After securing a two-year extension as manager of the LBPRC’s Cangrejeros de Santurce in March, Omar Lopez announced his coaching staff for his second season leading the historic franchise.
Lopez, who is the bench coach for Major League Baseball‘s Houston Astros and the manager of the Venezuela national team, went 21-19 in his first season leading the Cangrejeros, finishing second in the six-team league and getting eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by their in-city rival, the Senadores de San Juan, four games to one. He led Venezuela to the quarterfinals of the 2023 World Baseball Classic and a fourth-place finish at the 2024 WBSC Premier12. In winter ball, he has also managed Venezuela’s Caribes de Anzoategui to the league title in 2014-15, winning the manager of the year award in the Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional.
Joining Lopez in the Cangrejeros dugout this winter will be Luis Matos, who will serve as the bench coach; Hecmart Nieves and Lester Garcia will be assistant coaches. Petie Montero was named hitting coach, while Wigberto Nevárez will coach first base, and Ricky Rivera will coach third base. José “Cheo” Rosado will be the pitching coach, Kevin Torres will coach the catchers, and Yovan González will be the bullpen coach.
Matos played parts of seven seasons in Major League Baseball with the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, and played eight seasons of winter ball, first appearing in the 2007 Caribbean Series with Puerto Rico’s Gigantes de Carolina, who hosted the event. He appeared in eight games the next winter with the Bravos de Margarita of the LVBP, and then returned to Puerto Rico, playing for Caguas in 2009-10 and 2010-11, Ponce in 2011-12, Santurce in 2012-13 and 2013-14, and finished 2013-14 with Carolina. In total, he appeared in 223 winter ball games, batting .276 with nine homers and 86 RBIs.
Nevárez appeared in five games for Santurce in 2014-15 while he was an Atlanta Braves farmhand.
Rivera has managed in the Astros organization for the last five seasons and has a 37-70 record with Double-A Corpus Christi this season.
Rosado pitched for five seasons in MLB with the Kansas City Royals from 1996 to 2000, making 125 appearances and posting a 4.27 ERA across 720 1/3 innings.
Torres appeared in 50 LBPRC games over nine seasons with Caguas, Ponce, and Mayaguez, batting .163 with four RBIs.
González played 123 games in the LBPRC over 10 seasons with Mayaguez, Aguadilla, and Santurce, batting .235 with two homers and 39 RBIs.
The Cangrejeros will be looking for their 17th LBPRC title in 2025-26, and their first since 2019-20, when the season begins in November. The league has yet to release its schedule for the coming season.
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Photo: Omar López (22) looks on during batting practice before a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Kevin M. Cox)
