One-time Long Beach State pitching coach Troy Buckley will return to the Dirtbags for the 2009-10 season after spending two years in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, the program announced today.
While with the Pirates, Buckley worked as the coordinator of minor league pitching. He is expected to replace Jon Strauss, who left LBSU over the summer to take an assistant coaching position at Pepperdine.
“Obviously, we’re thrilled to have Troy back with the program. He’s our best recruit of the year,” Dirtbag head coach Mike Weathers said in a press release.
In Buckley’s previous seven-year stint with LBSU, the Dirtbags never had a team ERA higher than 3.75. The LBSU pitching staff ranked among college baseball’s five lowest ERAs in four of those seasons.
The Dirtbags produced three straight Big West Pitchers of the Year from 2002-04 in Jered Weaver and Abe Alvarez.
Buckley has had six pitchers he recruited selected in the first three rounds of the Major League Baseball draft. Weaver, Jason Vargas and Andrew Carpenter, all of whom were recruited by Buckley, are currently playing on Major League rosters.
The Santa Clara alum spent five years as a player in the Minnesota Twins organization, reaching AAA Portland in the Pacific Coast League before making the transition to coaching.