Pete Zamora Returns as El Paso Chihuahuas Manager for 2026 Season

The El Paso Chihuahuas confirmed that Pete Zamora will return as manager for the 2026 Triple-A season, entering his third campaign at the helm of San Diego’s top affiliate. The move preserves managerial continuity crucial to developing Padres prospects and positions the Chihuahuas to compete while marketing season seats and membership packages around a familiar leader.

Zamora arrives with a full staff that balances experience and analytical support. Scott Mitchell will serve as pitching coach with Jimmy Jones as assistant pitching coach, giving the pitching staff layered instruction from veteran hands. Ben Rosenthal will oversee hitting, Miguel Del Castillo will be bench coach, and Chris Turrisi joins as performance analyst to integrate data into everyday preparation. Athletic trainers Carlos Olivas and Micah Gerhart and strength coach A.J. Russell round out the support team, reflecting an organizational emphasis on player health and year-round development.

The Chihuahuas open on the road March 27 at Sacramento and will play their home opener April 7 at Southwest University Park against Albuquerque. Those dates frame a spring in which Zamora and his coaches will finalize roles, trim the roster, and ready both veterans and rising prospects for Triple-A workloads. The club’s announcement also included staff bios and contact information for season seats and membership packages, underlining the commercial push tied to continuity in leadership.

From a baseball standpoint, Zamora’s return signals a focus on steady development and the kind of daily accountability that matters in Triple-A. With Scott Mitchell and Jimmy Jones handling the pitching staff, expect an emphasis on workload management and mechanical tuning for arms poised between Triple-A and the big leagues. Ben Rosenthal’s presence suggests a more data-informed approach to hitters’ plate work, with Chris Turrisi’s analysis likely used to customize reps and matchups. The combined medical and strength staff implies an investment in preventing midseason attrition, a priority for parent-club depth.

On the business side, retaining Zamora helps the Chihuahuas sell a narrative to fans: continuity, familiarity, and a clear path for prospects to reach San Diego. Southwest University Park will be central to that narrative as season-ticket renewals and membership packages go on offer. The scheduling announcement - a March 27 road opener and an April 7 home debut - gives front-office planners concrete milestones to drive marketing and community initiatives.

Zamora’s third season will be measured by wins, of course, but also by how effectively his staff prepares pitchers and hitters for the next level and how the organization converts stability into attendance and sustained engagement. The next checkpoints are spring games and early-season rotations, when the coaching staff’s approach and the roster’s composition will reveal how serious the Chihuahuas are about contending and supplying impact talent to the Padres.