ROUND ROCK, Texas – The Texas Rangers revealed the organization’s minor league coaching staffs for the 2025 season on Monday afternoon, including that of the Round Rock Express. Manager Doug Davis will return for his third season at the helm of the E-Train. He sits only 73 wins away from 900 victories as a manager in the minor leagues.

Bench Coach Chase Lambin, Hitting Coach Matt Lawson, Development Coach Josh Johnson, Athletic Trainer Will Whitehead and Strength & Conditioning Coach Jeff Mathers are all set to return. Jon Goebel takes over as Pitching Coach while Dave Borkowski will serve as the Bullpen Coach.

Goebel joins the Express after serving as the Pitching Coach for the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders for the past two seasons. This is his fourth season in the Rangers organization. In 2024, Frisco pitchers finished third in the Texas League in ERA (3.67) and strikeouts (1,253).

Goebel was critical in the development of top prospects RHP Emiliano Teodo and RHP Winston Santos. Both pitchers were named to the 2024 All-Star Futures Game. Teodo finished the season as the Rangers No. 6 prospect according to MLB.com and posted a 1.98 ERA (19 ER/86.1 IP) in his first action at the Double-A level. Santos was promoted from High-A Hickory on June 25 and went 5-3 with a 4.89 ERA (25 ER/46.0 IP).

Before his time in the Texas system, the Illinois native was the head coach (2019-2021) and the pitching coach (2014-2018) for Division II Parkland College in Champaign, Ill. He took over as head coach in the fall of 2018 at Parkland College where he was also a member of the 2009-10 coaching staff that guided the Cobras to the NJCAA World Series, where they finished in fifth place. A right-handed pitcher when he played, Goebel began his collegiate career at St. Louis Community College - Forest Park before returning to his native Illinois to pitch at Bradley University for two seasons (2007-08).

Since he began coaching in 1995, Davis has led a minor league team for 12 total seasons and has accumulated a career 827-738 record. He owns a 160-137 record in two seasons as manager of the Express. His .539 winning percentage is the highest among E-Train skippers who spent at least two seasons in Round Rock and his 160 wins are fourth-most in club history.

In 2024, Davis secured his 800^th win as a manager on July 12 at Reno. In his first season with the Express in 2023, he guided the E-Train to a PCL Second Half title and the club’s first playoff appearance since 2019. The team's 89 total wins were the most regular-season wins in franchise history and just the seventh 80-win campaign in club history. Davis oversaw the longest winning streak in franchise history when the Express won 14 consecutive games from August 8-23.

Prior to Round Rock, Davis spent two seasons as the manager for the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (New York Yankees Triple-A affiliate). He led the RailRiders to a combined record of 158-119. In 2022, he helped oversee a pitching staff that led all Triple-A teams with a 3.89 ERA. Prior to his time as skipper, Davis spent three years in three different roles with Scranton Wilkes-Barre from 2017-2019. In 2017, he was the defensive coach before moving over to bullpen coach in 2018. In 2019, Davis was named the bench coach.

Before joining the New York Yankees organization, Davis spent 11 years in the Toronto Blue Jays system in a variety of roles. Before he was named manager of the RailRiders in 2021, Davis hadn’t held a manager title since 2008. He spent the 2003-2004 seasons as the bench coach for the Florida Marlins, where he won the 2003 World Series. Davis has also been a minor league field coordinator for the Montreal Expos (2001) and Florida Marlins (2002, 2005). His coaching career began in the Yankees system in 1995.

A catcher and infielder in his playing days, Davis was a ninth-round selection by the California Angels in the 1984 MLB Draft. He played professionally for 11 seasons between the Angels, Rangers and Kansas City Royals organizations. He appeared in seven games in the big leagues and tallied six games in 1988 with the Angels, while appearing in one game for the Rangers in 1992. He is a native of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.

