Drillers Announce Coaching Staff for the 2024 Season
A few weeks ago it was announced that Scott Hennessey is set to return for his seventh season as the Tulsa Drillers manager. With spring training now underway and the start of the regular season quickly approaching, the Drillers, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, have announced the coaching staff
A few weeks ago it was announced that Scott Hennessey is set to return for his seventh season as the Tulsa Drillers manager. With spring training now underway and the start of the regular season quickly approaching, the Drillers, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, have announced the coaching staff that will join Hennessey in Tulsa for the 2024 campaign.
The staff will include returners Ryan Dennick and Durin O’Linger as pitching coaches, as well as athletic trainer Jesse Guffey.
The newcomers to the staff are bench coach Ronny Paulino, hitting coach Dylan Nasiatka, performance coach Ethan Quarles and video associate Tyler Hollow.
Dennick and O’Linger will again combine to work with Tulsa pitchers. Dennick will be in his third season with the Drillers, while O’Linger returns for his second year.
In 2023, the duo helped to lead the Tulsa pitching staff to the lowest ERA in the minors over the first two months of the season. Starting pitchers at the time included Emmet Sheehan, Landon Knack, Nick Frasso, Kyle Hurt and River Ryan. All five finished the year pitching at higher levels, with Sheehan and Hurt making their major league debuts.
Guffey returns for his third season as Tulsa’s athletic trainer and his seventh with the Dodgers. During his time with the Drillers, Guffey was named the 2022 Texas League Trainer of the Year. He is also the athletic trainer for the Great Britain national baseball team and served in that role for the 2023 World Baseball Classic and the 2023 European Championship.
Nasiatka will be new to Tulsa, but he has worked five years with the Dodgers, spending time with both the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and the Great Lakes Loons. Last season, he served as the hitting coach for the Loons.
Paulino officially joins the Drillers staff for 2024 after unofficially spending time with the club in 2023 during Hennessey’s medical leave of absence. The 2024 season will mark Paulino’s third in the Dodgers organization. Before joining the coaching ranks, he spent parts of eight seasons as a major league catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Miami Marlins, New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles.
Performance coach Ethan Quarles will spend his first season in Tulsa but his third in the Dodgers’ organization. During the past two years, he has served on the Great Lakes staff. Prior to joining the Dodgers, Quarles worked at the collegiate level for Kentucky, Mississippi State and Clemson.
Hollow rounds out the staff as the video associate. It will be his first season with Tulsa and his first with the Dodgers.
The Drillers are slated to open the 2024 regular season on Friday, April 5 at Northwest Arkansas. Following the three-game road series against the Naturals, they will return to Tulsa for the home opener at ONEOK Field on Tuesday, April 9. The opener will be the first of a six-game series against the Arkansas Travelers.
Ticket memberships and group outings for the 2024 season are on sale now and can be purchased at TulsaDrillers.com or by calling 918-744-5901.