River Bandits Announce 2019 Field Staff

The Quad Cities River Bandits, in conjunction with the Houston Astros, announced their field staff for the upcoming 2019 season on Thursday morning. Ray Hernandez will take the reins as manager in his first stop in the Quad Cities. The rest of the staff includes pitching coach Erick Abreu and hitting coach Rafael Pena. The team's athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach will be announced at a later time.
Hernandez joined the Astros organization in 2018 and will make his managerial debut this spring with the Bandits. Last season, Hernandez served as the development coach for the Astros former Triple-A affiliate in Fresno. From 2015-17 he was the pitching coach for Cosumnes River College in Sacramento, California. In addition, Hernandez coached for one season at Elk Grove High School.
The 30-year old native of Sacramento pitched at Cosumnes River College for two seasons before transferring to Cal-State Fullerton for his junior and senior campaigns. He finished his college career with a collective 15-5 record on the mound. Hernandez was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 48^th round of the 2011 draft. He played two seasons in Arizona's farm system, making 45 professional appearances and working a total of 205.2 innings.

Abreu is the longest tenured member of the Bandits staff as he begins his sixth season with the Astros. 2019 will be his first season in the Quad Cities after previously coaching in the Dominican Summer League, Gulf Coast League, Greeneville and Tri-City. He was the pitching coach for the 2018 New York-Penn League champion Tri-City ValleyCats whose pitching staff led the league in strikeouts. The 35-year old, from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, pitched professionally for 12 seasons. Abreu pitched in the Astros farm system for five years and also spent six with the New York Yankees.
Pena is the lone returning member of the 2018 coaching staff that guided the River Bandits to the Midwest League playoffs. This will be his first season as a hitting coach after serving as the Bandits development coach last season, his first with the Astros. He joined the organization after serving as an assistant coach at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in 2016 and 2017. Born in the Dominican Republic, Pena began his collegiate playing career with two seasons at Western Oklahoma State. He transferred to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma for his junior and senior campaigns and was a standout infielder at the school.
The River Bandits, a Class-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, will open their 2019 season on Thursday, April 4 by hosting the Burlington Bees at 6:35 p.m. For more information, call (563) 324-3000 or visit riverbandits.com.
ABOUT THE BANDITS: The 2019 season will be the River Bandits' seventh year as the Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros and the 12th anniversary season since regaining the River Bandits moniker, which in 2015 was voted a top-8 nickname in all of Minor League Baseball. The River Bandits anchor the Quad Cities sports market, which The Sports Business Journal named the top minor league sports market in the country in 2015 and second-best minor league market in its 2017 follow-up ranking. The River Bandits' charitable donations reached nearly $600,000 in 2017, including a $100,000 cash donation to Genesis Health Systems, an all-time record. In 2015 and again in 2017, the River Bandits earned Ballpark Digest's award for "Best Charitable Works" in Minor League Baseball, the only club to win that coveted award twice. For more information, visit www.riverbandits.com or contact Jacqueline Holm at (563) 324-3000.