Guardians announce Greg DiCenzo to return to lead 2025 RubberDucks Field Staff
(AKRON, OHIO) January 30, 2025 – The Cleveland Guardians announced their 2025 Player Development staff assignments, returning seven members of the 2024 coaching staff to Akron. Greg DiCenzo returns for his second season as RubberDucks manager. Returning to the staff alongside DiCenzo from 2024 will be Jordan Becker as a
(AKRON, OHIO) January 30, 2025 – The Cleveland Guardians announced their 2025 Player Development staff assignments, returning seven members of the 2024 coaching staff to Akron. Greg DiCenzo returns for his second season as RubberDucks manager.
Returning to the staff alongside DiCenzo from 2024 will be Jordan Becker as a hitting coach, Michael Poole as a pitching coach, Derrik Diaz as athletic trainer, Karina Gonzalez as assistant athletic trainer, Mo Cuevas as strength & conditioning coach, and Seth Caddell as development coach. The newcomers to the 2025 staff will be Ian Forster as a hitting coach, Kevin Erminio as a pitching coach, and Marc Mumper as bench coach.
“We are excited to welcome Greg DiCenzo back to Akron,” RubberDucks President and General Manager Jim Pfander said. “It is exciting to bring back so many members of the staff that helped bring postseason baseball back to downtown Akron last summer. I can’t wait to see this staff and the players take the field at Canal Park on April 8.”
Manager Greg DiCenzo enters his fifth season with the Guardians organization. The 2024 season will be DiCenzo’s second as RubberDucks manager, and fourth as a manager in the Guardians organization. He guided the RubberDucks to an 80-58 record and an Eastern League playoff appearance in 2024.
Prior to becoming Triple-A Columbus’ bench coach in 2023, DiCenzo spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons as the manager in High-A Lake County. He guided the Captains to a 141-108 record in his two seasons including a Midwest League finals appearance in 2022.
A native of Duxbury, MA, DiCenzo was the head baseball coach at Holy Cross for 12 seasons prior to joining the Cleveland organization. The Crusaders went 137-109 in Patriot League play during his tenure, including a 2017 Patriot League Championship, and posted 20-win seasons in 10 of those 12 years.
Hitting Coach Jordan Becker enters his sixth season with the Guardians organization and second with the RubberDucks. In 2023, Becker served as the hitting coach for Lake County.
Becker joined the Cleveland organization in 2019 after a collegiate coaching career that saw stops at Riverside Community College and New Mexico State University.
Hitting Coach Ian Forster enters his sixth season in the Guardians organization and second season in Akron. Forster will also be a hitting coach for RubberDucks and returns to Akron after serving as the RubberDucks assistant hitting coach in 2023. He was the Arizona Complex Guardians hitting coach in 2024.
A graduate of North Olmsted High School, Forster played four years at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea.
Pitching Coach Kevin Erminio enters his sixth season in the Guardians organization and first season with the RubberDucks. Prior to coming to Akron, Erminio was the pitching coach for the Lake County Captains for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
Erminio joined the Guardians organization after a collegiate coaching career that included stops as a pitching coach in Oxford at Miami University and 13 seasons at Kennesaw State.
Pitching Coach Michael Poole enters his third season in the Guardians organization and second season with the RubberDucks. He will be a pitching coach in 2025 after spending 2024 as Akron’s assistant pitching coach. Prior to joining the RubberDucks, Poole was the pitching development coach on the Arizona Complex Academy staff.
A native of Akron, Poole played at Cuyahoga Community College and Lake Erie College before starting his coaching career at Inspiration Academy (FL) in 2019. Poole was an assistant coach at LSU-Eunice for the Bengals D2 JUCO World Series Championship season in 2021.
Bench Coach Marc Mumper enters his third season in the Guardians organization and first season in Akron. He will also serve as the Guardians organization’s assistant infield coordinator. Prior to coming to Akron, Mumper spent 2024 as the bench coach for Lake County.
A native of Highlands Ranch, CO, Mumper played 157 games from 2016-19 for Grand Canyon University. He then went on to coach at the college level in several different roles from 2019-22 before joining the Guardians organization.
Athletic Trainer Derrik Diaz enters his eighth season in the Guardians organization and second season with the RubberDucks. He also serves as the Guardians organization’s assistant coordinator for Dominican Republic Medical Services. Diaz was the Eastern League Athletic Trainer of the Year in 2024. Prior to coming to Akron, Diaz served as the head athletic trainer for the Dominican Republic Complex in 2023.
Assistant Athletic Trainer Karina Gonzalez enters her third season in the Guardians organization and second season in Akron. Prior to coming to Akron, Gonzalez spent the 2023 season at the Guardians complex in Goodyear.
Strength and Conditioning Coach Mo Cuevas enters his 10th season with the Guardians organization and third season in Akron. He was the Eastern League Strength Coach of the Year in 2024. Prior to joining the RubberDucks, Cuevas served as the Guardians rehab strength and conditioning coach in 2022.
Development Coach Seth Caddell enters his second season as a coach in the Guardians organization and second season with the RubberDucks. Before joining the RubberDucks coaching staff in 2024, Caddell played in the Guardians organization for three seasons as a catcher.
The Akron RubberDucks are the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. The RubberDucks season at Canal Park begins on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 against the Altoona Curve at 6:35 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets by calling 330-253-5151 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, or visit akronrubberducks.com/. For more information about the team, please call 330-253-5151, visit the website at akronrubberducks.com, Facebook page facebook.com/AkronRubberDucks, or on Twitter @AkronRubberDuck, and Instagram @akronrubberducks.
Phillies' Moore, Fausnaught join 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
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.
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
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.”