Griffin named for third season with USA Baseball in PDP League
CARY, N.C. - For the third year in a row, Carson-Newman baseball coach Tom Griffin was named one of the four managers for the partnership between Major League Baseball and USA Baseball for the 2023 Prospect Development Pipeline League announced on Friday.
CARY, N.C. - For the third year in a row, Carson-Newman baseball coach Tom Griffin was named one of the four managers for the partnership between Major League Baseball and USA Baseball for the 2023 Prospect Development Pipeline League announced on Friday.
In 2021, Griffin helped guide team Light Blue to the PDP League Championship. He was assisted by Swarthmore College Assistant Coach Andre Butler, and four-time USA Baseball alum and Idaho Falls Chukars hitting coach, Billy Butler. Former MLB All-Star and World Series Champion Brad Penny served as the pitching coach for title-winning team.
A year ago in 2022, he was joined by 17-year Major League hurler Greg Swindell as his pitching coach, two-time All-Star and Cincinnati Reds legend Dmitri Young and Rucker Taylor leading Team Navy to a tiebreaker game against eventual champion Team Light Blue.
This season, the veteran leader will coach the Grey team with pitching coach two-time All-Star and 2003 World Series Champion with the Florida Marlins, Brad Penny. Denard Span, one of the assistants, played 11 years in the Show collecting nearly 1,500 hits with five teams. Rounding out the coaching staff is Rick Carpenter, former Dallas High School coach and father of three-time All-Star and 13-year big leaguer Matt Carpenter.
The PDP League is set up for 96 high school players eligible for the 2024 MLB Draft. It provides athletes with an unprecedented amateur experience, including competitive gameplay, player development sessions, educational seminars, and other programming to prepare players for a professional baseball career. The event will take place at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. from June 26-July 3. It will include on-field game play, practice and training sessions in addition to former MLB players, USA Baseball Alumni and national team coaches to leverage modern technologies to inform individualized player curriculum.
After concluding his 18th season at Mossy Creek, Griffin has won 501 games for the Eagles and 682 as a college head coach. In 2023, the club won at least 25 games for the eighth straight full season of baseball. He has coached five MLB draft picks in his time and 22 total professional players highlighted by current Washington National and USA Baseball alumnus Steve Cishek, who represented the country in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
For more information regarding the PDP League, you can visit the website or follow on Twitter and Instagram with the full coaching staff and roster of players available from USA Baseball's official release.
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