The Houston Astros hired Iowa Western pitching coach Zach Wilkins this week. Wilkins will report to Single-A Fayetteville for the 2023 Minor League Baseball Season, he told Astros Future on Saturday.
After three seasons serving as the pitching coach for Dixie State, Wilkins joined Iowa Western’s staff this offseason. He departed the program for the Astros, who held player development meetings this past week in Houston. Wilkins pitched two seasons at Nevada, before dipping his toes into coaching as a graduate assistant for Arizona for two years.
Wilkins’ father, Dean, was a Major League pitcher for the Astros and the Chicago Cubs from 1989-1992.
John Kovalik was the Woodpeckers pitching coach for the 2022 season, but he still remains with the organization. Following Double-A pitching coach Thomas Whitsett’s promotion to assistant minor league pitching coordinator and High-A pitching coach Jose Rada’s departure for San Diego, Kovalik is likely finding himself in Corpus Christi or Asheville in 2023.
Quick Hits
- Prospects Parker Mushinski, David Hensley, Korey Lee, Hunter Brown and Joe Perez were at Astros FanFest on Saturday at Minute Maid Park. Lee replaced J.J. Matijevic on the Astros Caravan trip to Sugar Land on Friday.
- Dominican Summer League Astros Blue manager Manuel Alfonsin on player development meetings: “(I) can’t tell you how much I learned on the past three days. (I am) super grateful for being able to share with the best player development staff in baseball. We have an amazing organization with excellent people and outstanding processes. (I am) truly blessed to be an Astro.”
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