Former Evansville Otters pitcher and pitching coach Brendan Sagara has been named as a co-pitching coach for the Texas Rangers at the Major League level.
 Sagara played for the Otters in 1999, appearing in four games while accumulating a 1.69 ERA. In his 5 1/3 innings on the mound, he struck out four batters, allowed eight hits and surrendered one earned run.
 The Wahiawa, Hawaii native later served as Evansville’s pitching coach in 2008 under manager Jason Verdugo and also served as acting manager briefly during that same season when Verdugo was ill.
 Under his leadership in 2008, the Otters pitching staff finished with a 4.78 team ERA with 661 strikeouts and 355 walks. Evansville native Adam Rogers started 20 games for the Otters that season, finishing 8-7 with a 4.19 ERA.
 “I really enjoyed my time there as a player,” Sagara said. “I have always maintained a strong affinity for the city and its people. Evansville is truly one of the special places in professional baseball.”
 Sagara was scheduled to be the pitching coach for the Nashville Sounds in 2020 before the MiLB season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He ended up coaching at the Rangers’ alternate training site this year.
In 2018, Sagara was named the minor league pitching coordinator for the Chicago Cubs organization. He also worked in player development with the Miami Marlins organization before that.
 He was also an associate scout for the New York Mets from 2006-09 and a part-time scout for the Atlanta Braves from 2010-11. He was the pitching coach for five other Frontier League teams including; Dubois County (2001-02), Kenosha (2003), Springfield/Ozark (2004), Windy City (2007) and Southern Illinois (2009).
 “I’m very excited about the promotion (with the Rangers),” Sagara said. “I would not be where I am now without the Frontier League.”
The Evansville Otters are the 2006 and 2016 Frontier League champions.
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