Pirates tab Prince to manage Altoona

CURVE, Pa. -- Former Major League catcher Tom Prince will manage the Altoona Curve, the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, for the 2015 season, the Pirates announced today. Prince headlines an entirely new coaching staff in Curve, Pa. for the 2015 season with hitting coach Kevin Riggs, who spent the past two seasons as the manager of the Double-A Tulsa Drillers in the Texas League, pitching coach Justin Meccage, athletic trainer Dru Scott and strength & conditioning coach Furey Leva. Meccage and Scott spent 2014 with Prince in Advanced-A Bradenton while Leva joins the Curve from Low-A West Virginia. The Double-A managerial assignment is the first of Prince's managerial career and the 2015 season overall with serve as his 30th in professional baseball.

Prince, 50, stepped back into a managerial role in 2014 when he took the helm of the Bradenton Marauders of the Florida State League. Under the guidance of Prince, the Marauders finished the season with second-best overall record in the league at 78-61. That record included a second-half that saw Bradenton grab the Florida State League South division title with a 43-27 mark en route to a playoff appearance.

His last managerial stint before returning to the dugout in 2014 was a six-year run as the manager of the Rookie-level GCL Pirates from 2007-2012. The Illinois native led the GCL Pirates to a title in 2012, their first since joining the league in 1968, and was the GCL Manager of the Year in 2008 after guiding the club to a league-best 37-18 record and a first-place finish in the South division. Other managerial stops for the former big league catcher include the Lynchburg Hillcats (2004) and Williamsport Crosscutters (2005-06). In his 10 seasons as a manager (all in the Pirates minor league system), Prince's clubs have finished in first or second place (during the regular season) in seven of the 10 seasons. His regular season record during those 10 seasons as a manager is 398-381 (.511).

As a player, Prince was selected in the fourth round of the 1984 MLB January draft out of Kankakee (Ill.) Community College. After a few seasons in the minors, Prince made his Major League Debut on September 22, 1987. He didn't collect his first MLB hit until a few days later when he homered off the Mets' Bob Ojeda on September 27, 1987 at Shea Stadium. All told, Prince played in parts of 17 seasons in the big leagues with the Pirates (1987-1993), Los Angeles (NL) (1994-98), Philadelphia (1999-2000), Minnesota (2001-03) and Kansas City (2003).

Meccage, 34, returns to Central, Pa. and will embark on his first season as a pitching coach at the Double-A level. He spent each of the last two seasons in the same role with Advanced-A Bradenton, working with the likes of the Pirates No. 1 overall prospect Tyler Glasnow (2014) and No. 6 prospect Nick Kingham (2013). Last season, Meccage's staff had the second-best staff ERA (3.27) in the 12-team FSL. Before his assignment to Bradenton, the Montana native was a pitching coach up the road in State College when the Spikes were affiliated with the Pirates in 2011 and 2012. As a player, Meccage was drafted out of Oklahoma State University in the 32nd round of the 2002 draft by the New York Yankees. He played two seasons in affiliated ball (both with Staten Island) before a quick stint with Cook County of the independent Frontier League.

Riggs, 45, embarks on his first season in the Pirates organization after managing the Double-A Tulsa Drillers (Colorado Rockies affiliate) in the Texas League to a two-year record of 139-138. The managerial assignment was Riggs' first after serving as the team's hitting coach in 2012. He also served as the hitting coach in Modesto (Advanced-A, California League) in 2011, Asheville (Low-A, South Atlantic League) in 2009-10 and short-season Casper in 2007-08. During his time as a hitting coach he's worked with two league MVPs (Kent Matthes -- 2011; Jordan Pacheco -- 2009), one league RBI leader (Nolan Arenado -- 2011) and one batting champion (Kiel Roling -- 2009).

As a player Riggs was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 28th round of the 1990 draft out of East Carolina University. He played eight seasons stateside in his pro career, reaching as high as Double-A in four different seasons. In 528 career games in the states, Riggs posted a .296 career batting average. The Connecticut native also spent one season in China playing for the China Trust Whales where he was named the league's MVP.

Scott, 30, makes the jump to Altoona as the team's athletic trainer after three straight seasons in the same role with Advanced-A Bradenton. All told, the 2015 season will be his seventh as an athletic trainer in the Pirates system with other stints coming in West Virginia (2010-11) and the GCL (2009). He received his degree in athletic training from Manchester (Ind.) College in 2007 and still resides in the Hoosier State.

Leva embarks on his first season in Curve, Pa. after spending the 2014 season as the strength and conditioning coach for Low-A West Virginia. Overall it will be Leva's third season in the Pirates system after stints as a strength and conditioning intern with Temple University (2013) and Villanova University (2012). A native of Pennsylvania, Leva received his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Temple University in 2012.

The Pirates also announced the other coaching assignments for their minor league affiliates today and there are many former Curve coaches still working in the organization. 2013-14 Curve pitching coach Stan Kyles will have the same role with Triple-A Indianapolis where he'll be joined by skipper Dean Treanor (2009 Curve pitching coach), athletic trainer Bryan Housand (2010 Curve athletic trainer) and strength coach Ricky White (2011-13 Curve strength coach).

In Bradenton, 2012 Curve coach Michael Ryan takes the managerial reins and will work with long-time Curve hitting coach Ryan Long (2009-10; 2012-14) and 2014 Curve strength coach Alan Burr. A former Curve face will be with the newest affiliate in Morgantown, W.Va. with 2010 Curve pitching coach Tom Filer filling that same role for the Black Bears in 2015. Former Curve player Milver Reyes (2006-09) reprises his role as the manager of the GCL Pirates in 2015 and will be joined by 1999 Curve alum Kory DeHaan, who will serve as his hitting coach. Finally, Austin McClune (2013 Curve coach) will get his first assignment as a hitting coach with Rookie-level Bristol in 2015. He'll be joined by 2012 Curve pitching coach Jeff Johnson, who will have the same role with Bristol.