Callix Crabbe Named Curve Manager for 2023 Season at Peoples Natural Gas Field

CURVE, PA – The Pittsburgh Pirates and Altoona Curve are pleased to announce the 2023 Coaching Staff for the 25^th season of baseball in Curve, PA.

“I am excited to meet the new members of our coaching staff and reunite with the returning members in Altoona this spring,” said Curve GM Nate Bowen. “I’m excited to work with this group and see them on the field in 106 days on our Opening Day on Thursday, April 6!”

Callix Crabbe has been named the 14^th Manager in Altoona’s franchise history following one season as the leader of High-A Greensboro. Pronounced KAY-licks crab, Crabbe will be joined by three returners from the 2022 staff: Hitting Coach Jon Nunnally, Integrated Baseball Performance Coach Blake Butler, and Athletic Trainer Victor Silva. The staff also includes a returner from the 2021 Coaching Staff, Bench Coach Gary Green. Rounding out the group are Pitching Coach Cale Johnson and Strength and Conditioning Coach Glenn Nutting.

Crabbe, a native of the U.S. Virgin Islands, spent the 2022 season as the Manger of the Greensboro Grasshoppers (High-A, South Atlantic League) and the organization’s Assistant Hitting Coordinator; he led the Grasshoppers to 58 wins and oversaw the development of several top Pirates prospects who matriculated to Double-A Altoona during the season, including catchers Henry Davis and Endy Rodriguez as well as outfielder Matt Gorski.

Crabbe played ten years of professional baseball after he was selected in the 12^th round of the 2002 MLB Draft out of Manatee Community College in Bradenton by the Milwaukee Brewers. Crabbe was named the Best Defensive Second Baseman in the California League in 2004 while also being named an All-Star by Baseball America. Crabbe was selected by San Diego in the 2008 Major League Rule 5 Draft and made his major league debut on April 3, 2008 and picked up his first major league hit off Brad Hennessey at San Francisco just five days later. Crabbe played 21 games with the Padres and totaled six hits in 39 major league plate appearances before joining the Seattle Mariners for the 2009 season and spending the final two seasons of his playing career with the Toronto Blue Jays where he played 150 games with Eastern League rival New Hampshire across the 2010 and ’11 seasons. He earned an Eastern League Championship ring in 2011 with the Fisher Cats. In all, Crabbe played nearly 1100 games in his professional career and batted .264 with a .359 on-base percentage including 43 home runs, 384 runs batted in and 200 stolen bases.

Following his retirement from playing, Crabbe quickly jumped into the coaching ranks. He spent the 2012-16 seasons as a baseball instructor and coach at IMG Academy in Bradenton and later spent the 2019-21 seasons as the Assistant Hitting Coach with the Texas Rangers, he joined the Pirates organization as a Manager and Assistant Hitting Coordinator prior to the 2022 season. In 2016 Callix established Crabbeology Sports Development, a company focused on high level hitting instruction, game strategy, personal development and physical conditioning. Crabbe resides in Valrico, FL with his wife Amanda, daughter Alana (12) and son Calyx (9).

Pitching Coach Cale Johnson joins the organization after spending the 2022 season with the Atlanta Braves as a Minor League Pitching Strategist. Johnson was selected in the 41^st round of the 2009 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals and spent three seasons in their system, reaching single-A Quad Cities in 2011, before pitching one season in the independent ranks in 2012. Johnson began his coaching career in 2015 in the Cardinals organization spending time in the GCL (2015), Appalachian League (2016-17) and Midwest League (2018-19) before being named a Pitching Strategist in the Cardinals organization for the 2020 campaign. Johnson spent the 2021 campaign as the Assistant Pitching Coordinator for the Atlanta Braves. A native of Greenville, Illinois, Johnson played his college ball at Division-II McKendree University in Lebanon, IL.

