Photo: Doug Gray
The 2026 Cincinnati Reds Media Guide was just made available to me this week and within it is a treasure trove of data and information for those of us in the media. One of the things that is included that is useful right now is that it filled in the coaching staffs for the complex league teams. Today we’re gonna look at the last of the five teams on the Reds farm system here in the US – the Arizona Complex League Reds. Much of the coaching staff is new this season.
Gary Van Tol is the manager in 2026 for the complex league Reds. He is in his second season with the organization. Last year he was on the coaching staff for the ACL Reds and was listed as a “coach”, but nothing more definitive than that. Prior to joining the Reds organization he was the manager of the Boise Hawks of the Pioneer League and was the head coach for Boise State from 2018-2020. Van Tol was with the Chicago Cubs organization from 2008-2017 and worked in a variety of roles with them in player development.
Something we have been seeing for the last few years is multiple pitching and hitting coaches at some levels in the minor leagues. That’s the case once again for the complex league Reds. Both of the pitching coaches this season will be different in 2026 than the guys who served in the role in 2025. And they are also both new to the organization with Andrew Elliot and Geremi Azcarate coming on to serve as the two pitching coaches.
Andrew Elliott most recently served as the bullpen coach for Northern Kentucky University. He spent two years in that role. Before that he was the pitching coach at Lincoln Trail College for two years and Lee University for two seasons. As a player he spent his college career at Wright State where he pitched in 75 games and had a 2.23 ERA while racking up 25 saves in his career before being drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 30th round of 2015’s draft. He pitched with them for two seasons in their farm system and then played independent league baseball for two seasons after that.
Geremi Azcarate will be the other pitching coach, and he’ll also serve as the rehab coach at the complex for pitchers coming back from injury who are out in Arizona. He previously worked for Driveline as a pitching instructor. As a player he pitched in the Reds farm system for one season back in 2015.
Michael Beltre will be the hitting coach this season. He’s spent the previous three seasons as a coach with the organization at the Dominican Summer League complex. Beltre also spent a year as a scout with the Boston Red Sox. As a player he spent 2013-2019 in the Reds organization, reaching Double-A. In 2020 he signed with the New York Yankees and played with them for two seasons, reaching Triple-A before retiring after the 2022 season.
Bryan LaHair is now in his 9th season with the organization. He has been a coach with the Louisville Bats the previous three seasons and he’ll now have that same role out in Arizona. LaHair began his career in the organization as a hitting coach with the Billings Mustangs in 2018 before becoming their manager in 2019. In 2021 he managed the ACL Reds before taking over as the Dayton Dragons manager in the two years that followed. As a player he spent three years in MLB and was a National League All-Star in 2012.
Takashi Miyoshi is now in his 3rd season with the Reds organization, but his first in the US after spending the previous two years with the club as a coach in the Dominican Summer League. Before he joined Cincinnati he spent six years working in the Minnesota Twins farm system in various coaching roles.
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