Cape Catfish hire new manager for 2024 season

The college baseball season is in full swing. Big League ballplayers are gearing up for the 2024 season in Florida and Arizona spring training camps. For fans of America’s pastime, it’s a glorious time of year. The smell of fresh cut grass. The sounds of wood (or aluminum) bats hitting baseballs. This time of year, every team has a chance of winning. Spring brings with it a renewed hope in dugouts and fields from high school teams to college programs to the pros.

While many teams have or will soon start their seasons, the Cape Catfish are still a couple months away from the start of their 2024 campaign.

The Catfish recently announced they have hired a new manager for their two-month summer season. Phil Butler will serve as the skipper of the Cape Girardeau Prospect League squad. Butler is a Texas native, where he helps operate his family’s 160-acre ranch.

Tom Davis recently reported in a story for the Southeast Missourian and Semoball.com that Butler is a member of the Shawnee State University (NAIA) Athletic Hall of Fame. Not only did he play baseball for the school, but he coached there as well (eight years as an assistant and four as head coach).

Butler was on the team that won the American Mideast Conference Championship in 2010 and the Mid-South Conference Tournament Championship in 2011. In the latter season, Butler hit .356 with a .422 on-base percentage and a .611 slugging percentage. He had 10 home runs, with 21 doubles and 74 RBIs.

The new manager is familiar with Cape Girardeau. He previously played with the Southern Illinois Miners in Marion, Illinois, and the team played preseason games at Capaha Field.

Butler also managed the Southern Ohio Copperheads for three seasons. In 2018, the team won the league title and Butler was recognized with Manager of the Year honors.

The Catfish also hired a new assistant coach in Edgar Martinez. The 26-year-old spent the last three years working in the Houston Astros organization as a video technology assistant, bullpen catcher and assistant coach.

The team will open the season on the road at Jackson, Tennessee, against the Rockabillys on Wednesday, May 29. The home opener will be Thursday, May 30, at Capaha Field against the Full Count Rhythm.

We’re excited to welcome these new coaches to Cape Girardeau this summer. The Catfish always do a solid job of recruiting top talent, and this year is shaping up to be another impressive crew.