(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Federazione Italiana Baseball Softball)
 Longtime Major League-coaches Dave Righetti and Ron Wotus in Italian WBC-staff
Nederlands
...Former Major Leaguer Dave Righetti...
...Pitching Coach...
(© Photo: Fed. Italiana Baseball Softball) |
 ROME (Italy) -
The Federazione Italiana Baseball Softball (FIBS) on Monday (February 2) announced the complete coaching-staff of the Italian Baseball Team for the upcoming World Baseball Classic in March.
The Italian coaching-staff will be led by Francisco Cervelli, who was named Manager a year ago.
On January 15, it was announced that former New York Yankees-catcher Jorge Posada will be a member of the coaching-staff.
He will be one of the two Hitting Coaches.
Now, it was confirmed that longtime Major League-coaches Dave Righetti and Ron Wotus also will be part of what will be a very experienced coaching-staff.
Righetti will be one of the two Pitching Coaches, Wotus will be the Bench Coach.
Daniele Mattioli (FIBS) reported:
With Thursday, February 5th, as the day when the official rosters for all participating national teams will be announced, the Italian National Baseball Team is pleased to announce the names of the coaches who will make up manager Francisco Cervelli's coaching-staff for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
They are Bench Coach Ron Wotus, First Base Coach Allard Baird, Third Base Coach Lipso Nava, Pitching Coaches Dave Righetti and Alessandro Maestri, Bullpen Coach Sal Fasano and Hitting Coaches Frank Menechino and the previously announced Jorge Posada.
Mattioli added:
The entire coaching staff will meet in Phoenix on March 1st, along with the entire delegation that will attend the event for a few days of training for those called up for the tournament, which begins March 6th in Houston, Texas.
Dave Righetti not only coached many years, he also has a long and Major League pitching-career.
He played in 17 seasons, including 12 with New York Yankees (1979-1990).
Righetti also played for San Francisco Giants (1991-1993), Oakland Athletics (1994), Toronto Blue Jays (1994) and Chicago White Sox (1995).
Righetti was Rookie of the Year in 1981, played in two All-Star Games (1986, 1987) and threw a No-Hitter in 1983.
Righetti was the Pitching Coach of San Francisco Giants in 2000-2017 under Managers Dusty Baker, Felipe Alou and Bruce Bochy.
In 2023, Righetti was the Bullpen Coach of the USA Team during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
...Former Major Leaguer Ron Wotus...
...Bench Coach...
(© Photo: Fed. Italiana Baseball Softball) |
Ron Wotus, who played in two Major League-seasons for Pittsburgh Pirates (1983-1984), was a member of the coaching-staff of San Francisco Giants in 24 seasons as 3B Coach (five seasons) and Bench Coach (19 seasons) in 1998-2021.
He also served under Managers Dusty Baker, Felipe Alou and Bruce Bochy, plus Gabe Kapler.
Righetti and Wotus were part of the successful San Francisco Giants-teams that won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014 when Bruce Bochy was the Manager.
Former Netherlands Team-Manager Hensley Meulens was the Hitting Coach in that successful coaching-staff.
Meulens succeeded Wotus as Bench Coach after the 2017 season, while Wotus returned to his original position of 3B Coach.
Allard Baird will be the 1B Coach and was Cervelli's Bench Coach in 2025.
Baird was the General Manager of Kansas City Royals (2000-2006) after having been a Minor League Hitting Coach and a scout.
After having worked in the Royals-organization for 18 years, Baird was with Boston Red Sox in 2006-2018.
In these years, he was Assistant General Manager, Vice-President/Director Professional Scouting and later Senior Vice-President of Player Personnel.
While working for Boston, the team won the World Series in 2007, 2013 and 2018.
Netherlands Team-player Xander Bogaerts played for Boston in 2013-2022.
Baird worked for the General Manager of New York Mets in November 2018-November 2020 and was Assistant General Manager of Arizona Diamondbacks in June 2021-2023.
In 2024, Baird coached the team of Fiorentina in the Italian Baseball League.
