St. Cloud, MN – The St. Cloud Rox and Northwoods League take pride in helping high level baseball players, coaches and front office employees develop their respective skills and prepare them for the next level.  Today it was announced one of these individuals, 2014 Rox Pitching Coach J.P. Martinez, has made the next step in his career by joining the Minnesota Twins organization as a pitching coach at the minor league level.

Martinez first spent time in St. Cloud during the summer of 2003.  That season he lead the Northwoods League with 17 saves as the closer (a mark that is still the 8^th best single season total in league history).  He returned to St. Cloud in 2014 as the Rox Pitching Coach.  Under his leadership the Rox placed nine pitchers on the Northwoods League Top 200 Prospect Report. It was part of the reason he decided to make the step to the professional coaching ranks. “Working with all those talented guys made me hungry to keep working with players at that crucial age in their development,” said Martinez. 

As a pitching coach in the Twins organization, Martinez will be in Fort Myers, Florida working mostly with Rookie Level pitchers in the Gulf Coast League.  He will also work with full season pitchers while they rehab injuries at the Twins complex in Fort Myers. Having played in the Twins minor league system for four years, he says it feels somewhat like a homecoming to be back with the team that drafted him in the 9^th round in 2004.  The Louisiana native said, “I was drafted by Minnesota based on my summer as a player in St. Cloud, so Minnesota has always been tied to my career and had a big influence on everything from how I played the game to my coaching philosophy.”

Field Manager, Augie Rodriguez will return for his fourth season leading the team along with assistant coach Phil Imholte.  The Rox will open the 2015 season in late May.  Season and group tickets are currently available by contacting the Rox Box Office at (320) 240-9798.  The entire 2015 schedule is set to be released later this week.