It is often said that the only constant in life is change. If one thing could epitomize this age-old adage, it’s minor league baseball. Yes, the Hop Stove is at times philosophical.

The turnover year-to-year is truly remarkable. Every year, we have new players, new faces, new stories, new villains, and new heroes. In some cases, we have turnover for good reasons, in the form of promotions. Other times, it is for not-so-good reasons, as some players face the reality of demotions or releases. We always want our favorite players to succeed. It is ultimately a business, and in a game as sentimental as baseball, as fans, it is eternally difficult to separate emotion from evaluation.

But this post is one to smile about: former Hillsboro Hops manager J.R. House has been promoted and named the manager of the Advanced-A Visalia Rawhide of the California League. Advanced-A is littered with future major-league talent, and our former skipper will play an integral role in molding future Arizona Diamondback stars.

This promotion for House is the latest in what has been a meteoric rise for this coaching prospect. He got his first coaching gig in 2012 as the hitting coach of the Pioneer League Missoula Osprey where they won a championship, before jumping to Hillsboro in 2013 to fill the same role here. In 2014, he took the helm as manager of the Hillsboro Hops, and led the team to the best record across all of Short-Season baseball, and a Northwest League Championship. If you’re counting, that’s two rings in three years in the dugout.

House undoubtedly will take a lot of lessons from his time in Hillsboro to Visalia. He had the luxury of working with Mark Grace and Doug Drabek in Hillsboro, who both have tremendous baseball experience and helped him along the way.

House has proven himself to be an effective motivator and communicator with his baseball teams. Just like pitchers and hitters are constantly evaluated as prospects in the minor leagues, so too are coaches. His rise through the system can be likened to pitcher Jimmie Sherfy leapfrogging his way through the minors. House’s next challenge is with the Visalia Rawhide, who open the season April 9th against the Stockton Ports. It will be an adjustment for J.R. as he moves from short-season baseball into a full-season schedule.

Here in Hillsboro, we support all of our fellow Diamondback affiliates, but we’ll be keeping another eye on our friend in Visalia. We wish J.R. and the Rawhide continued success next year and into the future. Congratulations on your promotion Housey, and good luck. Thanks for the ring.

#RollHide