Damon Berryhill Returns for Third Season as Gwinnett Manager

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The Atlanta Braves announced today the Gwinnett Stripers' coaching staff for the 2019 season. Manager Damon Berryhill (3rd season) will be joined by pitching coach Mike Maroth (1st season), hitting coach Bobby Magallanes (1st season), coach Einar Díaz (1st season), and certified athletic trainer Nick Jensen (2nd season).
Berryhill, 55, has guided Gwinnett to a 141-140 (.502) record over two seasons since being named the sixth manager in team history on December 12, 2016. The Laguna Beach, Calif. native piloted the Stripers to a 70-69 record and a second-place finish in the International League South Division in 2018, the team's first winning record since 2015. Gwinnett finished fourth in the IL Wild Card race, just 3.5 games behind winner Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Berryhill owns a career record of 559-527 (.515) in 1,086 games across 10 seasons as a minor league manager with the Texas Rangers (2008), Los Angeles Dodgers (2009-15), and Braves (2017-current) organizations. He was named Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year in 2015 while with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Selected by the Chicago Cubs in the first round of the 1984 January draft, Berryhill enjoyed a 10-year Major League career as a catcher with the Cubs (1987-91), Braves (1991-93), Boston Red Sox (1994), Cincinnati Reds (1995), and San Francisco Giants (1997). He batted .240 with 47 home runs and 257 RBIs in 684 regular-season games and appeared in 20 postseason games with the Braves (1992-93) and Giants (1997).
Maroth, 41, enters his fourth season with the Braves organization, his first as Gwinnett's pitching coach. He served as the pitching coach for Advanced-A Florida in 2018, leading a Fire Frogs staff that included top prospects Ian Anderson, Bryse Wilson, Joey Wentz, and Kyle Muller among others.
Maroth joined the Braves in September 2015 and spent his first two years working as the minor league pitching rehabilitation coordinator (2016-17). Prior to joining Atlanta, he logged four seasons as a pitching coach in the Detroit Tigers organization, including stints with Advanced-A Lakeland (2012-14) and Triple-A Toledo (2015).
Originally selected by the Boston Red Sox in the third round of the 1998 draft, Maroth pitched for five different organizations during his 13-year professional career, including the Red Sox (1998-99), Tigers (1999-2007), St. Louis Cardinals (2007), Kansas City Royals (2008), and Minnesota Twins (2010). The Orlando, Fla. native had a six-year Major League career with the Tigers (2002-07) and Cardinals (2007), going 50-67 with a 5.05 ERA over 161 games (150 starts).
Magallanes, 49, joins the Braves organization as Gwinnett's hitting coach after four seasons in the Cleveland Indians system. He spent 2018 as the bench coach for Triple-A Columbus after serving as the hitting coach for the rookie-level Arizona League Indians the previous three years (2015-17).
Magallanes' 17-year minor league coaching career includes nine seasons with the Los Angeles Angels (2002-10) and four seasons with the Chicago White Sox (2011-14). In nine campaigns as a minor league manager with Class-A Cedar Rapids (2004-06), Double-A Arkansas (2007-10), and Double-A Birmingham (2011-12), he holds a career record of 777-900 (.463) in 1,677 games. The Los Angeles, Calif. native was named the Angels Minor League Employee of the Year in 2003 and was selected to the World Team coaching staff for the 2011 MLB All-Star Futures Game.
Selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 50th round of the 1989 draft, Magallanes played four seasons as a minor league infielder in the Mariners (1990-92) and Houston Astros (1996) organizations. His playing career also included stops in two independent leagues and the Triple-A Mexican League.
Díaz, 46, joins the Braves organization as a coach with Gwinnett following six seasons (2013-18) on the Major League staff of the Baltimore Orioles. He assisted in all aspects of Orioles coaching from 2016-18 after spending 2013-15 as the assistant hitting coach.
Díaz's 11-year coaching career includes five seasons in the Orioles' minor league system, two spent as the manager for rookie-level Bluefield (2009-10) where he compiled a record of 56-80 (.412). He also served as the field coach at four different levels, including the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Orioles (2008), Short-A Aberdeen (2008), Double-A Bowie (2011), and Class-A Delmarva (2012).
A native of Chiriquí, Panama, Díaz was signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent in 1990 and went on to play 11 Major League seasons as a catcher with the Indians (1996-2002), Texas Rangers (2003), Montreal Expos (2004), St. Louis Cardinals (2005), and Los Angeles Dodgers (2006). He batted .254 with 21 home runs and 202 RBIs in 673 regular-season games and appeared in 11 postseason games with the Indians (1998-99, 2001).
Jensen, 26, returns for his second season as Gwinnett's certified athletic trainer, his fourth season in the Braves organization. He has also held the same post with the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Braves (2016) and Class-A Rome (2017). He holds a bachelor's degree in athletic training from East Carolina University and a master's degree with a concentration in athletic training from the University of Delaware.
The Gwinnett Stripers open the 2019 season at Coolray Field on Thursday, April 4 with a 7:05 p.m. game against the Norfolk Tides. Memberships for 2019 are on sale now by calling the Coolray Field Ticket Office at 678-277-0340. For more information, visit GoStripers.com/memberships.