The Cincinnati Reds and Dayton Dragons announced the 2025 coaching staff for the Dragons today. Manager Vince Harrison Jr. is returning for a second season with Dayton. He is the only person on the coach staff that is returning from last season. Willie Blair will be the pitching coach, Troy Gingrich will be the hitting coach, and Peterson Plaz will be a coach on the staff.
Vince Harrison Jr. took over as Dragons manager in 2024 after serving as a coach on the 2023 Louisville Bats coaching staff. He led the Dragons to the playoffs and a second half division title last year, helping guide them to a 74-58 record. This will be the 5th year in his career as a manager, but his 12 as a member of a minor league coaching staff – he served as a hitting coach in six different seasons before becoming a manager in 2019 with Kane County.
As a player Vince Harrison Jr. was drafted out of Princeton High School in Cincinnati in the 30th round back in 1998 by the Florida Marlins. Instead of signing he opted to head to the University of Kentucky where he played for three years before being drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 13th round in 2001. He played affiliated ball from 2001-2007 for the Devil Rays, Mets, and Marlins organizations before playing for various independent league teams from 2008-2011.
Willie Blair will be taking over as the pitching coach for Dayton this season. After his playing career he moved into a coaching role in 2010 in the San Diego Padres organization that included several seasons as the Padres bullpen coach at the big league level. In 2016 he joined the Detroit Tigers organization where he served as a pitching coach in their farm system through 2021. In 2023 he joined the Reds organization and was the pitching coach for the Daytona Tortugas.
As a player, Willie Blair pitched in parts of 12 big league seasons. His best year came back in 1997 with the Detroit Tigers when he threw 175.0 innings in 27 starts and two relief appearances and posted a 4.17 ERA. That was in the middle of the steroid era and while it might not seem like a 4.17 ERA sticks out, that was an above-average ERA back then and his season that year was good for 3.8 WAR. He spent time pitching in both the rotation and bullpen, throwing nearly 1300 innings in his 418 big league games for Toronto, Cleveland, Houston, Colorado, San Diego, Arizona, New York (Mets), and Detroit.
Troy Gingrich is a newcomer to the Reds organization. He’s been a minor league coach for the last 21 years. His coaching career started in 2004 with the Montreal Expos organization and remained with them after they became the Nationals in one capacity or another through the 2023 season.
As a player, Gingrich played in parts of four seasons with the Expos in their farm system. He played in 369 games between rookie ball and Double-A – all as an outfielder from 2000-2003.
Peterson Plaz is returning to Dayton. Plaz played for Dayton in 2019 – his final year as a player. He also served on the 2023 Dragons coaching staff as the performance coach before serving as the hitting coach last season with the Arizona Complex League Reds. As a player he played in 173 games in Cincinnati’s farm system, playing for the DSL Reds and Rojos, the ACL Reds, the Greeneville Reds, and the Dayton Dragons.