Bees, Angels Announce 2019 Field Staff

SALT LAKE CITY (February 16, 2019) - Former Major League catcher Lou Marson was named the 11^th manager in Salt Lake Bees history the Los Angeles Angels announced today. Marson will be joined on staff by returning defensive coach Ray Olmedo and athletic trainer Brian Reinker. Three new faces will be added to the staff in pitching coach Pat Rice, hitting coach Brian Betancourth and strength & conditioning coach Adam Smith.

Marson previously spent the 2017 season as the hitting coach for the Bees, helping Salt Lake to a PCL-best .365 on-base percentage and a league-low 896 strikeouts. In 2018, Marson managed the Double-A Mobile BayBears in the Angels organization leading the team to a 66-70 record in his first year as a manager. This offseason Marson managed the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League, presiding over the top prospects from the Angels, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics.
Rice also moves to Salt Lake after spending 2018 in Mobile. Under his tutelage the BayBears threw two combined no-hitters, the second and third in team history, both started by Angels top pitching prospect and 2018 Bee Griffin Canning. Prior to joining Mobile, Rice served as the Angels Minor League pitching coordinator from 2015-2017. Rice has also coached in the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants organizations and pitched professionally for seven seasons, including 18 games with the 1986 Salt Lake City Trappers.  
Betancourth worked the last two seasons as the hitting coach for the High-A Inland Empire 66ers where he worked with several top Angels hitting prospects including Jo Adell, Michael Hermosillo, Jahmai Jones, Brandon Marsh, Luis Rengfio, Matt Thaiss and Taylor Ward. Betancourth began his coaching career in 2010 in the Colorado Rockies organization at High-A Modesto. In 2012, he moved to the Angels organization spending two seasons with the Orem Owlz, followed by three years with the AZL Angels.
Olmedo returns for a second season in Salt Lake as the defensive coach. Last season the Bees committed just 88 errors, the fewest in franchise history. The Venezuelan native played professionally for 17 seasons including Major League stints with Cincinnati (2003-2006), Toronto (2007) and Chicago White Sox (2012) and parts of 12 season at the Triple-A level.
Reinker will serve as the Salt Lake trainer for the 12th consecutive season and is in his 16th season with the Angels organization. In 2015 Reinker was named the Pacific Coast League Athletic Trainer of the Year by the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society.
Smith has been a strength and conditioning coach in the Angels system since November 2015, spending last season with Single-A Inland Empire. Smith graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from State University of New York College at Cortland and interned at Binghamton, Syracuse and Eastern Michigan University prior to starting his professional career.  
First pitch of the 2019 Bees season is 47 days away as the Bees visit the Albuquerque Isotopes to start the season. Salt Lake returns home to Smith's Ballpark to begin the home slate on Tuesday, April 9 against the Fresno Grizzlies. Season tickets and mini-plans are available now by calling 801-325-BEES with single game tickets going on sale in March.