Morgan Ensberg

Morgan Paul Ensberg

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 210 lb.
• School University of Southern California
• High School Redondo Beach High School
• Debut September 20, 2000
• Final Game May 25, 2008
• Born August 26, 1975 in Redondo Beach, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Morgan Ensberg and Jason Lane were teammates on four different teams. They were together at USC and Ensberg was drafted by the Houston Astros in 1998 and was followed to Houston by Lane a year later. In July of 2007 the Astros traded Ensberg to the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later. Just weeks later Lane was sent to the Padres in a separate deal. Finally that off-season both players signed with the New York Yankees as free agents. However, Ensberg was released after a few weeks of ineffective play in 2008, when he hit .203 in 28 games while Lane never even made the team. Ensberg signed with the Tampa Bay Rays for 2009 but was released at the end of spring training which effectively ended his playing career.

Ensberg returned to USC in 2010 to finish his finance degree and worked with the baseball team as an undergraduate assistant coach in 2011. He then moved to the University of California, San Diego for 2012 as an assistant coach.

He became an infield "development specialist" for the Houston Astros in 2013, assigned to the Lancaster JetHawks. In 2014, he was a special assignment coach with the Astros and retained this role in 2015. In 2016, the Astros named him "minor league mindset coach", a position specifically created for him, that blends his passion for analytics with sports psychology, to help players in the system understand the organizational philosophy and their part in it as they move through the system. He then became a manager with the Tri-City ValleyCats in 2017 and Buies Creek Astros in 2018

Ensberg moved to the Rays' organization in 2019 and has managed the AA Montgomery Biscuits through 2023. He was scheduled to manage the Biscuits again in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. In his four seasons managing Montgomery, the team made the playoffs each year. He led the Biscuits to a franchise-record 88 wins in 2019, earning Southern League Manager of the Year honors in the process. After the 2023 season Ensberg also managed the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League. In 2024 the Rays promoted him to manager of the legendary Durham Bulls where he was a mere 72-78.

In the course of his career, Ensberg won championship rings in college (USC, 1998), Rookie ball (Auburn, 1998), Single-A (Kissimmee, 1999), Double-A (Round Rock, 2000), and Triple-A (New Orleans, 2001). He added a managerial ring to his resume with Buies Creek in 2018.

Ensberg has been announcing the Fullerton Regional for ESPN in 2011.

Notable Achievements

• NL All-Star (2005)
• NL: Silver Slugger Award Winner (2005)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 3 (2003, 2005 & 2006)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2005)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 1 (2005)

Year-By-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2017	Tri-City ValleyCats	New York-Penn League	34-39	10th	Houston Astros
2018	Buies Creek Astros	Carolina League	80-57	2nd	Houston Astros	League Champs
2019	Montgomery Biscuits	Southern League	88-50	1st	Tampa Bay Rays	Lost in 1st round
2021	Montgomery Biscuits	Double-A South	62-55	2nd	Tampa Bay Rays	Lost League Finals
2022	Montgomery Biscuits	Southern League	70-61	2nd	Tampa Bay Rays	Lost in 1st round
2023	Montgomery Biscuits	Southern League	80-58	2nd	Tampa Bay Rays	Lost in 1st round
2024	Durham Bulls	International League	72-78	11th (t)	Tampa Bay Rays

Further Reading

• Morgan Ensberg's Baseball IQ - "Joe Wants to See You"
• Brian McTaggart: "Ensberg set for role as Minors mindset coach: Position created this offseason for former Astros' MVP", mlb.com, January 4, 2016. [1]
• 75 days and counting - Ensberg with Rays organization