The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Triple-A Oklahoma City affiliate is entering their first season under the rebranded Comets name and are doing so with a new manager in Scott Hennessey at the helm.
Hennessey previously was manager of the Double-A Tulsa Drillers since the middle of the 2017 season. He tallied 455 career victories during his tenure, making him the second-winningest manager in Tulsa baseball history.
In 2018, Hennessey led the Drillers to their first Texas League title in 20 years. The team also advanced to the Texas League Championship Series under his guidance in 2017 and 2019.
Hennessey’s teams in Tulsa finished with a winning record in six of his seven managerial seasons and reached the postseason four times. The six consecutive winning seasons by the Drillers from 2017-23 is the longest streak in franchise history.
Hennessey was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma during the 2023 season and started receiving chemotherapy treatments before returning to the dugout prior to the end of the year. He is now cancer free.
Another newcomer to the OKC Comets coaching staff is hitting coach Dylan Nasiatka. He’s going to work alongside Manny Burriss, marking the first season the Oklahoma City staff has two hitting coaches.
Nasiatka spent last season with the Drillers and has been a Minor League coach in the Dodgers farm system since 2020. He previously was part of the Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and High-A Great Lakes coaching staffs as well.
Burriss is entering his fifth season as OKC hitting coach. Among other accomplishments during his tenure, Oklahoma City won the Pacific Coast League Championship in 2023, and in 2022 they set team records with 949 runs and 731 walks.
Burriss originally joined the Dodgers organization in 2019 as a roving hitting instructor.
Also moving up from Double-A Tulsa is pitching coach Ryan Dennick. He served as Drillers pitching coach each of the last three seasons and held that same title for the Loons in 2021. Dennick pitched for Oklahoma City during the 2015 season and returned to the team as its development coach in 2018.
Dennick is going to work with fellow Oklahoma City Comets pitch coach David Anderson, who is entering his first season with the team after spending the last three with Great Lakes.
In each of Anderson’s three seasons as the Loons’ pitching coach, the team led the Midwest League in strikeouts and finished in the top four in ERA. Anderson joined the Dodgers franchise in 2020 as a development coach and received his first assignment as a pitching coach in 2021 with the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League team.
Chris Gutierrez is back on the OKC staff for his third season as bench coach and third base coach. Prior to joining Oklahoma City, Gutierrez filled a similar role for the Drillers in 2021 and 2022.
Gutierrez has been a Dodgers Minor League coach since 2018 and prior to that spent two years as a hitting coach in the Chicago Cubs organization.
Oklahoma City Comets trainers are Griffin Boyte and Josh DiLoreto. Boyte spent all of 2023 with Oklahoma City and split last season between then-OKC Dodgers and Tulsa.
DiLoreto completed the last three seasons with Triple-A El Paso and was named the 2024 PCL Athletic Trainer of the Year by the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society.
Paul Fournier is entering his fourth season as the team’s performance coach. Fournier has a total of 17 years of experience as a Major League strength and conditioning coach, including eight seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. Fournier will be assisted by Jose Gutierrez.
Tyler Hollow is the team’s development associate.
Opening Day for the Oklahoma City Comets is Friday, March 28, and their first home game is April 1.
New manager for Triple-A Oklahoma City
Hennessey has been a member of the Dodgers organization since 2007, first serving as an amateur scout in Florida before transitioning to coaching in player development in 2017. He replaces former Oklahoma City manager Barbary, who remains part of the Dodgers organization in a roving player development role.
Barbary was manager of Triple-A Oklahoma City from 2019-2024.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