Hitting Coach Jon Nunnally returns for a third season with the Curve after holding the same role for the 2019 and 2022 seasons. Nunnally enters his 16^th season as a professional baseball instructor and fifth in the Pirates system. He’s also spent two seasons as the Hitting Coach with the Cleveland Indians in 2010 and ’11 and six seasons as a player in the majors with Kansas City, Cincinnati, Boston and the New York Mets. In 364 career MLB games, the left-handed hitter batted .246 with 42 homers and 125 RBIs. Nunnally resides in Ringgold, Virginia with his wife Tammy. He has three children: daughters Kristen (31) and Josie (21) and son Jonathan Jr. (26).

Integrated Baseball Performance Coach Blake Butler returns for a second season with Altoona after holding the same role in 2022. A native of Greensboro, North Carolina, Butler’s role works intimately with data integration and infield defense as well as hitting strategy. The 2023 campaign will be Butler’s third with the organization, his previous coaching experience comes in the collegiate ranks at Davidson, the College of Charleston and Francis Marion University. A 15th-round selection by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2015 First-Year Player Draft, Butler spent three seasons in the Reds system, reaching High-A Daytona in 2016 and ’17.

Bench Coach Gary Green returns to Altoona for the 2023 season after holding the same role in 2022 at Triple-A Indianapolis. A Pittsburgh native, Green was the organizations Minor League Infield Coordinator and Roving Infield Instructor from 2011 through 2020. Green earned extensive managerial experience in the Pirates and Detroit Tigers organizations, amassing a 588-713 record (.488) across 11 seasons. Green’s most recent managerial experience came in a four-year run in the South Atlantic League with West Virginia (2009-10) and Hickory (2007-2008). His managerial stops include one season in Lynchburg (2006), three seasons with Lakeland (2002-2004), two seasons with Oneonta (2000-2001), and one season in the Gulf Coast League with the GCL Tigers (1999).

A former major league infielder for parts of five seasons, Green’s professional career on the diamond began after the San Diego Padres selected him 27th overall in the 1984 Amateur Draft. Prior to starting his professional career, Green was the starting shortstop for Team USA in the 1984 Olympic Games. Green went on to spend five seasons in the Padres organization, making his major league debut in September of 1986, two years in the Texas Rangers system and concluded his playing career after four seasons in the Cincinnati Reds organization. Green batted .222 with nine doubles and 11 RBI in 106 major league games with the Padres, Rangers and Reds.

A Pittsburgh native, Green played four years of baseball at Oklahoma State. His father, Fred, pitched for the Pirates for parts of four seasons (1959-64) and was a member of the 1960 World Champion Pirates.

Athletic Trainer Victor Silva returns for a second season in his role in Altoona. The 2023 campaign will be Silva’s seventh in the Pirates organization where he has served in the Dominican Summer League (2018 and ’19) in Pittsburgh (2020 as a COVID-19 Screener) and Greensboro (2021). In addition to his work with the Pirates, Silva gained extensive experience practicing Sports Medicine in the collegiate ranks with St. Bonaventure (2017-19), and Binghamton (NY) University (2016-17). Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Silva earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Movement Science with a concentration in Athletic Training from West Field State University in May of 2013 and his Master of Science Degree in Athletic Training from Texas State University.

Strength and Conditioning Coach Glenn Nutting joins the Curve after holding the same role with Greensboro in 2022. Nutting, a native a Livonia, Michigan who know resides in Mission Viejo, California, has worked as a Strength and Conditioning Coach in the organization since 2018 where he spent two years in the Dominican Summer League, a season in Pittsburgh (2020) and one season at the team’s Pirate City Complex in Bradenton and in the Dominican Republic (2021). Nutting earned a bachelor’s degree in Human Physiology from the University of Oregon in 2013 and a master’s degree in Sports Training and Nutrition from Universidad Eurpoea in Madrid, Spain.

For tickets and more information, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office. Additionally, the Stockyard Team Store is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., during every home game and online 24/7/365.