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New manager for Blue Rocks in 2019

The Wilmington Blue Rocks have a new manager for the upcoming 2019 season.

The Rocks announced Monday that Scott Thorman will guide the Kansas City Royals’ high-A affiliate this year.

Thorman is 15th manager in modern Blue Rocks history and replaces Darryl Kennedy, who moves up to lead the Royals’ Double-A squad, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.

The 36-year-old Thorman spend the last two seasons handling Royals' Low-A affiliate in Lexington, Kentucky.  Before that, he managed Kansas City’s Rookie League team in Burlington, North Carolina.

Thorman played two years in the majors with Atlanta in 2006 and 2007.  He hit 16 homers and drove in 50 runs in 177 games.

Steve Luebber returns to Wilmington to serve as Blue Rocks’ pitching coach after two years coaching at Double-A.  He's been with the Royals' organization for 14 years.  The 2019 season will be Luebber's 10th in Wilmington.  No one has coached more seasons with the Blue Rocks.

And a former Blue Rock player, Larry Sutton, will serve as hitting coach.  He played in Wilmington in 1994, and hit a team-record 26 homers that season.

The Blue Rocks’ 2019 season opens April 4th at home against the Salem Red Sox.

Tom Byrne has been a fixture covering news in Delaware for three decades. He joined Delaware Public Media in 2010 as our first news director and has guided the news team ever since. When he's not covering the news, he can be found reading history or pursuing his love of all things athletic.