Altoona Curve Coaching Staff

Robby Hammock becomes the 15^th Manager in Altoona’s franchise history after spending the 2023 season as the leader for High-A Greensboro.

Hammock, a former Major League catcher and infielder with the Arizona Diamondbacks, led Greensboro to a 68-61 overall record in his first year with the Pirates organization in 2023. Throughout the campaign, Hammock aided numerous Pirates prospects whose successful seasons earned them a promotion to Altoona, including Tsung-Che Cheng, Jase Bowen, Mike Jarvis, Bubba Chandler, Anthony Solometo, and Abrahan Gutierrez.

A Macon, Georgia native who starred at South Cobb High School, Hammock played 14 seasons of professional baseball. Hammock spent two years at DeKalb Junior College before accepting a scholarship to the University of Georgia, where a strong junior season led the Arizona Diamondbacks to select him in the 23^rd round of the 1998 MLB Draft.

A catcher in his playing days, Hammock played in a total of 182 Major League games with the Diamondbacks across six seasons from 2003-04, 2006-08 and 2011. He made his Major League debut on April 11, 2003, where he recorded his first hit on the first pitch of his first at-bat, a single off Milwaukee’s Wayne Franklin. Hammock’s most notable moment as a player came in 2004, when he caught Randy Johnson’s perfect game in just his 56^th Major League game behind the plate. In his career, Hammock batted .254 with 122 hits, 30 doubles, 12 home runs and 48 RBI.

Hammock retired following the 2011 season but remained with the Diamondbacks organization, serving as a hitting coach with the AZL Diamondbacks. He received his first managerial position with the Class-A Advanced Visalia Rawhide in 2014 and joined Double-A Mobile BayBears for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Arizona named Hammock to its Major League Staff in November of 2016 as the quality control/catching coach, a role he held through 2021. After spending the 2022 season with the San Diego Padres as the Bench Coach for Triple-A El Paso, Hammock joined the Pirates in 2023 as the Manager for High-A Greensboro. Hammock resides in Phoenix, AZ with his wife Melissa and their five children.

Pitching Coach Fernando Nieve joins the Altoona staff after spending the last two seasons in Greensboro in the same role. A native of Puerto Cabello in Venezuela, Nieve is in his sixth season with the Pirates organization, having previously served as the Pitching Coach for the Low-A Southeast League champion Bradenton Marauders in 2021 and for the GCL Pirates in 2019. Nieve was signed by the Houston Astros as a non-drafted free agent in May of 1999 and pitched professionally for 17 seasons, including 99 Major League games with the Astros and New York Mets. He went 8-11 with a 4.61 ERA in 185.2 innings in his Major League career working both in the rotation and out of the bullpen in four seasons. Nieve has worked with some of the top pitching prospects in the Pirates system, including Quinn Priester, Luis Ortiz, Jared Jones, Anthony Solometo, Bubba Chandler, and Thomas Harrington. Nieve resides in Pearland, TX with his two children.

Integrated Baseball Performance Coach Justin Orton begins his fifth season as an instructor in the Pirates minor league system. A Leamington, Ontario, Canada native, Orton spent the 2023 season under Hammock in the same role for High-A Greensboro. Orton began his coaching career as a Development Coach in the Dominican Republic and served as a Hitting Coach in the D.R. for the 2021 season. A former infielder for the University of British Columbia from 2014-18, Orton now resides in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Bench Coach Gary Green returns to Altoona for the 2024 season after holding the same role last season in Altoona and in 2022 at Triple-A Indianapolis. A Pittsburgh native, Green was the organizations Minor League Infield Coordinator and Roving Infield Instructor from 2011 through 2020. Green earned extensive managerial experience in the Pirates and Detroit Tigers organizations, amassing a 588-713 record (.488) across 11 seasons. Green’s most recent managerial experience came in a four-year run in the South Atlantic League with West Virginia (2009-10) and Hickory (2007-2008). His managerial stops include one season in Lynchburg (2006), three seasons with Lakeland (2002-2004), two seasons with Oneonta (2000-2001), and one season in the Gulf Coast League with the GCL Tigers (1999).

A former major league infielder for parts of five seasons, Green’s professional career on the diamond began after the San Diego Padres selected him 27th overall in the 1984 Amateur Draft. Prior to starting his professional career, Green was the starting shortstop for Team USA in the 1984 Olympic Games. Green went on to spend five seasons in the Padres organization, making his major league debut in September of 1986, two years in the Texas Rangers system and concluded his playing career after four seasons in the Cincinnati Reds organization. Green batted .222 with nine doubles and 11 RBI in 106 major league games with the Padres, Rangers and Reds.

A Pittsburgh native, Green played four years of baseball at Oklahoma State. His father, Fred, pitched for the Pirates for parts of four seasons (1959-64) and was a member of the 1960 World Champion Pirates.

Catching Coach Taylor Davis begins his first season coaching in the Pirates minor league system after an 11-season career behind the plate. Davis played in 22 major league games with the Chicago Cubs and Pirates across the 2017-19 and 2021 seasons. A Tampa, Florida native, Davis attended Jupiter Community High School and Morehead State University before signing with the Cubs in 2011. Davis made his major league debut with the Cubs on September 8, 2017, against the Milwaukee Brewers and picked up his first major league hit on September 14 off Mets right-hander Seth Lugo. Davis spent the majority of the 2021 season and the 2022 campaign as a catcher with Triple-A Indianapolis where he played 40 games in each season. Davis went 2-for-5 in two games for the Pirates in the final week of the 2021 season. In his minor league career, Davis played 723 games and combined to bat .275 with 37 home runs and 322 runs batted in. Davis, 34, resides in Sellersburg, Indiana with his wife Amberleigh and their children, Brook and EmmaLeigh.