Lambin returns for his fifth season at Dell Diamond as the Express Bench Coach. Round Rock has posted a winning record in three of the four seasons that Lambin has been on the staff. Before hopping aboard the E-Train in 2021, Lambin spent the 2020 campaign as a member of the Rangers’ Fall Developmental League coaching staff. He previously served as a hitting coach for High-A Down East in 2019, Class-A Hickory in 2018, Short-Season Spokane in 2017 and the Rookie-level Arizona League Rangers in 2016. He first joined the Texas organization as a member of the Spokane coaching staff in 2015.

Lambin’s coaching tenure follows a playing career that spanned 13 seasons at the minor league level. He concluded his time on the field in 2014 with Sugar Land of the independent Atlantic League, playing in 106 games with the Skeeters. Lambin was selected by the New York Mets in the 34th round of the 2002 MLB Draft out of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and played in the Mets (2002-2006), Florida/Miami Marlins (2007-2008, 2012), Washington Nationals (2010), Minnesota Twins (2011) and Kansas City Royals (2013) organizations. He also spent the 2009 season with Chiba Lotte in Japan. The versatile defender appeared at every position except catcher over the course of his career.

Lawson returns to the E-Train for his fourth season on the Express staff. He oversaw another successful campaign for 2024 Round Rock Express MVP, 1B Blaine Crim. Crim posted his fourth consecutive season with 20 home runs and 80 RBIs in the minor leagues. Lawson also aided OF Sandro Fabian to another stellar campaign before making his Major League debut in September for the Texas Rangers. Fabian belted 17 home runs while putting together a slash line of .270/.343/.462. Among Triple-A hitters since the start of the 2023 season, Fabian is second in slugging percentage (.492). In November, he signed a three-year, $5.6 million contract with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Nippon Professional Baseball league.

In 2023, Round Rock hitters manufactured over six runs per game while posting the most walks (733) in a single season in club history. Lawson aided Fabian and OF Elier Hernandez to career bests in 2023. Fabian set career highs in home runs (23), RBI (78) and slugging percentage (.523) while Hernandez set career highs in doubles (36), home runs (18), RBI (99) and on-base percentage (.391). Hernandez also collected the longest hitting streak in franchise history with a 26-game stretch from May 24 – June 25.

In 2022, Lawson helped oversee the offensive development of top prospects such as CF Bubba Thompson, 3B Josh Jung and INF Josh Smith. For eight seasons prior to Round Rock, Lawson served a variety of coaching roles at his alma mater, Missouri State University, including the last four as the club’s hitting instructor and recruiting coordinator. Lawson was a three-year letterwinner at second base for MSU from 2005-2007, picking up second-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors and MSU’s Willis Award as team MVP in 2006. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Missouri State in 2015 before finishing a master’s degree in sports management from MSU in 2017.

A native of Carl Junction, Missouri, Lawson posted a successful seven-year playing career after being drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 14th round of the 2007 MLB Draft. During his career, Lawson advanced as far as Triple-A Columbus with the Cleveland Indians organization, hitting a career-best .327 in 2012 with Double-A Akron. He was named the Short-Season Spokane Indians’ team MVP as a rookie in 2007 and a Class-A California League All-Star in 2009. He followed that performance with an effort that earned him a spot in the Double-A Texas League All-Star Game the following year.

Borkowski returns for his third year in Round Rock and his first as the Bullpen Coach. He spent the previous two seasons as the Pitching Coach. In 2024, he coached the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year, RHP Jack Leiter. It’s the second consecutive season Borkowski has helped mold the Pitcher of the Year. In 2023, LHP Cody Bradford took home the award for the E-Train.

During the 2023 season, the Express held the second-lowest ERA in the PCL (4.72). Bradford was a mainstay in the Rangers bullpen throughout the 2023 Postseason. He went 9-2 with a 3.63 ERA (30 ER/74.1 IP) in 14 starts for the Express and he issued 16 walks with 65 strikeouts.

