COACHES CORNER
The San Diego Padres have announced the 2019 field staffs for their Minor League affiliates, naming Tony Tarasco as Manager, Doug Banks as the Hitting Coach, Pete Zamora as the Pitching Coach and Felipe Blanco as the Fielding Coach for the Lake Elsinore Storm.
Tarasco, 48, will manage the Storm for the first time and become the 16th manager in Lake Elsinore Storm franchise history. Prior to joining the Eyes, the New York City native spent the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres organization as the High Performance and Outfield/Baserunning Coordinator. Tarasco had previously been in Major League Baseball for 10 seasons with the Washington Nationals, most recently as their first base coach during the 2013-2015 seasons. During his playing days, Tarasco signed with the Atlanta Braves in 1988 as a 15th Round selection from Santa Monica High School (CA). Along with the Braves, he spent eight total seasons with the Montreal Expos, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees and New York Mets. You might remember Tarasco as the right-fielder who went berserk as a fan interfered with a potential flyout by Derek Jeter in the 1996 ALCS that ended up being called a home run.
Banks, 35, will enjoy the friendly confines of Lake Elsinore for the second consecutive season as the hitting coach, which happens to be his fourth season in the San Diego Padres organization. Prior to joining the Padres organization, the Dallas, Texas native spent time with the Texas Rangers in a variety of roles which included scouting. His scouting talents took him to the west coast in 2016 as Banks was an amateur scout for Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. His playing days date back to college with the University of Arizona Wildcats.
Zamora, 43, will reprise his role as the pitching coach for the second straight season. Prior to joining the Padres organization, the Mission Viejo, California native worked with the Baseball Performance Academy in Orange County. After an eight-year minor league career. Through three different levels of minor league baseball, Zamora had a career record of 34-31 with a 3.93 ERA and a walk to strikeout ratio of 297/538. While pitching and playing first base during his collegiate career at UCLA, Zamora was named to the All-Pac-10 team in 1995 and 1997 before being drafted by the hometown Los Angeles Dodgers in 1997.
Blanco, 25, will enter his first season as a coach for the Lake Elsinore Storm, which comes on the heels of his first professional coaching job last year as a Fielding Coach with the Tri-City Dust Devils (Short-A). The Dominican Republic native played seven seasons in the Padres farm system (2011-2017) before turning to coaching. Blanco wore the Eyes of the Storm for 60 games between 2015 and 2016 where he batted .223, with two home runs and 10 RBI.
Tarasco, Banks, Zamora and Blanco will be joined by Storm Athletic Trainer Ricky Huerta and Strength Coach Jay Young.
