patient, Julio Urías, looks ridiculously good, 94-96 mph, but with a newfound edge to go with his delivery and arsenal. “He looks very different, in a very good way,” says Friedman. This may be a year in which Buehler and Urías are held back to 150-175 innings but are dominant starters.
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And, while we’re on the subject of Dodger rehabs, Corey Seager’s body looks totally different. Gone is the thickness in his core, remaining is the bat speed and power and internal clock on defense. Families that want to develop athletes should get the Seager Brothers dietary and conditioning programs from this past winter.
John – Having been told by the media that Kersh threw 20 pitches, all fastballs at about 80% per Honeycutt does not give me a warm feeling… What’s the hurry???
Just go with Hill, Ryu and Strip and see where were at and let the others get ready in town or at Camelback… Or can we do that???
Since Urias and Buehler have innings limits and Kershaw is dealing with an injury, what about adding Stripling to the mix and starting the season with a combo package where each pitcher only pitches a maximum of 4 innings.
Kershaw could start a game and pitch 4 innings followed by Urias who also goes 4 innings. Buehler could start and go 4 followed by Strip who goes 4. That way we can keep all four pitchers stretched out without any of them accumulating a significant amount of work. Hill, Ryu and Maeda can pitch on their normal schedules. Seems like a no brainer to me – of course I have often been accused of having no brain.
Anyone out there – Doesn’t the old addage “the pitchers are ahead of the hitters” hold true now or ever…
I’m sorta like Alfred E. Newman and his infamous “What Me Worry” in regards to our offense…
Freese will be just fine…
Bum – Dodgers + bunting… What the heck is that??? I’ve bitched yearly about the lack of bunting in the MLB.. .
To me it could be a great shift killer or just plain moving people over..
Camelback Sunday with my green and blue on!!!
The players are just getting ready for a 162 game grind – most have been through this several (many) times before. I have never cared about the Spring scores… and neither does Doc or Friedman. They want to get it over with and head into the season with a healthy and in-shape 25-man roster. Many of these players are on different paths, but when the bell rings, they will be ready. These games mean nothing.
Corey is hitting in minor league games.
CT3 is struggling as is Max Max.
JT can get out of bed and double before his feet hit the floor.
Kike is hot.
Verdugo is adding energy to the team.
Belli is looking comfortable.
All are getting adjusted to the new Hitting approach and dogma. It won;t happen overnight and some players will “get it” quicker than others.
All of this has been expected for me. Frankly, I am surprised the Dodgers have a winning record.
If we only look at the “A” games played then it will always look like a slow ramp up until the final two weeks of spring training. Players are only getting 3 at bats a game and playing only every other day. Most of the real work is done on the practice fields.
We have to visit spring training and walk around, smell the grass (especially for those visiting from cold spring states), and hope someone will tell us what they are seeing all around camp. We should now start to see players play consecutive days in “A” games. I wish there were more coverage of the “B” games and more coverage of what is going on in the back fields.
Has anyone seen players work on bunting, etc.?
Be glad to get past all this speculating and get down to the meat and vegetables of the long grind. (I’d say potatoes but I’m on the low carb diet)
Maybe I’m just not following it that closely this year, but this seems like one of the most boring Spring Trainings in recent memory. I feel like the standouts have been Urias & The Young Arms [like Gonsolin], but other than that, it’s been mostly rehab updates and barely simmering roster competitions. Maybe this is good for the long serious road ahead. I like the line in “Free Solo” about fear: you can’t eliminate it but you can “expand your comfort zone” to include it.
The more coaches (teachers/instructors) the better in MiLB. The 4th coach can be a surrogate Dad, player’s priest/rabbi, psychologist, English teacher, baseball skills coach… Sometimes (often times), coaches are placed on an affiliate where they can best help the group of players expected to be assigned their. It is not an accident that John Shoemaker is moved around quite a bit. Sometimes (often times) a player is assigned to an affiliate that will best help him achieve his goal.
Kids can get through high school having coaches from tee ball on up that never did anything more than hit ground balls or fly balls to their players. The players in the minor leagues need to be taught mechanics and basically need tutors.