Atlanta Braves Announce Gwinnett Stripers’ 2024 Coaching Staff

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The Atlanta Braves announced today their minor league coaching staffs for the 2024 season. The Gwinnett Stripers will be managed by former G-Braves pitcher Kanekoa Texeira, who is joined by pitching coach Kevin McAvoy (2^nd season, 1^st in non-interim role), pitching coach Mike McCarthy (1^st season), hitting coach Dan DeMent (1^st season), and coach Wigberto Nevarez (4^th season).

Texeira, 37, is the eighth manager in Gwinnett history and the second to have also played for the club, joining the man he replaces, Matt Tuiasosopo. Tuiasosopo was named the Atlanta Braves’ third base coach on December 11, 2023, following three seasons at the Stripers’ helm.

Texeira will manage at the Triple-A level for the first time in 2024 as he enters his fourth season as a minor league skipper and eighth as a coach in the Braves organization. He previously managed High-A Rome from 2021-22 and Double-A Mississippi in 2023, going a combined 192-189 (.504) in 381 games. In 2022, he guided Rome to a 74-54 record and a South Atlantic League playoff berth. From 2017-19, Texeira served as a pitching coach with both rookie-level Danville (2017-18) and Rome (2019).

Born in Maui, Hawaii, Texeira was the Chicago White Sox’ 22^nd-round pick in 2006 out of Saddleback College (Mission Viejo, California). He went on to pitch for 11 professional seasons with six different organizations, including the White Sox, New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, and Braves. Texeira saw Major League time with both the Mariners (2010) and Royals (2010-11), going 1-1 with a 4.66 ERA in 49 games.

Texeira’s final stint as a player in pro baseball came in the Braves system as he pitched for Gwinnett from 2014-16. In 66 games (32 starts) with the G-Braves, he went 10-16 with a 4.33 ERA and one save. He announced his retirement while with Gwinnett in August 2016.

McAvoy, 30, returns to Gwinnett in a full-time role in 2024, having previously served as the Stripers’ interim pitching coach during the second half of the 2022 season. It will be his fifth year coaching in the Braves system overall, following a four-year stretch as the Rehab Pitching Coach (2020-23).

Born in Syracuse, New York, McAvoy was Boston’s fourth-round pick in 2014 out of Bryant University (Smithfield, Rhode Island). He pitched for five seasons (2014-18) in the Red Sox minors and spent one year in the independent Atlantic League before retiring as a player in 2019.

McCarthy, 36, joins the Braves system after spending 2023 as the bullpen coach for the Oakland Athletics. It will be his fifth season as a Triple-A coach overall, following stints as the bullpen coach for the Rochester Red Wings (Minnesota Twins) from 2018-19, the pitching coach for the St. Paul Saints (Twins) in 2021, and the pitching coach for the El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego Padres) in 2022.

Born in Walnut Creek, California, McCarthy was Boston’s 14^th-round pick in 2011 out of California State University, Bakersfield and went on to pitch six seasons in the Red Sox minor league system (2011-16).

DeMent, 45, joins the Braves system following 15 seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays organization, the last two (2022-23) spent as the Major League assistant hitting coach. The Palos Heights, Illinois native also coached extensively in the Rays’ minors, including stops with rookie-level Princeton (2009), the Gulf Coast League Rays (2010-11), Short-A Hudson Valley (2012-13), Class-A Bowling Green (2014-15), Double-A Montgomery (2016-17), and Triple-A Durham (2018-19), as well as two years (2020-21) as the minor league hitting coordinator.

Signed by Tampa Bay as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2000, DeMent went on to play eight seasons as a minor league utility-man with the Rays (2000-04) and Washington Nationals (2005-07) organizations.

Nevarez, 32, enters his fourth season with Gwinnett and seventh year coaching in the Braves organization. Atlanta’s 20^th-round pick out of Lubbock (Texas) Christian University in 2014, Nevarez played a four-year career as a catcher in the Braves’ minors, reaching as high as High-A Florida in 2017. The Santurce, Puerto Rico native went on to coaching positions with the Gulf Coast League Braves (2018) and Rome (2019) before joining Gwinnett in 2021.

Gwinnett’s staff also includes strength and conditioning coach Tyler Enns (2^nd season), and athletic trainers Greg Harrel (1^st season) and Joel Wiggins (1^st season). Enns enters his fourth season in the Braves organization in 2024. Harrel, an athletic trainer in affiliated baseball since 1986, joins the Stripers after spending 2023 with Double-A Mississippi. He will work alongside Wiggins, who was with High-A Rome last year and is in his fifth season with the Braves organization.

Gwinnett Stripers’ Opening Night at Coolray Field is set for Tuesday, April 2 vs. Louisville. Single-game tickets will go on sale to the public on Friday, February 2. For more information on Memberships, Groups, Suites, and more, visit GoStripers.com.