Manager Ross Peeples has announced his coaching staff for the 2024 season, it was announced today by Lancaster Stormers officials.
Peeples will bring his entire two-time defending champion corps back. In addition, veteran outfielder Trayvon Robinson will officially join the staff as a player/hitting coach, a role which he handled on an unofficial basis in 2023.
The 44-year old Peeples will take the reigns of the Stormers for a seventh season. He has amassed 392 wins against 388 losses over the past six campaigns. The former left-handed pitcher won the Atlantic League’s Manager of the Year honor in 2017, guided his team to the playoffs as a wild card team in 2018 and, after two losing seasons, captured the Atlantic League title over his past two seasons.
A former New York Mets farmhand, Peeples spent ten seasons as a member of Lancaster’s pitching staff, appearing in 374 games. He became the team’s bench coach in 2015 before assuming the role as manager in 2017.
Former Lampeter-Strasburg star Jeff Bianchi will be back for his fourth season on the staff, serving now under the title of hitting coordinator. As was the case in 2023, Bianchi will only work with the Stormers during home games and selected away contests in order to make time for his family and his baseball training academy.
Mark Johnson will return for a third season as the team’s pitching coach. The one-time Detroit Tigers’ right-hander and former first round pick of the Houston Astros coached in the Detroit farm system for 15 years prior to his arrival in Lancaster. The Stormers have won the Atlantic League title both years with Johnson on the staff.
Former Major League scout Troy Steffy joins Peeples on the full-time staff as the bench coach and head of baseball operations for a fifth season. The Lancaster resident worked for Toronto, Tampa Bay and Houston and has also worked in the physical training of athletes over the years. In addition to coaching first base and assisting Peeples with game management, Steffy oversees the clubhouse operation, transportation and the business side of the baseball management.
Robinson, 36, initially joined the Stormers in 2016 following a trade with the Somerset Patriots. The switch hitting outfielder played with Lancaster through 2018 before heading to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Class AAA Indianapolis club in 2019. He was to be with the Chicago White Sox organization in 2020 before the minor league season was cancelled. Robinson rejoined the Stormers in 2021. He sat out the start of 2022 before agreeing to return in June, 2022. He has played a key role in the last two championship seasons.
The Los Angeles native ranks among Stormers career leaders in games, runs, hits, doubles and walks.
“We are thrilled to be returning our entire coaching staff,” said Stormers president and general manager Mike Reynolds. “We feel strongly about having consistency in our clubhouse. Ross has built a team that works well together, trusts each other and builds great relationships with the athletes who are fortunate to put on a Stormers uniform. We are excited to get Ross, Mark, Troy and Jeff together again for another summer of Stormers baseball. Adding Trayvon to our team as a player/coach only enhances our already successful staff.”