Venezuelan Lipso Nava will be the 3B Coach in Cervelli's staff.
As infielder, Nava played in seven Minor League-seasons (1990-1995, 1997) in the organizations of Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs.
In 1996 and then in 1998-2007, Nava played in Independent Leagues and in Mexico, Taiwan and Venezuela.
In 2011-2012, 2016, 2018 and 2022, Nava was Manager of a San Francisco Giants Minor League-team.
Frank Menechino will be Hitting Coach with Jorge Posada.
As second baseman, Menechino played in the Major League for Oakland Athletics (1999-2004) and Toronto Blue Jays (2004-2005).
Menechino was the Hitting Coach of Miami Marlins in 2014-2018 and of Chicago White Sox in 2020-2022.
He also was a Minor League Hitting Coach for New York Yankees and White Sox.
In 2008, Menechino played for Nettuno in Italy after having played for Italy in 2006 during the first edition of the World Baseball Classic when Matt Galante was the Manager.
...Former pro Alessandro Maestri...
...Pitching Coach...
(© Photo: Fed. Italiana Baseball Softball) |
Bullpen Coach Sal Fasano played in 11 Major League-seasons for nine teams: Kansas City Royals (1996–1999; 2001), Oakland Athletics (2000–2001), Colorado Rockies (2001), Anaheim Angels (2002), Baltimore Orioles (2005), Philadelphia Phillies (2006), New York Yankees (2006), Toronto Blue Jays (2007) and Cleveland Indians (2008).
Fasano was a Minor League-Manager for Toronto Blue Jays in 2010-2012 and for Los Angeles Angels in 2017, winning the Eastern League-titel (AA) in 2011.
With Toronto, Fasano was a Minor League-Catching Coordinator in 2013-2014 and Pitching Coordinator in 2015-2016.
He then was the Major League-Catching Coach of Atlanta Braves in 2018-2024 and Assistant Pitching Coach of Los Angeles Angels in 2025.
During the 2017 World Baseball Classic, Fasano was the Bench Coach of Italy, which then was led by Manager Marco Mazzieri, who is the current FIBS-President.
Alessandro 'Alex' Maestri will be back as Italy's Pitching Coach), which he also was last year.
He played professionally in the Minor Leagues for Chicago Cubs in 2006-2010 (Single-A and Double-A).
Besides playing in Italy, the former pitcher also was active in other professional leagues and was the first European-raised pitcher to play in Japan.
Maestri played for Brisbane Bandits (2011/2012) and Sydney Blue Sox (2018/2019 & 2019/2020) in Australia, Orix Buffaloes in Japan (2012-2015), Hanwha Eagles in South Korea (2016) and Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz in Mexico (2017).
In 2023, Maestri was a coach at the Dominican Academy of Pittsburgh Pirates and in 2024, he was the Pitching Coach of Team Europe for the Global Baseball Games.
As pitcher of the Italian National Team, Maestri participated in the first four World Baseball Classics (2006, 2009, 2013, 2017) and also the World Championship (2007), Premier12 (2015), Intercontinental Cup (2006), European Championship (2007) and Baseball Week Haarlem (2018).
In the First Round of the Classic, Italy will play in Pool B (March 6-11) with Brazil, Great Britain, Mexico and the USA.
The games in this Pool will be played in Daikin Park, the home of Major League-team Houston Astros in Houston, Texas (USA).
Italy will play its first game on March 7 against Brazil.
In the week before, Italy will play two exhibition-games in Arizona.
On March 3, Italy meets Chicago Cubs in Mesa and on March 4, Los Angeles Angels will be the opponent in Tempe.
The following day, the team will fly from Phoenix to Houston.
Pool A (March 6-11) is comprised of Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico.
Games will be played in Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan (Puerto Rico).
Playing in Pool C (March 5-10) are Australia, Chinese Taipei, Czechia, Japan (reigning champion) and South Korea in the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo (Japan).
The Dominican Republic, Israel, the Netherlands, Nicaragua and Venezuela play in Pool D (March 6-11) in LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida.
(February 2)
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