Midwest League Manager of the Year Josh Bonifay and three others will be back with Quad Cities
DAVENPORT, Iowa (October 22, 2015) - After guiding the Quad Cities River Bandits to the best winning percentage in full-season Minor League Baseball for the first time in franchise history, 2015 Midwest League Manager of the Year Josh Bonifay will return to the club in 2016, the River Bandits and Houston Astros announced on Thursday. Also returning are pitching coach Dave Borkowski and hitting coach Joel Chimelis - both entering their fourth seasons - and athletic trainer Corey O'Brien, who enters his second season.
In 2015, Bonifay became the first Quad Cities manager in 25 years to win Midwest League Manager of the Year, and he will be the first Quad Cities manager to return to the team after winning the award. The River Bandits finished 88-50 in the regular season - the second-best mark in franchise history - while using a franchise-record 61 players during the season.
The 35th manager for the Quad Cities franchise since it joined the Midwest League in 1960, Bonifay will be a manager in the Astros organization for a fourth straight season. In his first two seasons as a manager, Bonifay led the Greeneville Astros in the rookie-level Appalachian League. He was the Appalachian League Manager of the Year in 2013, when he led the club to its second-best record in franchise history and the Appalachian League Championship Series. Bonifay's teams are a combined 158-114. A native of Asheville, N.C., Bonifay joined the Astros organization in 2011 as Greeneville's hitting coach and was the hitting coach for Class-A Lexington in 2012, when he was named to the South Atlantic League Postseason All-Star Team as a coach. Bonifay, 37, began his coaching career as a player/coach in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization from 2007 to 2009, following his eight seasons as a professional player. The son of former Pittsburgh Pirates general manager and current Reds special assistant to the general manager Cam Bonifay, Josh was selected by the Pirates out of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington in the 24th round of the June 1999 draft. He played in the Pirates organization from 1999 to 2005 and played his final season with Double-A Corpus Christi in the Astros organization in 2006. In 812 professional games - at every position except shortstop and catcher - Bonifay posted a .284 batting average with 133 home runs and 516 RBI in his career.
After guiding the River Bandits pitching staff to a franchise-record 2.65 ERA - the lowest by any Astros minor league affiliate since 1970 - former major league pitcher Dave Borkowski will return for his fourth season as the River Bandits pitching coach and seventh as a coach in the Astros organization. During the three seasons with Borkowski as pitching coach, the River Bandits lead the Midwest League in wins (239), winning percentage (.576), ERA (3.35) and WHIP (1.266), while having the fewest allowed runs (1612), earned runs (1351), bases on balls (1182), sacrifices (91) and wild pitches (237). Borkowski, 38, was the pitching coach of Lexington in 2011 and 2012, and the pitching coach of Greeneville in 2010. He also served as a pitching coach for Peoria in the Arizona Fall League during the fall of 2013, following a year in which he helped lead the River Bandits to a Midwest League Championship. In 15 seasons (1995-2009) as a professional pitcher, Borkowski appeared in 181 Major League games (21 starts) and was 13-20 with one save and a 5.87 ERA in seven seasons with Detroit (1999-2001), Baltimore (2004), and Houston (2006-08). He had a career-high five wins with Houston in 2007. A native of Sterling Heights, Mich., Borkowski was selected in the 11th round of the June 1995 draft by Detroit, and he pitched in the Midwest League for the 1997 West Michigan Whitecaps.
