Kelly Returns As Bats Skipper For 2022 Season

LOUISVILLE, KY. – The Louisville Bats today announced their coaching staff for the upcoming 2022 Triple-A baseball season. The staff is headed by returning manager Pat Kelly and features pitching coach Seth Etherton, hitting coach Alex Pelaez, bench coach Dick Schofield, game planning/outfield coach Mike Jacobs, athletic trainer Steve Gober, and strength and conditioning coach Kenny Matanane.

KELLY, 66, returns for his second consecutive season at the helm of the Bats and fourth straight season as a manager at the Minor League level. The Santa Maria, California native has coached more than 30 seasons in the Minors and in 2021 became one of just four active Minor League managers to amass 1,800+ career victories.

Kelly has managed 18 different teams over his 30+ seasons during his Minor League managerial career. He made his debut as a skipper with Charleston in 1986 and has since served as manager for Reno (1987), Wichita (1988-89), Las Vegas (1990), Rockford (1991), Indianapolis (1991-92), Chattanooga (1993-94, 2019), Harrisburg (1995-96), Ottawa (1997-98), Syracuse (1999-2000), Richmond (2003-05), Sarasota (2007), the Gulf Coast League Reds (2007-09), Lynchburg (2010), Billings (2011-13), Bakersfield (2014), Pensacola (2015-17) and Louisville (2018, 2021-22).

Kelly was named Manager of the Year in the Pioneer League with Billings in 2012. He has also managed overseas in various winter leagues during the Minor League offseason and won the Puerto Rican Winter League Manager of the Year award in both 2010 and 2016.

ETHERTON, 45, is entering his second consecutive season as pitching coach for Louisville and seventh season coaching in the Reds organization. In 2021, Etherton oversaw a Bats pitching staff which set club records for most strikeouts, lowest opposing batting average and best strikeout-to-walk, hits-per-nine-innings and strikeouts-per-nine innings ratios, and tied the franchise record for the best single-season WHIP. The Laguna Beach, California native has also served as pitching coach for Rookie Billings (2016-2017), Class A Dayton (2018-2019) and Double-A Chattanooga (2020).

PELAEZ, 45, returns to the Bats after overseeing the team’s hitters during the 2021 campaign. Under Pelaez’s tutelage, Louisville’s hitters, beginning June 14, finished fourth in the league in batting average and fifth in hits over the final 93 games of the 2021 season. Prior to joining the Bats, Pelaez served as hitting coach with Class A Daytona (2017-19), Double-A Pensacola (2014-16), Class A Dayton (2011-13), Rookie Billings (2010) and the GCL Reds (2009).

SCHOFIELD, 59, enters his third season with the Bats and first since the 2019 campaign. The Springfield, Illinois native began 2018 as bench coach for Louisville and was promoted to manager after Kelly joined the Major League staff on April 19 of that season. Schofield then returned to the Bats in 2019 to serve as bench coach for the entirety of the Triple-A season. The former Major League shortstop played 14 MLB seasons during his pro career between the Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers, and led the American League in fielding percentage for four seasons.

JACOBS, 41, is in his first season with the Reds organization. He spent the previous five years as a manager for Batavia (2017-18), Clinton (2019), Jupiter (2020) and Beloit (2021) in the Miami Marlins system. The Chula Vista, California native was originally drafted by the Mets in 1999 and spent 18 years in professional baseball, including seven seasons with the Mets, Marlins, Royals and Diamondbacks.

GOBER is in his seventh season as the Bats head athletic trainer. He previously served as an assistant athletic trainer on the Washington Nationals’ Major League staff from 2013-15 and worked as the organization’s minor league medical and rehabilitation coordinator from 2006-12. Gober also has been involved in the development implementation of rehab programs for Major League players across his tenure in professional baseball.

MATANANE is entering his first season in the Reds organization and ninth in professional baseball after spending the previous seven years (2015-21) as the strength and conditioning coach in the Philadelphia Phillies player development system. In addition to the Phillies, Matanane also brings experience with the University of Washington (2005), Seattle Seahawks (2008-10), Pittsburgh Pirates (2011) and Washington State University (2011-15).

The Louisville Bats open the 2022 baseball season with a six-game homestand beginning Tuesday, April 5 vs. the St. Paul Saints, Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. Single-game tickets will go on sale Tuesday, March 1 at 10 a.m. Visit batsbaseball.com for additional information.