OKC Dodgers Announce 2021 Coaching Staff

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City Dodgers, in conjunction with the Los Angeles Dodgers, have announced the 2021 OKC Dodgers field staff, led by manager Travis Barbary.

Oklahoma City native and 19-year Major League veteran Jamey Wright will join the staff as pitching coach. Bill Haselman, who managed the OKC Dodgers during the 2016-18 seasons, returns to Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark as the team’s bench coach and third base coach. Hitting coach Emmanuel Burriss and bullpen coach Justin DeFratus – who were both supposed to be members of the team’s coaching staff in 2020 prior to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season – each resume their respective roles.

Barbary is entering his 27th season in the Dodgers organization as a player, staff member or coach. He spent 2020 as part of the coaching staff at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ alternate training site held at the University of Southern California during the pandemic-affected season.

Although the team posted a 62-77 record during Barbary’s first season as OKC manager in 2019, eight players under his tutelage made their Major League debuts with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team also set a single-season record by hitting 203 home runs and established a new club record for longest road winning streak at nine games.

Additionally, eight members of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ official 2020 World Series roster played for Barbary in OKC during the 2019 season and helped guide the Dodgers to their seventh World Series championship last fall.

Before being named OKC Dodgers manager in 2019, Barbary spent the previous 12 years as the organization’s catching coordinator. He has also served as a hitting coach and manager in the lower levels of the Dodgers’ farm system, with four total seasons managing the Rookie-Level Ogden Raptors (2003-04) and Low-A Columbus Catfish (2005-06). From 1998-2001, he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a bullpen catcher.

Originally from Easley, S.C., the 49-year-old Barbary played collegiately at Spartanburg Methodist Junior College and the University of Virginia. The former catcher spent one season playing professionally in the Dodgers organization in 1994 before transitioning to coaching.

Wright enters his first assignment as a team pitching coach. He joined the Dodgers organization last year as a special assistant in player development to work with pitchers throughout the minor league system.

Prior to coaching, Wright’s playing career spanned a total of 22 years between 1993-2014. He appeared in a total of 719 Major League games with 10 different teams and amassed 97 career wins and 1,189 strikeouts. Wright, 46, spent both the 2012 and 2014 seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen and decided to officially end his playing career after spending spring training with the Dodgers in 2016. Wright also had stints pitching for the Oklahoma RedHawks during both the 2003 and 2007 seasons as an affiliate of the Texas Rangers.

Born in Oklahoma City, Wright attended Westmoore High School and was the 28th overall pick of the 1993 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies. He made his Major League debut just three years later and remains the only player from Westmoore to make it to the Majors.

Burriss, 36, was slated to be OKC’s hitting coach before the 2020 season was officially cancelled. He joined the Dodgers organization in 2019 as a roving hitting instructor. The Washington D.C. native played professionally from 2006-18, including parts of seven seasons in the Major Leagues with the San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies.

Burriss played collegiately at Kent State University and was selected with the 33rd overall pick of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft by San Francisco.

After serving as the team’s manager for the 2016-18 seasons, Haselman returns to Oklahoma City in a different role as the team’s bench coach and primary third base coach. During his three previous seasons at the helm in OKC, Haselman’s teams went a combined 228-194 (.540), captured division titles in 2016 and 2018 and advanced to the PCL Championship Series in 2016.

Haselman, 54, spent the past two seasons as the organization’s managers coordinator, serving as a mentor to coaches throughout the system. The 2021 season marks his eighth as a coach in the Dodgers organization. He has also managed minor league teams for the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels and has additional coaching experience at the Major League level with the Boston Red Sox as their first base coach (2004, 2006) and bullpen coach (2005).

Over a 13-year Major League career spanning 1990-2003, Haselman played primarily as a catcher for the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers. Between 1991-92, he appeared in 143 games with the Oklahoma City 89ers and spent the entire 1991 season in OKC.

DeFratus is also no stranger to the OKC Dodgers, having spent parts of the 2018-19 seasons as a pitcher for the team, making a total of 22 appearances, including 21 starts. The 33-year-old began his coaching career in 2020 and was set to become the team’s first designated bullpen coach prior to the cancellation of last season.

DeFratus played professionally for 13 seasons, including each of his last two seasons in the Dodgers organization, and made 191 appearances for the Philadelphia Phillies between 2011-15. He also played in Triple-A with the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals.

Head athletic trainer Shawn McDermott returns for his second season and will be joined by new assistant athletic trainer Chelsea Willette. First-year performance coach Jeff Taylor rounds out the training staff.

Season ticket and group packages for the OKC Dodgers’ 2021 season are available now for purchase and Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark is available to host socially distanced events year-round. Visit okcdodgers.com or call (405) 218-2182 for more information.