Borkowski is no stranger to Round Rock as he pitched for the Express in 2006 and 2008. He frequented the PCL in 2022 as the pitching coach for the Oklahoma City Dodgers and oversaw a staff that held a 4.87 ERA, the third lowest in the league. He held the same title with the Double-A Tulsa Drillers in 2018-2019 and 2021. Before jumping over to the Dodgers organization, Borkowski served eight seasons as a pitching coach in the Houston Astros organization.

He played 15 professional seasons beginning in 1995 when he was selected in the 11^th round by the Detroit Tigers. Borkowski appeared in 181 games in the big leagues over seven seasons with the Tigers (1999-2001), Baltimore Orioles (2004) and Houston Astros (2006-2008). The right-hander appeared in six games out of the Express bullpen in 2006 and held a 2.57 ERA (2 ER/7.0 IP) with six strikeouts and two walks. When he returned in 2008, Borkowski went 2-2 over 27 appearances and one start. He posted a 2.43 ERA (11 ER/40.2 IP) and had 26 strikeouts with only seven walks. He is a native of Detroit, Michigan.

Johnson returns to Round Rock for his fourth season as Development Coach. Johnson was critical in the defensive development of INF Jonathan Ornelas, INF Justin Foscue and INF Davis Wendzel. OF J.P. Martinez made his debut in 2023 as Johnson helped the speedster improve his base stealing.

The Tampa, Florida native served as the Texas Rangers first base coach for the final two months of the year in 2022. In 2021, Johnson made a stint as the manager of the High-A Hickory Crawdads. After the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season in 2020, Johnson led a group of Rangers prospects in the Fall Developmental League, with both Rangers entries combining to post a 29-10-5 record. He originally joined the organization as a coach for Low-A Hickory in 2019 following one season as the Infield Coach on the San Diego Padres Major League staff in 2018. He also skippered the Gulf Coast League Nationals in the Washington farm system from 2016-2017. He led the GCL Nationals to an East Division title and an appearance in the GCL Championship in 2017, earning him the GCL Manager of the Year award. Under his guidance, outfielder Juan Soto was named GCL Most Valuable Player in 2016.

A switch-hitting infielder in his playing days, Johnson played professionally for 12 seasons in the Kansas City Royals (2004-2009) and Washington Nationals (2010-2015) organizations. He finished his career with a .252 batting average, 35 home runs, 384 RBI, 131 stolen bases and more walks (621) than strikeouts (614) over 1,069 minor league games, reaching as high as the Triple-A level. Johnson was selected by the Royals in the third round of the 2004 MLB Draft out of Middleton High School in Florida. He was an All-America selection in baseball at Middleton and bypassed a full scholarship to the University of Texas to sign with the Royals.

Will Whitehead will return for his third season as the Round Rock Express Athletic Trainer and his 16^th season in professional baseball. Whitehead spent the 2022 season as the Athletic Trainer for the Los Angeles Angels Double-A affiliate, the Rocket City Trash Pandas.

Prior to his time in the Angels organization, Whitehead spent 11 years in the Colorado Rockies organization. Before getting involved in professional baseball, he spent time as an Athletic Trainer for the Winter X Games as well as Texas Tech University baseball. He earned his bachelor’s from Stephen F. Austin University and his master’s in athletic training from Texas Tech University.

Jeff Mathers prepares for his second season as the Round Rock Strength and Conditioning Coach after serving as a Strength and Conditioning Coordinator in the Seattle Mariners system since 2019. The Ithaca College alum previously spent six seasons as a strength and conditioning instructor in the Detroit Tigers organization, including a brief stint as the club’s Major League Strength and Conditioning Coach towards the end of the 2018 campaign.

The Express kick off the 2025 season on Friday, March 28 against the Tacoma Rainiers (Seattle Mariners affiliate) at 9:05 p.m. from Cheney Stadium. The home opener at Dell Diamond is slated for Tuesday, April 1 against the Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit Tigers affiliate) at 7:15 p.m. For more information on the Express, visit RRExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!

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