Sacramento River Cats unveil 2021 Field Staff
West Sacramento, Calif. – The Sacramento River Cats, in conjunction with the San Francisco Giants, are thrilled to welcome Dave Brundage back for his fifth season as manager as they look to build off their 2019 Triple-A National Championship. Brundage will be accompanied by Damon Minor, who returns for his
West Sacramento, Calif. – The Sacramento River Cats, in conjunction with the San Francisco Giants, are thrilled to welcome Dave Brundage back for his fifth season as manager as they look to build off their 2019 Triple-A National Championship.
Brundage will be accompanied by Damon Minor, who returns for his sixth season as the River Cats’ hitting coach, and fundamentals coach Jolbert Cabrera, who enters his third season in Sacramento. One of three newcomers for 2021 will be pitching coach Garvin Alston, while the training staff welcomes new strength and conditioning coach Dwayne Peterson to join fourth-year athletic trainer David Getsoff. Nate Keavy rounds out the crew as the club’s new bullpen catcher.
In 2019, Brundage led the River Cats to the franchise’s 12th division title, fifth Pacific Coast League crown, and a record third Triple-A National Championship. An Oregon native, he joined the River Cats in 2017 and has compiled a 192-229 record in his three seasons managing Sacramento. Before coming to Sacramento, the veteran skipper spent the previous four seasons with the International League’s Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies Triple-A).
Brundage, 55, made his managerial debut in 1995 with the Riverside Pilots (Seattle Mariners Class A-Advanced) but has spent most of his managerial career at the Double- and Triple-A levels. Prior to his four seasons with Lehigh Valley, Brundage helmed the Richmond/Gwinnett Braves (Atlanta Braves Triple-A) for six seasons from 2007 through 2012. He made his Triple-A debut in 2006 with the Pacific Coast League’s Tacoma Rainiers (Seattle Mariners Triple-A). Brundage has a career record of 1,563-1,544 (.503) in 22 seasons as a manager including a 985-1010 (.494) mark at the Triple-A level.
Selected in the fourth round of the 1986 Amateur Draft out of Oregon State University, Brundage spent 10 seasons as a player in the minor leagues with the Phillies and Mariners organizations.
Pitching coach Garvin Alston heads to Sacramento with extensive coaching experience in professional baseball, including the Major League level. His most recent position was as the Minnesota Twins pitching coach in 2018, where he guided Twins pitchers to 1,377 team strikeouts. He spent one season each as the bullpen coach of the Arizona Diamondbacks (2016) and Oakland A’s (2017) before being hired as the Twins’ pitching coach in 2018.
Prior to the majors, Alston was the pitching coach for both the Kane County Cougars (Oakland A’s Class-A) and Stockton Ports (Oakland A’s Class-A Advanced), where he coached future River Cats Vin Mazzaro, Brad Kilby, Graham Godfrey, Trevor Cahill, and 2009 Rookie of the Year and current San Francisco Giants pitching coach Andrew Bailey.
Alston was originally a 10th-round pick by the Colorado Rockies in 1992, the franchise’s inaugural draft. He pitched six games at the Major League level, finishing with a 1-0 record and five strikeouts over six career innings. Alston is the father of 2019 White Sox draft pick Garvin Alston Jr., and the cousin of former MLB outfielder Dell Alston.
Minor, 45, returns to the River Cats for his sixth season as hitting coach. In his fourth year with the team, Minor worked closely with River Cats players Mike Yastrzemski, Jaylin Davis, and Zach Green, who would eventually go on to make their Major League debuts in 2019.
A former Giant, Minor was drafted by San Francisco in 1996 before making his Major League debut in 2000. In 136 games over parts of four seasons, Minor hit .232 with 13 home runs. He set a career-high in 2002 when he played in 83 games and slugged 10 home runs, helping the Giants claim the National League pennant. While in the Giants farm system, he compiled a .277 batting average with 179 home runs and 648 RBI across nine seasons.
Cabrera, 48, is back with the River Cats’ staff as fundamentals coach following managerial stints with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (San Francisco Giants’ Class-A Short Season) in 2017, and Augusta GreenJackets (San Francisco Giants Class-A) in 2018. 2020 will be his sixth season with the San Francisco Giants as a coach.
As a player, Cabrera signed with the Montreal Expos in 1990, and played in the Major Leagues for the Cleveland Indians (1998-2002), Los Angeles Dodgers (2002-2003), Seattle Mariners (2004), and Cincinnati Reds (2008). Cabrera also played in 1,274 minor league games over the course of his career, and even visited Sutter Health Park in 2007 as a member of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (Colorado Rockies Triple-A).
David Getsoff returns to the River Cats as athletic trainer in his 13th season with the Giants organization, while new strength and conditioning coach Dwayne Peterson joins the River Cats after six years in the Houston Astros organization. Peterson was employed by the Astros as a minor league strength and conditioning coach, working at every minor league level from short-season to AAA.
Bullpen catcher Nate Keavy rounds out the River Cats field staff for 2021. Keavy, a native of Visalia, Calif., caught two seasons for Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, playing in 26 games during his second and final season with the Lions.
The River Cats will kick off the 2021 season on May 6 with road series in Las Vegas and Oklahoma City before returning home to host the Reno Aces on May 20. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.
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About the Sacramento River Cats
Sutter Health Park is the West Sacramento home of the 2019 Triple-A Champion Sacramento River Cats, and proud affiliate of the three-time World Champion San Francisco Giants. Sutter Health Park is consistently voted one of the top ballparks in America. Memberships, Mini-Plans, and Flex Plans can be purchased for the 2021 season by calling the River Cats Ticket Hotline at (916) 371-HITS (4487). Currently, the only place to guarantee official River Cats tickets is at www.rivercats.com. For information on other events at Sutter Health Park, visit www.sutterhealthpark.com.
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