Rays Name Quatraro As Third Base Coach
The Rays brought back a familiar face as their new third base coach on Tuesday. Matt Quatraro, a former Rays minor league player and coach who had been the Indians assistant hitting coach the past four seasons, has rejoined Tampa Bay.
Quatraro replaces Charlie Montoyo, who was elevated to bench coach on the staff. Quatraro is familiar with Kevin Cash, having coached with him in Cleveland, and having been a coach in the Rays organization when Cash played with Tampa Bay.
In addition to coaching third, Cash says Quatraro will work with the catchers, and have an opportunity to assist Kyle Snyder and Stan Boroski in game-planning with pitchers and catchers. Cash explained in a morning conference call that he was excited to add Quatraro to the staff:
Quatraro explained in that call that he was excited to return to the Rays, and it was not something he was initially anticipating:
Quatraro has coached third in the Arizona Fall League, for four seasons as a minor league manager, and in successive winters in Venezuela.
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Cash says the final hire of the staff, the first base coach, will come after the World Series. The Rays are interviewing for that position now, and that individual will also be the assistant hitting coach to Chad Mottola, and will work on base running.
Rocco Baldelli, who was the first base coach, will continue be an on-field coach, working with the outfielders, defensive positioning, as well as some additional roles.
Prior to joining the Indians, Quatraro spent his entire baseball career with the Rays organization. From 2010–13, Quatraro was a minor league hitting coordinator for Tampa Bay. Prior to that, he spent four seasons as a minor league manager, with Class-A Bowling Green (2009), Class-A Columbus (2008) and Short-A Hudson Valley (2006–07). Quatraro’s coaching career began midway through the 2004 season, as a catching instructor and coach with Hudson Valley.
An eighth-round selection by the Rays in the 1996 June Draft, he played seven seasons in the Rays system as a catcher, first baseman and outfielder, reaching Triple-A Durham in 2002. He became the first player in organization history to hit for the cycle on July 6, 1997 against Class-A Hickory. Over 415 career minor league games, he hit .286/.343/.416 (415-for-1,451) with 23 home runs and 202 RBI.
