The Los Angeles Dodgers’ High-A affiliate Great Lakes Loons announced their coaching staff for the 2021 season, and they will be led by first-year manager Austin Chubb.
Chubb is the team’s ninth manager since its inception in 2007, and he will be the first former player of the team to manage them. The 31-year-old originally was a draft pick of the Washington Nationals in 2012, playing in 91 Minor League games before transitioning into coaching.
He has coached in the Dodgers organization since 2016, guiding Rookie-level Ogden to a franchise-best 54-22 record in 2019, earning Pioneer League Manager of the Year honors.
The rest of Great Lakes’ 2021 coaching staff includes hitting coach David Popkins in his third year with the Dodgers organization, pitching coach Ryan Dennick in his fourth year, bench coach Elian Herrera in his third year and assistant pitching coach Durin O’Linger in his second year.
Additional staff members for the Loons include performance coach Sam Nickelsen, athletic trainer Griffin Boyte and video associate Wyatt Kleinberg.
Many people will recognize Herrera’s name as the former infielder played two seasons with the Dodgers in 2011 and 2012. He also played for the Loons in parts of the 2007 and 2009 seasons.
It remains to be seen when the 2021 Midwest League season will get underway as MLB and MiLB must come to an agreement, although that is expected in the coming weeks with the start of Spring Training just around the corner.
Dodgers announce other Minor League coaching staffs
In addition to Great Lakes, the Dodgers also announced the coaching staffs for their other Minor League affiliates. Travis Barbary will be managing Triple-A Oklahoma City with Scott Hennessey at Double-A Tulsa, John Shoemaker at Low-A Rancho Cucamonga and Danny Dorn with the Rookie-level Arizona League Dodgers.
The Dodgers have consistently competed at every Minor League level, and that is expected to be the case once again in 2021 as the organization still has a top-10 farm system by many publications.
While many of the members of the 2020 draft class will likely start out at Rookie ball, it will be interesting to see how quickly some of them can make their way to Rancho Cucamonga and then eventually Great Lakes.
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