Aponte named Legends pitching coach; Driskill promoted

Rick Aponte, a veteran of more than 30 years in the Houston Astros organization and a former coach with the Washington Nationals, has been named pitching coach for the Lexington Legends for 2010, the Astros announced January 6.

Aponte replaces Travis Driskill, who had served as the Legends pitching coach in 2009. Driskill had been assigned to return to Lexington, but was promoted today to the Astros double-A affiliate in Corpus Christi, Texas, which had an opening after pitching coach Stan Boroski was hired in December by the Tampa Bay Rays for their major league staff.

Aponte was the pitching coach for the Gulf Coast League Astros in 2009. He was with the Nationals as their bullpen coach in 2007 and 2008.

"It will be a lot of fun to have a guy with big league and lifelong baseball experiences like Rick as part of our organization," said Legends General Manager Andy Shea.

Aponte, a native of the Dominican Republic, made his professional debut as a pitcher in the Houston organization in 1976. He reached the triple-A level with Charleston, West Virginia in 1977 and with Tucson in 1980 and 1981. He began his coaching career in the Astros' organization later in 1981. Aponte managed Houston's team in the Rookie Dominican Summer League from 1993 through 1999.