# Cardinals Announce 2026 Player Development And Performance Groups

- Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/cardinals-announce-2026-player-development-and-performance-groups/
- Published: 2025-11-26T09:00:00-06:00
- Author: Eugene Tierney

### **_CARDINALS ANNOUNCE HIRINGS & PROMOTIONS FOR PLAYER DEVELOPMENT & PERFORMANCE GROUPS_**

[⌊Cardinals News Header⌉⌊Cardinals News Header⌉[

**ST. LOUIS, Mo., November 25, 2025 – **The [St. Louis Cardinals](https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/)
announced the following staff hirings for their minor league player development 
and performance groups:

 * **Dalton Hurd **– Director, Hitting
 * **Casey Demko **– Minor League Infield Coordinator
 * **Jason Eary **– Minor League Assistant Coach
 * **[Wade Stauss](https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=stauss000wad&utm_medium=linker&utm_source=www.nyrdcast.com&utm_campaign=2025-11-26_br)**–
   Minor League Assistant Coach
 * **Rodrigo Vigil **– Minor League Assistant Coach
 * **Julian Rip **– Minor League Strength & Conditioning Coordinator
 * **Nick Coberly **– Minor League Assistant Medical Coordinator
 * **Morgan Ivey **–Minor League Rehabilitation Coordinator
 * **Kily Gilbert **– Minor League Athletic Trainer
 * **Jordan Hyink **– Minor League Athletic Trainer

The Cardinals also announced the following promotions within the team’s player development
and performance groups:

 * **Emily Wiebe **– Assistant Director, Player Development & Performance Analytics
 * **Brock Hammit **– Minor League Hitting Coordinator
 * **[Ryan Ludwick](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/ludwiry01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&utm_source=www.nyrdcast.com&utm_campaign=2025-11-26_br)**–
   Minor League Outfield Coordinator
 * **Esmeralda Hernandez **– Coordinator, International Administration
 * **Paige Schultz **– Assistant, Player Development

**New Hires**

**Hurd** joins the Cardinals after coaching last season as a minor league hitting
coordinator in the Baltimore Orioles system. Prior to his time in Baltimore, Dalton
spent two seasons as a hitting coach for the Arizona Complex League Giants in San
Francisco’s system and worked in the private sector at Push Performance and Boss
Sports as both a director of hitting and strength coach. He played professionally
in the Cubs system for two seasons after being selected in the 25^(th) round of 
the 2018 MLB Draft out of Seattle University where he finished his career as the
program’s all-time leader in hits, games started, home runs, RBI, runs and stolen
bases.

**Demko** joins the Cardinals organization as the club’s new minor league infield
coordinator after spending three seasons as an assistant coach at Abilene Christian(
Tex.) University, with an emphasis on infield and team defensive development. Prior
to ACU, he spent three seasons coaching at Quincy (Ill.) University and played collegiately
at Sinclair (Ohio) Community College, Coker (S.C.) University and Ohio State University.

**Eary** joins the organization after spending the last four years as an assistant
coach at St. Louis University, with prior stops at UNLV and Cal State Fullerton,
bringing strong experience in infield and baserunning development.

**Vigil** joins the Cardinals minor league coaching staff following an 11-year professional
playing career and four years of coaching experience in the Blue Jays (three years)
and Mariners (one year) systems. He brings a wealth of experience and passion in
catching and hitting development along with a deep understanding of the day-to-day
demands of professional baseball.

**Stauss** enters his first year of coaching after spending the past five seasons
as a catcher in the Cardinals minor league system. The Wildwood, Mo. native and 
Lafayette High School graduate was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2021 after
playing collegiately at Southeast Missouri State University, reaching as high as
Triple-A Memphis.

**Rip** brings professional baseball experience as a former Division I outfielder
at USC Upstate and most recently served as a strength and conditioning coach in 
the Atlanta Braves minor league system for three seasons. A native of the Netherlands,
Rip was named the South Atlantic League’s 2025 PBSCCS Strength Coach of the Year.

**Coberly** brings valuable professional baseball experience after serving as an
athletic trainer/physical therapist in the San Diego Padres (five seasons) and Minnesota
Twins (three seasons) minor league systems.

**Ivey** joins the organization following fellowship training under renowned sports
medicine expert Dr. Kevin Wilk at Champion Sports Medicine in Birmingham, Ala., 
where she specialized in overhead athlete rehabilitation and post-operative care.

**Gilbert** and **Hyink** join the Cardinals sports medicine department as minor
league athletic trainers. Gilbert most recently spent two seasons in the Houston
Astros organization, while Hyink spanned three seasons across the Tampa Bay Rays
and Detroit Tigers systems.

**Staff Promotions**

**Wiebe** was promoted to Assistant Director after serving as Manager, Player Development
and Performance for the last six seasons. She will continue to be a major contributor
to the team’s minor league player development and performance operations, while 
expanding her responsibilities to include tool creation and management with the 
baseball development group, player plan monitoring, and people management within
the department’s fellow program.

**Hammit** moves into the role of minor league hitting coordinator after serving
as assistant hitting coordinator from 2024-25. In this role, Brock will expand his
impact within the club’s hitting leadership team and help drive the organization’s
hitting development program across the minor league system.

**Ludwick**, now entering his 11^(th) season in the Cardinals Player Development
system, transitions into the minor league outfield coordinator role where he will
build the outfield curriculum and lead programing across the system. The 12-year
Major League veteran and 2008 Silver Slugger has served the organization in multiple
capacities as a Special Assistant, particularly in outfield and hitting development.

**Hernandez**, entering her 10^(th) season with the Cardinals, will help oversee
day-to-day operations at the Dominican Republic academy while serving as a liaison
with Player Development coordinators and contributing to strategic planning and 
implementation of academy programs.

**Schultz** transitions into the Assistant, Player Development role after spending
the past two seasons with the team’s video and technology team. She will support
administrative operations at the Jupiter complex and assist organizational efforts
in language development coordination and visa/immigration administration.

**— STL —**

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