Spokane Indians announce 2024 field staff; manager Robinson Cancel back for second season
The Spokane Indians announced their field staff for the 2024 season on Wednesday, highlighted by the return of manager Robinson Cancel and bench coach Joe Mikulik.
Cancel enters his second season as Spokane’s manager and his eighth overall season as a coach in the Colorado Rockies’ organization. The club went 62-67 overall in his first season with the Indians. He joined Spokane following playoff berths in 2021 and 2022 with the Single-A Fresno Grizzlies.
Cancel previously served as a coach with Short-Season Boise in 2017, his first season with the Rockies, and spent two seasons in the Atlanta Braves’ organization as the manager of Rookie Level Danville (2016) and the Gulf Coast League Braves (2015). Cancel was originally drafted by Milwaukee in 1994 and played parts of four major league seasons with Milwaukee (1999), the New York Mets (2008-09) and Houston (2011).
Mikulik returns to Spokane’s bench coach role after joining the Rockies’ organization in 2023. Previously, he was Single-A Asheville’s manager from 2000-12. The Weimar, Texas, native began his coaching career in 1995 in the Cleveland organization. Mikulik served as a manager in the Rangers’ system from 2014-19 before becoming the hitting coach for the Grand Junction Rockies in 2021 and manager of the Rocky Mountain Vibes in 2022, both of the Pioneer League. Prior to his coaching career, Mikulik played in the Astros’ minor league system from 1984-1994, reaching Triple-A.
Blaine Beatty embarks on his sixth season in the Rockies’ organization, his 27th season coaching, and his first as the pitching coach with the Indians. In 2022-23, Beatty was the pitching coach for Double-A Hartford, and previously served in a similar role with Albuquerque (2021) and Grand Junction (2019). Prior to joining the Rockies, Beatty spent 12 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles organization (2006-18), three seasons in the New York Mets organization (2003-05) and five seasons in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization (1998-2002). As a player, Beatty was drafted by the Orioles in the ninth round of the 1986 MLB Draft and totaled 12 seasons in the minor leagues. He debuted in 1989 with the Mets and appeared in seven big gamesfrom 1989-91.
Tom Sutaris enters his first season as Spokane’s hitting coach and his seventh in the Rockies’ organization after spending the past three seasons with Hartford as a hitting coach. He spent 2018-19 with High-A Lancaster and previously served as an assistant baseball coach at the University of Incarnate Word in 2017 and a special assistant for the University of Texas baseball team from 2014-17. The New Jersey native played professionally in the independent Frontier Baseball League from 1993-96, earning All-Star nods in 1993 and 1996, while also serving as the team’s hitting coach in 1995.