Another member of the 2013 Midwest League Championship staff entering his fourth season with the River Bandits, hitting coach Joel Chimelis will return for his 11th season as a hitting coach in the Astros organization. In the three seasons with Chimelis as hitting coach, the River Bandits have led the Midwest League in on-base percentage (.341), on-base plus slugging (.725), bases on balls (1648) and sacrifices (178). Chimelis, 48, will serve his 13th season overall as a minor league coach following a 14-season professional career. He has also coached in the Astros organization with short-season Class-A Tri-City (2006-10), Class-A Lexington (2011) and Double-A Corpus Christi (2012). Chimelis also won a championship with the Tri-City staff in 2010. He spent 2004 and 2005 with the Savannah Sand Gnats of the Washington Nationals (Montreal Expos in 2004) organization. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Chimelis played for Howard (Texas) Junior College and the University of Texas before being drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 11th round of the 1988 Major League draft out of the University of Texas. He was a minor league infielder in the Athletics (1988-1991), San Francisco Giants (1991-1995) and New York Mets (1996) organizations and also played in Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Taiwan and Korea.
Former minor league infielder Wladimir Sutil will enter his first season with the River Bandits and his third as a coach in the Houston Astros organization. He began coaching with rookie-level Greeneville in 2014 and coached with the rookie-level Gulf Coast League affiliate in 2015. The 30-year-old native of Caracas, Venezuela, played 10 seasons professionally from 2004 to 2013, including eight in the Astros minor league system. With the Astros, he played with rookie-level Greeneville (2004), short-season Class-A Tri-City (2005), Class-A Lexington (2005-2006), Class-A Advanced Salem (2006-2008), Double-A Corpus Christi (2008-2011), Triple-A Round Rock (2010) and Triple-A Oklahoma City (2011). He played the 2012 season in the Arizona Diamondbacks minor league system, followed by stints in the Atlantic League and Venezuelan Winter League before ending his playing career in 2013. In 974 career minor league games, he hit for a .266 average with 139 doubles and 205 stolen bases.
Corey O'Brien enters his second season as the River Bandits' athletic trainer and fifth season with the Astros organization. He was the athletic trainer for Tri-City in 2014 and Greeneville in 2012 and 2013. Prior to joining the Astros, O'Brien was the athletic trainer for the Joliet (Ill.) Slammers, an Independent Professional Baseball team that won the Frontier League cup in the team's inaugural season of 2011. O'Brien earned his bachelor of science degree in athletic training at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and worked as an intern athletic trainer for the Rochester Honkers of the Northwoods League in 2008 and at the Minnesota Twins' Spring Training in 2009. He went on to earn his master's degree in education in health, physical education and recreation at Delta State (Miss.) University, where he was also a graduate assistant athletic trainer.
Joe Bossard enters his first season as the River Bandits' strength and conditioning coach after his first season in the Astros organization in 2015 with Greeneville.
In 2015, the River Bandits were one of seven Astros minor league affiliates to reach the playoffs. Rookie-level Greeneville won the Appalachian League Championship, and Triple-A Fresno won the Pacific Coast League Championship and the Triple-A National Championship. Nine players who have played for Quad Cities helped the Astros major league club reach the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. Of the Astros' top 20 prospects, according to MLB.com, 16 have played with Quad Cities in the last three seasons. Three of the other four - including two of the club's top four prospects - have yet to play at the Class-A level.
The River Bandits open the 2016 Midwest League season Thursday, April 7, at 6:35 p.m. in Cedar Rapids and begin their home schedule with a 1:15 p.m. game against the Kernels on Saturday, April 9, at Modern Woodmen Park.
UP NEXT: The Ferris wheel at Modern Woodmen Park is open to the public every Saturday of October, weather permitting. On Oct. 24, the wheel will operate 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The wheel's final operation for the season will be 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Oct. 31.
ABOUT THE BANDITS: With the installation of the Ferris Wheel, the River Bandits ownership in 2014 made one of the biggest improvements to Modern Woodmen Park since the ballpark was first built back in 1931, and this year the club is matching that effort by opening three new areas. A two-tiered special group deck immediately behind and overlooking the corn field opened in June. A new 11,000-square-foot concourse expansion down the third-base line will open late August. Finally, the club has expanded the children's play area by an additional 5,500 square feet down the right-field line, with additional bounce houses and the newest ride - Spin Zone Bumper Cars - as the latest attraction.
