Field Staff

Joe Thon is in his second season as Corpus Christi’s field chief, following a three-year run at the Astros Class A post in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The ninth manager in 19 seasons of Hooks Baseball, Thon was Fayetteville’s skipper in 2022 after previously working as the club’s development coach. His tenure with the Astros includes a 2019 business apprenticeship.

The former infielder was drafted by the Blue Jays in the fifth round in 2010 out of Academia Perpetuo Socorro in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Thon, 32, played in parts of seven minor league seasons, with all but one coming in the Toronto system. The final year of his playing career was 2017 when he advanced to Double-A Springfield in the St. Louis organization. Thon closed the campaign with Sugar Land of the independent Atlantic League.

A six-year veteran of the Roberto Clemente Puerto Rican Winter League, Thon became a coach in 2019, toiling as a volunteer assistant for the University of Houston Baseball program.

Joe was born in Houston and is the son of former Astros shortstop Dickie Thon, who played 15 Major League seasons with Houston, the Phillies, Angels, Rangers, Padres, and Brewers. Dickie Thon was a National League All-Star, won the silver slugger award and finished seventh in MVP voting in 1983 as part of a seven-season run with the Astros.

Joe and his wife, Erika, make their home in Austin.

Sean Buchanan joins the Hooks after coaching at High-A Asheville (North Carolina) last year.

Buchanan’s tenure with Houston began in 2022 after serving as pitching coach at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania the year before. His first professional post was in West Palm Beach as Buchanan was hired to tutor Astros rookie arms in the Florida Complex League.

The New York native’s collegiate coaching stops also include Albright College (Reading, Pa.), DeSales University (Center Valley, Pa.), Ave Maria University (Naples, Fla.), and SUNY New Paltz, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in History in 2013.

Additionally, Buchanan spent five summers as a coach in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League.

Sean and his wife Erika reside in Reading, Pa. with their two dogs, Jax and Cori.

Bobby Bell returns for his second season with the Hooks. Bell joined the Astros player development system prior to the 2023 campaign, bringing with him over 20 years of professional baseball experience.

In addition to coaching in the Anaheim Angels, Miami Marlins and Milwaukee Brewers organizations, Bell, 60, has instructed in independent ball while leading hitting clinics across the country.

His stops include the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Single-A South Atlantic League), Jupiter Hammerheads (High-A Florida State League), Carolina Mudcats (High-A Carolina League), Frontier League, and Northern League.

Signed in 1986 as a minor league free agent with the California Angels out of Mesa State College, now Colorado Mesa University, the Lafayette, Indiana native played in parts of three pro seasons while seeing action at catcher (72 GM) and third base (26 GM).

Vincent Blue, a product of Lamar High School in Houston, is in his third season as a member of the Astros player development staff. The second-year Hooks coach also tutored prospects in the Arizona Fall League in 2023. Prior to joining Corpus Christi, Blue worked at Houston’s Single-A club in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where he focused on the outfield and baserunning while coaching first base – his same duties with the Hooks.

Selected in the 10th round of the 2001 draft, Blue played outfield for parts of seven seasons in the Detroit Tigers system. A .261 career hitter, he advanced to Triple-A Toledo (Ohio) in 2007 before embarking upon a five-year journey in independent ball.

Primarily a centerfielder, Blue’s last playing campaign was in 2012 when he hit .267 with 60 runs scored, 15 extra-base hits, 37 RBIs, 32 stolen bases and 67 walks in 94 games for the Edinburg Roadrunners of the North American League.

Blue, 41, founded both the BE Elite Baseball Academy and the Universal Baseball Players Association before becoming an Astro.

Jennifer Bardales is in her fourth season with the Houston Astros. Prior to working at Class A Fayetteville last year, she served on the support staff at Houston’s training facility in West Palm Beach, capturing 2022 Florida Complex League Athletic Trainer of the Year honors by the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society.

Bardales earned a master’s degree in Athletic Training from the University of Houston. The Bayou City native also graduated from UTSA (Bachelor of Science, Kinesiology, 2017), San Jacinto College (Associate of Arts, 2015), and Dobie High School, where she participated in the sports medicine program and served as a member of HOSA, a student organization for future healthcare professionals.

Bardales augmented her time in college classrooms by working as a student athletic trainer for the Roadrunners, Cougars, and Rice Owls. She is currently active in the National Athletic Training Association, Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association, the Greater Houston Athletic Trainers’ Society, and PBATS.

Jennifer’s hobbies include yoga, reading, and cooking. She credits her success to her parents who met in Houston after immigrating to the United States. Rene and Vanessa pushed their two daughters to pursue higher education. Jennifer and her sister, Veronica, both own three college degrees. Veronica is a trauma ICU nurse in Houston.

Joe Powell joins the Astros after two seasons as a strength and conditioning coach with the Atlanta Braves organization. Powell was at Double-A Mississippi last year after working at High-A Rome (Georgia) in 2022.

Prior to pro ball, Powell led the S&C program at Angelo State University before serving as an assistant strength coach at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro.

Powell graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science from Carson-Newman University (Jefferson City, Tennessee) where he played on the baseball team. A native of North Carolina, he owns a master’s in Kinesiology from the University of Tennessee.

In addition to working with the Vols as a graduate assistant, Powell was a strength and conditioning intern for the Mississippi State football program.

Joe and his fiancé, Jessica, reside in Greensboro, N.C. during the offseason.