From Press Release
The St. Louis Cardinals announced today the 2026 coaching staffs for their minor league affiliates, in addition to their player development, performance, and baseball technology personnel for the upcoming season.
Reigning Texas League Manager of the Year Patrick Anderson returns for his 2nd season at Springfield, while Ben Johnson (8th season), Roberto Espinoza (2nd season), Willi Martin (2nd season) and Fray Peniche (16th season) will also return to their managerial posts at Memphis (AAA), Peoria (A+), FCL (Rookie) and DSL (Rookie), respectively.
Rich Benjamin will take over the helm at Palm Beach (A) after joining the organization last season as a bench coach for the FCL Cardinals. Gary Kendall, who led the Beach Birds for the previous four seasons, will assume the role as FCL Bench Coach for the 2026 season.
Changes at the player development and performance leadership levels include a number of internal promotions (Emily Wiebe, Brock Hammit, Ryan Ludwick, Ross Hasegawa, Paige Schultz, Harben Filho Branco) as well as additions from other organizations across professional, collegiate and private sectors of baseball (Dalton Hurd, Casey Demko, Hugh Quattlebaum, Nick Coberly, Morgan Ivey, Julian Rip, Elliot Cox).
Additionally, each affiliate staff will expand in 2026 through the creation of new assistant coach roles, a co-pitching or hitting coach, and/or an assistant at the athletic trainer or strength coach level. New hires at this level include Rodrigo Vigil (Palm Beach assistant coach), Ollie Kadey (Memphis co-pitching coach), Jordan Hara (FCL hitting coach), and former Cardinals minor league catcher Wade Stauss (Peoria assistant coach).
Michael Habas (Peoria hitting coach), Evan Johnson (Palm Beach pitching coach), and Jason Eary (Peoria bench coach), and Ben Brooks (Palm Beach hitting coach) also join the organization as new coaches on the player development side. Jordan Hyink (Palm Beach ATC), Kily Gilbert (Peoria ATC), Robert Linares (DSL PT), Connor Greaves (DSL ATC), Sergio Jimenez (Palm Beach strength coach), Panagiotis Roxanas (FCL strength coach), and Manuel Estrada (DSL strength coach) join as new staff in the Performance department.
Following is a complete listing of the Cardinals 2026 Minor League Staffs and Player Development assignments:
Player Development & Performance Front Office
Assistant GM, Player Development & Performance – Rob Cerfolio*
Director, Player Development – Larry Day* Manager, Player Development – Antonio Mújica*
Director, Performance – Carl Kochan* Administrator, Dominican Republic Academy – Aaron Rodriguez*
Director, Pitching – Matt Pierpont* Coordinator, International Administration – Esmeralda Hernandez^
Director, Hitting – Dalton Hurd# Assistant, Player Development – Paige Schultz^
Asst. Director, Player Development & Performance Analytics – Emily Wiebe^
Asst. Director, International Operations – Joseph Quezada*
Minor League Coordinators & Instructors
Field Coordinator – Ryan Barba* Fundamentals Coordinator – José Oquendo*
Pitching Coordinator – Austin Meine* Pitching Instructor/Special Advisor – Jason Isringhausen*
Pitching Coordinator – Rick Harig* Pitching Strategist – William Peterson^
Hitting Coordinator – Brock Hammit^ Rehab Pitching Coach – Walter Miranda*
Hitting Coordinator – Hugh Quattlebaum# Roving Coach – Bernard Gilkey*
Catching & Baserunning Coordinator – Ethan Goforth^ Equipment Manager – Dave Vonderhaar*
Infield Coordinator – Casey Demko# Education and Life Skills Instructor – Briana De Moya*
Outfield Coordinator – Ryan Ludwick^
Performance Coordinators & Specialists
Medical Coordinator – Chris Whitman* Performance Science Coordinator – Ross Hasegawa^
Assistant Medical Coordinator – Nick Coberly# Mental Performance Coordinator – Elliot Cox#
Rehabilitation Coordinator – Morgan Ivey# Biomechanics & Movement Specialist – Nicole Stafford*
Dominican Medical Coordinator – Pedro Betancourt* Performance Acquisition Specialist – Jackie Gover^
Strength & Conditioning Coordinator – Julian Rip# Performance Analyst – Campbell Quirk^
Asst. Strength & Conditioning Coordinator – Harben Filho Branco^ Physical Therapist – Beau Caviness#
Performance Nutritionist – Jen Goldstein* Performance Specialist – Megumi Pennebaker*
Athletic Trainers
Memphis – Alex Wolfinger^ & Riku Shabata^ Palm Beach – Jordan Hyink#
Springfield – Kiomy Martinez-Ortiz^ Florida Complex League – Trista Hartman^ & TBD
Peoria – Kily Gilbert# Dominican Summer League –Robert Linares# & Connor Greaves#
Strength & Conditioning Coaches
Memphis – Jon Hill* Palm Beach – Sergio Jimenez#
Springfield – Ryan Duffy* Florida Complex League – Panagiotis Roxanas#
Peoria – Ryuta Takahashi^ Dominican Summer League – Gerardo De Leon* & Manuel Estrada#
Baseball Technology & Affiliate Associates/Fellows
Manager, Baseball Technology – DC MacLea*
Systems Coordinator, Baseball Technology – Brady Hall^
Personnel Coordinator, Baseball Technology – Colin Campbell^
Memphis Fellow – TBD
Springfield Associate – Michelle McMillan^ Jupiter Complex Associate – Lily Coffey^
Peoria Fellow – Alexarmando Diaz# Florida Complex League Fellow – Noah Reichman#
Palm Beach Associate – Andrew Rankin^ Dominican Summer League Fellow – Glenn De La Cruz#
* Returning Manager/Coach/Staff
^ Returning Manager/Coach/Staff with new assignment or title change
# New Coach/Staff hire
