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January 6, 2012

Johns set to return as P-Rays’ manager

Princeton gets new pitching & hitting coaches

By JONATHAN GREENE Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PRINCETON — In his second season with Princeton, manager Michael Johns had the P-Rays competing for an Appalachian League East Division title.

Johns will get another chance to make a run to the postseason with Princeton in 2012 after the Princeton Rays announced Thursday he would be returning to manage the team for a third season.

“It’s nice [to have him back],” said Princeton general manager Jim Holland. “He’s knows what I’m about, what the town is about and what the league is about. That makes for a smoother transition for myself and players who are coming here, because he has been here for a few years.

“It’s not as if both the players and manager have to learn the league which makes it easier on the players.”

While Johns will be back, pitching coach Marty DeMerritt and hitting coach Wuarnner Rincones are heading to the Gulf Coast League and will be replaced by Darwin Peguero and Reinaldo Ruiz respectively.

“Obviously, it’s somebody new,” Holland said. “You go through this from time to time with personnel changes in the minors. With [the P-Rays’ parent club] Tampa Bay, there is always plan to get players to the majors.

“For reasons they feel, they felt Marty is more valuable in the GCL this year.”

DeMerritt, who spent the last five years in Princeton, and Rincones, who spent the past two years, will be in the same positions with the GCL Rays.

“We’re going to miss him,” Holland said on DeMerritt. “He such a great baseball man. That is a huge hole to fill. We’ll miss him as both a baseball coach and person.”

Peguero moves to the Appy League after spending the last three seasons as the pitching coach for the GCL Rays. His pitching staff logged an impressive 3.32 earned run average last season. Prior to his stint in the Gulf Coast League, Peguero served in the same capacity for three seasons for the Dominican Summer League Rays.

Ruiz is coming to the Rays after being in the hitting coach for the Hudson Valley Renegades the past two season. Prior to that, he was the hitting coach for the GCL Rays in 2009.

“There job is to fit in the chain of command of coaches to make players into future Rays,” Holland said. “Both [Peguero and Ruiz] have something to improve after moving up a level. They want the experience to be positive.  

“They’ll want to produce players with good numbers. You have to have the right caliber of player to teach, but that’s not enough. They have to take what they are given and mold it.”

The Princeton Rays begin their season on June 19 with a home series against Kingsport. The season stretches through the end of August. Game times have been set for 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday while Sunday game’s will begin at 3 p.m. The Rays’ one weekday matinee will be held on July 24 at 11 a.m.

— Contact Jonathan Greene

at jgreene@bdtonline.com

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