Daytona Tortugas Announce 2024 Coaching Staff

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—In conjunction with the Cincinnati Reds, the Daytona Tortugas announced their coaching and support staff for the 2024 season on Friday afternoon.

Manager Julio Morillo returns for his second season at the helm of the Tortugas and eighth year in the Cincinnati Reds organization. The 31-year-old native of Venezuela guided Daytona to a 56-72 record in his first year on The Beach in 2023. He previous led the ACL Reds to an Arizona Complex League division title in 2022. Morillo is 88-91 (.492) overall in two professional seasons as a manager. As a player, Morillo played in the Reds organization from 2010-15, including a stint in Daytona during the Tortugas’ inaugural campaign in 2015.

Pitching coach Willie Blair returns for his second season on The Beach. A 58-year-old native of Ashland, Kentucky, Blair comes back after leading a pitching staff that allowed the fewest hits in the Florida State League and struck out the third-most batters. 2024 will mark Blair’s second season in the Reds organization. He has coached professionally since 2010 in independent baseball as well as the San Diego Padres and Detroit Tigers organization. During his playing career, Blair pitched 12 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1990-01 for eight teams, winning 60 games and striking out 759 batters.

Hitting coach Nate Irving joins the Tortugas for his first season in Daytona and his sixth season in the Reds organization. A 31-year-old native of Yonkers, New York, Irving served as the hitting coach for the ACL Reds in 2023, where he oversaw an offense that scored the second-most runs in the 17-team Arizona Complex League. He previously held the bench coach role for Double-A Chattanooga in 2022 after serving as the Cincinnati Reds bullpen catcher from 2019-21. An alum of the University of Virginia, Irving played in Arizona Diamondbacks system as a catcher in 2014-15 before spending 2016-18 in independent baseball.

Coach Lenny Harris is back for his fourth season on the Tortugas staff and his eighth season coaching in the Cincinnati Reds system. The 58-year-old native of Miami, Florida has coached at the MLB level for the Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins, in addition to working in the Los Angeles Dodgers system before joining the Reds in 2016. As a player, Harris was originally selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1983 MLB Draft and played all over the diamond for eight MLB teams over 18 seasons from 1988-05, setting the all-time MLB record with 212 career pinch-hits along the way and earning a World Series ring for the 2003 Florida Marlins.

Coach Osmin Melendez arrives for his first season in Daytona and second season in the Cincinnati Reds organization. A 48-year-old native of Venezuela, Melendez joined the Reds in 2023 as a coach for the Class A-Advanced Dayton Dragons. Previously, Melendez worked in the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs systems, including seven seasons as a manager in the Venezuelan Summer League with the VSL Pirates (2006-11) and VSL Cubs (2013), posting a 308-174 (.639) record, reaching the league finals five times and winning the VSL title in 2008. Melendez played two professional seasons as an infielder in the Baltimore Orioles system in 1993-94.

Athletic Trainer Sam Tedtman joins the Tortugas for his first season on The Beach. A 28-year-old from Louisville, Kentucky, Tedtman comes to Daytona after serving with the ACL Reds in 2023 and the DSL Reds in 2022. Tedtman first joined the Cincinnati Reds as an athletic training intern in 2017 after graduating from Wilmington College, where he also played football.

Strength and Conditioning Coach Dominic Cothern returns for his second season with Daytona. A native of Dutch Fork, South Carolina, Cothern has also served as the strength and conditioning staffs at Southern University, the University of South Carolina, and Alabama A&M University. He graduated from Winthrop University and obtained a masters from Georgia Southern University.

Video and Technology Specialist Hassan Said will join the Tortugas for his first season on The Beach and in the Reds organization.

The new staff will debut on April 5 when the Tortugas open up at St. Lucie. Daytona’s home opener is slated for April 9 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

ABOUT THE DAYTONA TORTUGAS

The Daytona Tortugas are the Single-A Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and a member of Minor League Baseball’s Florida State League. The Tortugas play at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in downtown Daytona Beach, Fla. Jackie Robinson Ballpark also plays host to Bethune-Cookman University, the Jackie Robinson Ballpark Museum, and many community events and initiatives of all sizes throughout the year.