Trash Pandas Announce 2024 Coaching Staff
MADISON, Alabama – The Rocket City Trash Pandas, in conjunction with the Los Angeles Angels, have announced their on-field coaching staff ahead of the 2024 season at Toyota Field. The full coaching staff for the Trash Pandas includes: -Manager: Andy Schatzley (3rd season in Rocket City) -Coach: Dann Bilardello (3rd
MADISON, Alabama – The Rocket City Trash Pandas, in conjunction with the Los Angeles Angels, have announced their on-field coaching staff ahead of the 2024 season at Toyota Field.
The full coaching staff for the Trash Pandas includes:
-Manager: Andy Schatzley (3rd season in Rocket City)
-Coach: Dann Bilardello (3rd season)
-Pitching Coach: Michael Wuertz (4th season)
-Assistant Pitching Coach: Doug Henry (1st season)
-Hitting Coach: Joel Chimelis (1st season)
-Athletic Trainer: Dylan Culwell (1st season)
-Strength & Conditioning Coach: David Robertson (2nd season)
Schatzley enters his third season at the helm of the Trash Pandas, holding a 139-137 record through his first two years. During his tenure, 15 prospects he has managed in Rocket City have made their Major League debuts. Schatzley guided the team to the top of the Southern League standings in 2022, winning both first and second half North Division titles for the best record in the league. Following the season, he was named the 2022 Southern League Manager of the Year, becoming the first Trash Pandas manager to win the award.
He debuted professionally with High-A Tri-City in 2021, and earned the 2021 Preston Gomez Award as the Angels Minor League Manager of the Year. In 2020, Schatzley was tabbed to manage the Rookie-Level Orem Owlz in his first professional season before the minor league season was cancelled. Schatzley joined the Angels after eight seasons in college baseball with Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas.
Coach Dann Bilardello is back with an abundance of playing and coaching experience in his third season as part of the Angels organization. Playing mainly as a catcher from 1978-94, Bilardello hit .204 with 18 home runs and 91 RBI in 382 MLB games over eight seasons between the Cincinnati Reds (1983-85), Montreal Expos (1986), Pittsburgh Pirates (1989-90), and San Diego Padres (1991-92). During his career, Bilardello was a teammate of Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Andre Dawson, and Tony Gwynn.
After his playing career, Bilardello spent most of the past two decades as a Minor League manager, winning a Pioneer League Championship with the Great Falls Dodgers in 2002 in his debut season. Most recently, he managed High-A Palm Beach in the Cardinals’ system, winning a Florida State League title in 2017 and being named the league’s Manager of the Year in 2018.
The longest tenured member of the Trash Pandas staff, Pitching Coach Michael Wuertz is back for a fourth season in Rocket City. Under the direction of Wuertz, 10 former Trash Pandas pitchers made their MLB debut for the Angels over the past two seasons. The 2024 campaign will be Wuertz’s seventh season in the Angels organization, having previously worked with High-A Inland Empire and Rookie-Level Orem.
As a player, he pitched for eight seasons between the Chicago Cubs (2004-08) and Oakland A’s (2009-11), posting a 21-11 record and 11 saves with 444 strikeouts in 426 career relief outings. In 2009, he led all American League relievers with a career-high 102 strikeouts, becoming the third A’s reliever after Hall of Famers Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley to fan 100 in a season.
Joel Chimelis lands in Rocket City after spending 2023 as the hitting coach for the Salt Lake Bees, the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate. He previously served as a Triple-A hitting coach in both Las Vegas and Syracuse since the 2018 season. Chimelis started his coaching career in 2004 as the hitting coach for the Savannah Sand Gnats and has also coached in the Houston Astros system, serving as manager for the 2012 Corpus Christi Hooks.
He had a 15-year professional playing career that began as an 11th round draft pick of the Oakland A’s in 1988, which included a 1991 season as a member of the Huntsville Stars. Chimelis also enjoyed a successful overseas career playing seven seasons abroad for leagues in Mexico, China and Korea.
Doug Henry joins the Trash Pandas staff as Assistant Pitching Coach after spending the last three seasons with the Angels’ High-A affiliate in Tri-City. The former big league pitcher played 11 seasons in the Majors between the Brewers, Mets, Giants, Astros, and Royals. He began his coaching career in 2004 at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and has since spent time with both the Braves and Royals organizations.
Strength and Conditioning Coach David Robertson returns to the Trash Pandas and the Angels organization for a second season after earning Northwest League Strength and Conditioning Coordinator of the Year honors in 2022 for High-A Hillsboro in the Arizona Diamondbacks system. Prior to his coaching career, Robertson spent five seasons as a professional baseball umpire from 2005-09, including a stint in the Southern League. He is also an Army Veteran.
Dylan Culwell will serve as the Athletic Trainer for the Trash Pandas following a two-year stint with the Tri-City Dust Devils. He was named as the 2022 Northwest League Athletic Trainer of the Year by the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society.
Rounding out the Player Development staff will be Game Planning Strategist Max Mayfair and Video Assistant Michael Portela, plus 2023 Southern League Clubhouse Manager of the Year, Bubba Hearn.
