Dernier Orozco

Dernier A Orozco

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lb.

• Born January 22, 1982 in Puerto Cabello, Carabobo, Venezuela

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Dernier Orozco was a minor league player and coach. He had a 2-2, 1.88 record for Ciudad Alianza in 2002, then was 4-2 with a 6.09 ERA for the 2003 GCL Red Sox.

Orozco coached for the Tigres de Aragua in 2004. He was pitching coach of the VSL Cardinals from 2006-2008 and the GCL Cardinals in 2009. Orozco returned to the VSL Cardinals as pitching coach in 2010 and the GCL Cardinals in 2011. He moved up to the Batavia Muckdogs in 2012 where his staff notched a 3.08 ERA, good for fourth-best in the New York-Penn League (NYPL). Orozco spent 2013-2014 coaching for the State College Spikes. Under Orozco's guidance the 2013 Spikes reached the NYPL Finals with a league-best 2.80 ERA. The following year the Spikes won the NYPL Championship and finished second in the league as a pitching staff with a 2.97 ERA. The Spikes were also third in strikeouts, second in saves, second in shutouts and allowed the third fewest home runs.

In 2015 Orozco moved up another rung on the [[[St. Louis Cardinals]]]' minor league ladder as pitching coach for the Peoria Chiefs where he stayed for three seasons. His 2015 pitching staff led the Midwest League with a then-team record 1,149 strikeouts while posting the 4th best ERA in the league at 3.32. The 2015 Chiefs also racked up the second most shutouts in the league with 15, falling just short of the team record. In 2016 Orozco helped the Chiefs to the playoffs for the second year in a row with a team ERA of 3.57 and a franchise record 1,177 strikeouts. In addition, after the 2016 season Orozco worked as the pitching coach for the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League.

Orozco skipped over AA and moved up to the AAA Memphis Redbirds in 2018. This pitching staff set a franchise record with a 3.54 ERA as it led the league in ERA, WHIP, and saves. Orozco remained with the Redbirds through the 2022 season. He was scheduled to return to Memphis in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Orozco was pitching coach of the FCL Cardinals in 2023-2024.

In addition to his work in the United States, Orozco has coached in the winter leagues for several seasons, mostly in the Venezuelan League. He was the bullpen coach for the Caribes de Anzoátegui in the 2014/2015 - 2015/2016 seasons. In 2019/2020 he was the pitching coach for the Águilas Cibaeñas in his lone foray into the Dominican League. In 2021 he returned to the Caribes de Anzoátegui on November 12th and stayed there through the remainder of the season. Orozco was pitching coach of the Águilas del Zulia in 2022/2023. He started the 2023/2024 campaign as pitching coach of the Tiburones de La Guaira until he was fired on November 19th, a common occurrence in the winter leagues. He returned to Águilas del Zulia ten days later as their pitching coach where he finished out the season.