{"id":114914,"date":"2025-01-17T14:00:04","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T19:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/?p=114914"},"modified":"2025-02-18T13:05:45","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T18:05:45","slug":"padres-announce-2025-tincaps-coaching-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/2025\/01\/17\/padres-announce-2025-tincaps-coaching-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Padres announce 2025 TinCaps coaching staff"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nThe San Diego Padres have announced the coaching staff for the 2025 Fort Wayne TinCaps season.<\/p>\n

News release from the Fort Wayne TinCaps:<\/p>\n

Padres Announce 2025 TinCaps Coaching Staff<\/strong>
\nLukas Ray to Manage TinCaps, Thomas Eshelman Returns as Pitching Coach<\/em><\/p>\n

Fort Wayne, Indiana (January 17, 2025) \u2013 The San Diego Padres have announced the coaching staff for the 2025 Fort Wayne TinCaps season. Lukas Ray will manage the High-A \u2019Caps after leading San Diego\u2019s Single-A affiliate, the Lake Elsinore Storm, to the California League Championship Series last year.<\/p>\n

Ray will be joined by pitching coach Thomas Eshelman, the former big leaguer with the Baltimore Orioles who led Fort Wayne\u2019s pitching staff in 2024. Yunir Garcia is the team\u2019s new hitting coach after he worked in that role with the Double-A San Antonio Missions a year ago. Luis Mendez is the bench coach following a season as manager of the rookie-level Arizona Complex League (ACL) Padres. Micah Gerhart is the athletic trainer, with Tomoki Hyodo as the athletic training intern, and Connor Shadroo is the strength coach. James McCormick comes on board as the performance analyst, while Dante Ludlow is the video coordinator. Award-winning clubhouse managers Sam Lewis and Hunter Sosenheimer join Eshelman as the only returners on the staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an absolute honor to have the opportunity to manage a first-class organization like the TinCaps,\u201d Ray said. \u201cOur dynamite staff is passionate about developing players and winning games. We aspire to display a product on the field that the exceptional Fort Wayne fanbase is proud to support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ray, 28, joined the Padres Player Development staff as a coach in 2021. He managed the ACL Padres in \u201922 and \u201923. A former catcher, he played collegiately at the University of South Carolina Lancaster and graduated from the University of South Carolina. Prior to joining San Diego\u2019s organization, he coached at Florence-Darlington Tech in South Carolina, USC Lancaster, and at the Division I level with Charleston Southern and Middle Tennessee State. Last year the Storm had the best record in the Cal League South Division and won a postseason series to advance to the Cal League Championship.<\/p>\n

Under Eshelman in 2024, the TinCaps had 13 pitchers earn a promotion to Double-A San Antonio, including right-handed starter Henry Baez, who was the Padres\u2019 Minor League Baseball Pitcher of the Year.<\/p>\n

The Padres will announce Fort Wayne\u2019s roster in late March. The team is projected to be led by 18-year-old switch-hitting shortstop Leo De Vries, who Baseball America ranks as the No. 1 Padres prospect after he was the top-ranked international free agent in 2024. The TinCaps are scheduled to begin their 2025 Midwest League season at Parkview Field on Friday, April 4 against the Lansing Lugnuts (A\u2019s affiliate). Tickets are already on sale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2025 Fort Wayne TinCaps Coaching Staff<\/strong><\/p>\n