Houston Astros name Joe Thon new manager of Hooks

Joe Thon, the son of former Major Leaguer Dickie Thon, was named the new boss of the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Houston Astros announced on Thursday.

Joining Thon, 31, with the Hooks will be pitching coach John Kovalik, hitting coach Bobby Bell, development coach Vincent Blue, athletic trainer Takeaki Ando and strength coach Matt Jones.

Thon, Kovalik, Blue, and Jones all served in the same capacity at Class A Fayetteville (N.C.) during the 2022 season. Ando is the lone returner to Corpus Christi, with Bell recently joined the organization.

The ninth manager in 18 seasons of Hooks baseball, Thon was also Fayetteville’s development coach in 2021. His tenure with the Astros includes a 2019 business internship.

Thon is a former infielder drafted by the Blue Jays in the fifth round in 2010 out of Academia Perpetuo Socorro in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Thon played in parts of seven minor league seasons, with all but one coming in the Toronto system. The final year of his playing career was 2017 when he advanced to Double-A Springfield in the St. Louis organization. Thon closed the year with Sugar Land of the independent Atlantic League.

Thon's father, Dickie, played in 15 Major League seasons with Houston, the Phillies, Angels, Rangers, Padres and Brewers. Dickie Thon was a National League All-Star, won the silver slugger award and finished seventh in MVP voting in 1983 as part of a seven-season run with the Astros.

"I’m very excited about the upcoming season,” Joe Thon said in a release from the Hooks. “Our staff and I understand this is a big responsibility to get the guys ready to contribute at the big-league level. We’ve known a lot of these players as rookies and it’s nice to see how they have matured and developed."

Kovalik is in his fourth season with Houston. Prior to coaching Fayetteville pitchers last year, Kovalik coached Astros rookie-ballers in 2019 and 2021 at Tri-City (N.Y) and the Florida Complex League.

Entering his first year with Houston, Bell has spent more than 20 years in professional baseball. In addition to coaching in the Anaheim Angels, Miami Marlins and Milwaukee Brewers organizations, he has worked in independent ball while leading hitting clinics across the country.

Blue, a product of Lamar High School in Houston, enters his second season as a member of the Astros player development staff. Selected in the 10th round of the 2001 draft, he played outfield for parts of seven seasons in the Tigers system.

Ando is back with Corpus Christi for a second consecutive season. Jones is preparing for his third season as an Astros minor league strength coach, working in the Florida Complex League before his Fayetteville stop last year.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Joe Thon named new manager of Corpus Christi Hooks