Eric Patterson Named Indians Manager for 2026 Season

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Indians, in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Pirates, today announced Eric Patterson has been named the Triple-A club’s manager for the 2026 season after serving as its bench coach in 2025. He will become the 65th manager in franchise history (since 1902) and the ninth since the Indians’ affiliation with Pittsburgh began in 2005.

The Pirates also announced the additions of Beech Grove, Ind. native JD Closser as catching & game planning coach, Casey Harms as hitting coach and Nasusel Cabrera as pitching coach. Hitting coach Eric Munson, pitching coach Drew Benes and coach Joe Thatcher will return from the 2025 staff, with Munson and Benes retaining their roles.

Manager Eric Patterson

Patterson, 42, enters his second season with the Indians and first professional season as a manager after previously spending the 2023-24 seasons with Triple-A Iowa. He began his coaching career with Chicago (NL) in 2021 as an assistant hitting coach for High-A South Bend and ACL Cubs in 2022.

He was selected by Chicago (NL) in the eighth round (246th overall) of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft out of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta) before making his debut with the Cubs three years later. His five-year major league career included stops in Chicago (2007-08), Oakland (2008-10), Boston (2010) and San Diego (2011).

Catching & Game Planning Coach JD Closser

Closser, 46, joins the Pirates organization after spending the last six seasons as catching coordinator with the Atlanta Braves. He began his instructional career as an assistant coach with then High-A Tampa in 2014 and was promoted to coach with the club in 2015. He next served as the bullpen coach for Double-A Trenton from 2016-17 and catching coordinator for New York (AL) from 2018-19.

The former major league catcher was selected by Arizona in the fifth round (163rd overall) of the 1998 First-Year Player Draft and made his big-league debut with the Colorado Rockies on June 30, 2004, vs. Milwaukee. He spent all three seasons of his MLB career (2004-06) with Colorado. His minor league career ended in 2011 with Triple-A Albuquerque.

Born in Beech Grove, Ind., Closser helped lead Alexandria-Monroe (Alexandria, Ind.) High School to an IHSAA Class 2A State Championship at Victory Field and was named Indiana Mr. Baseball in 1998.

Pitching Coach Drew Benes

Benes, 37, is entering his 10th season in the Pirates organization and third as Indianapolis’ pitching coach after splitting the 2023 campaign between Indy (bullpen coach) and Double-A Altoona (pitching coach). In 2025 – one year after coaching future NL Rookie of the Year and NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes – Benes led a pitching staff that featured multiple Pirates prospects including Bubba Chandler, Mike Burrows, Braxton Ashcraft, Thomas Harrington and Hunter Barco.

After beginning his instructional career with Single-A West Virginia in 2017, Benes served as pitching coach with the GCL Pirates in 2018 and High-A Bradenton in 2019-20. Prior to his coaching career, he spent two years running the Rawlings St. Louis Prospects Baseball Club, a high school and youth baseball organization which focuses on the development of young athletes.

Benes – who was originally selected by Cincinnati as a third baseman in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft but did not sign – pitched two years at Arkansas State (Jonesboro) University before being selected by St. Louis as a right-handed pitcher in the 35th round in 2010. He spent three seasons in the Cardinals’ farm system before ending his playing career with a seven-week spring training stint with Texas and brief cameo in the Frontier League in 2013.

Pitching Coach Nasusel Cabrera

Cabrera, 58, joins the Pirates organization with 35 years of professional coaching experience, most recently serving as a development coach with the ACL White Sox in 2024. Following 18 years coaching in the Dominican Republic to begin his career, Cabrera joined Seattle’s minor league staff with stints with the DSL Mariners (2007), Short-Season A Everett (2008, 2014) and Rookie-Advanced Pulaski (2009-13) while also serving as Latin American pitching coordinator beginning in 2010. Cabrera joined the Mariners big-league staff as batting practice pitcher in 2015 and also served as interim bullpen coach in 2017.

Cabrera pitched for three seasons in Oakland’s minor league system from 1986-88 before beginning his instructional career in the Dominican Republic.

Hitting Coach Eric Munson

Munson, 48, is entering his fifth season as the Indians hitting coach after beginning his coaching career in affiliated baseball in 2021. In 2024, he coached the Indians to a league-leading .271 batting average, the team’s first league-leading mark in that category since 2018.

Prior to joining Indy’s coaching staff, Munson owned and operated Gold Standard Athletics in Dubuque, Iowa since its opening in 2013. His career as an instructor began with an undergrad assistant role at his alma mater – the University of Southern California – and later as an assistant at the University of Dubuque.

He was selected by Detroit as the third overall pick in the 1999 First-Year Player Draft and made his debut one year later on July 18, 2000, vs. Cincinnati. His nine-year major league career included stints with Detroit (2000-04), Tampa Bay (2005), Houston (2006-07) and Oakland (2009).

Hitting Coach Casey Harms

Harms, 36, enters his sixth season with the Pirates organization after serving as hitting coach for Double-A Altoona in 2025. He began his professional coaching career in 2021 as hitting coach in the Florida Complex League before being elevated to Integrated Baseball Performance coach for Single-A Bradenton from 2022-23. He then joined High-A Greensboro as bench coach in 2024 before serving as a hitting coach for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League.

Prior to his coaching career in professional baseball, Harms spent five years as the director of baseball operations with University of California Santa Barbara before being promoted to assistant coach in 2017. In 2019, he began a two-year stint as an associate head coach at Santa Barbara (Calif.) City College while also leading the Northwoods League Waterloo (Iowa) Bucks to the playoffs in 2019 and league championship with the team in 2020.

Harms attended Occidental College (Calif.) where he was an outfielder and three-year captain. He graduated with a degree in kinesiology (2012) and received a master’s degree in coaching and athletic administration (2016) from Concordia University Irvine (Calif.).

Coach Joe Thatcher

Thatcher, 44, is entering his third season with the Pirates organization after beginning his coaching career as the Indians bullpen coach in 2024.

Prior to his coaching career, Thatcher founded Pro X Athlete Development in Westfield, Ind. He also is an owner of Bullpen Ventures, which oversees the operation of Grand Park in Westfield and several other sports facilities around the country.

The Indianapolis native attended Kokomo High School and Indiana State (Terre Haute) University before signing with Milwaukee as a minor league free agent in 2005. He made his major league debut with San Diego on July 26, 2007, at Houston and went onto a nine-year major league career that also included stints with the Diamondbacks (2013-14), Angels (2014) and Astros (2015).

Support Staff

Head Athletic Trainer – Matt McNamee
Athletic Training Coordinator – Casey Lee
Strength and Conditioning Coach – Raldy Herrera
Performance Dietitian – Sierra Scott

The Indians open the 2026 season at Victory Field on Friday, March 27 vs. the St. Paul Saints, the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. Full season, half season and mini plans are on sale, and group and premium reservations may also be made. For more on the Indians, visit IndyIndians.com or contact the Victory Field Box Office at (317) 269-3545 or [email protected].