Orioles' Honeycutt joins The Show Before the Show
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Red Sox prospect rips double THROUGH Fenway-esque scoreboard
Red Sox No. 4 prospect Franklin Arias, an infielder for High-A Greenville, REALLY didn’t want to let visiting Asheville score any runs in the top of the eighth inning on Friday night. With runners on first and second base in the bottom of the fourth, Arias showed he apparently held
April's hottest hitting prospects -- one for each organization
The Minor League season is a month old and several of the game's best hitting prospects are off to fast starts. Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony is tearing up Triple-A (just like he did at the end of last year), Padres shortstop Leo De Vries is leading the High-A Midwest
Check out the best -- and wackiest -- Minor League promos happening in May
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast coming LIVE to a Somerset this June
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
New ballparks highlight 2025 MiLB road trip stops
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Minor League Baseball partners with TruGreen
FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- TruGreen, the nation's leading lawn care treatment provider, is proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Minor League Baseball that includes activations across all 120 clubs, a makeover of the home dugout in each market, sponsorship of select MiLB team grounds crews, and a new initiative called
Podcast explains why the Syracuse Mets are looking for Jim Morrison
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Dash im-prom-tu promo and Mets' Suero joins the podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Minor League Baseball partners with Circle K
Minor League Baseball announced a new national partnership with Circle K, which will see the convenience store giant become the “Official Convenience Store of Minor League Baseball.” During the 2025 season, the Circle K brand will be integrated into the MiLB in-stadium experience through in-game video board assets at most
These 15 moments led to season No. 15 of Minor League road trips
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast crew makes Opening Day predictions
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Everything you need to know for Triple-A Opening Day
First, there was big league Opening Day. Now it's Triple-A's turn to take the spotlight. The Minor League season opens Friday when the Triple-A International League and Pacific Coast League seasons get underway for the first of MiLB’s two Opening Days. And right out of the gates, several of baseball's
Top prospects to watch at Triple-A -- one for each organization
It’s Triple-A’s turn up to bat on Friday. The regular season begins for the Minor Leagues’ highest level one day after the action starts on the Major League side. Fun fact: it’ll be the earliest start to a Minor League season since 1951 (March 27). Double-A, High-A and Single-A will
Here's where every Top 100 prospect is expected to start the season
The 2025 Opening Day prospect roster announcements began last week when the Cubs informed Matt Shaw (MLB No. 19) he was making the trip overseas to compete in the Tokyo Series. Roki Sasaki (No. 1) also received the good news, but his assignment was much less of a surprise. Now
Nationals prospect King joins MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Here are the 2025 All-Spring Breakout Teams
Fifteen games, several jersey swaps and countless highlights later, the second edition of Spring Breakout has officially concluded – and it lived up to its billing. Of the 16 contests sprinkled across four days, only one game (Dodgers vs. Cubs) was rained out. Coincidentally, the Cubs were one of two
Rox young sluggers aim to bring pop back to Coors Field
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Coors Field may provide the best run-scoring environment in Major League Baseball, but the Rockies haven’t taken advantage of it in recent years. Even without adjusting for Coors, they have fielded offenses worse than the league average the past three seasons, and they scored the fewest runs
Astros brass sees potential in consistently 'underranked' farm system
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The last time the Astros landed in the top 10 of MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings was before the 2019 season. Since those rankings expanded to all 30 teams ahead of the 2020 season -- 11 lists in total -- they’ve never ranked higher than
Complete results and highlights from Spring Breakout
The second edition of MLB Spring Breakout is complete, and there was no shortage of highlights from the future stars of Major League Baseball over the four-day showcase. Here's a complete breakdown of the 16-game exhibition:
Southpaw Spring Breakout: White Sox future on display with Schultz, Smith
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If all goes as planned for the White Sox, left-handers Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz won’t spend much time following each other to the mound in a single game. Schultz, the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline, and Smith, who is
In first pro game, Rainer offers pop, promise to Tigers fans
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Bryce Rainer’s pro career consisted of workouts and batting practice until Sunday.
'Me and Brady on the dirt again': House, King reunite at Spring Breakout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The 2025 Spring Breakout was a flashback for Brady House and Seaver King. Over 10 years ago, the infielders were travel ball teammates in Georgia who shared the dream of making it to the Major Leagues. Now, they are top prospects in the same organization,
Lambert -- 'an adrenaline guy' -- hoping to be next Mets bullpen gem
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Ryan Lambert loves throwing hard. He relishes the idea of getting to two strikes and blowing hitters away. “Get me in a game,” Lambert said, “cool things will happen.”
Stewart embraces Spring Breakout: 'What's not to love?'
PHOENIX -- Sal Stewart was one fired-up Reds prospect. On Sunday in the first inning during the organization's 9-7 Spring Breakout win over Brewers prospects, Stewart lifted a 2-2 pitch that sailed over the center fielder's head to the wall. Already not known as a speedster, he stumbled running between