The Atlanta Braves have announced their Minor League coaching staffs for the 2011 season, and there are a number of familiar faces in new places. At the AAA level things remain fairly constant, as Dave Brundage returns for his third season with the Gwinnett Braves. It will be his fifth overall with the Braves, all as the AAA Manager. In a ten year Minor League career with the Phillies and Mariners organizations, Brundage hit .275 with a .711 OPS in 2809 plate appearances and had a 3.83 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP in 46 innings pitched. Jamie Dismuke will return for his second season as Gwinnett's hitting coach, also his second season with the Braves organization, after starting his coaching career with the Reds organization in 2000. In 9 seasons as a first baseman in the Reds, Tigers, and Blue Jays organizations, he hit .277 with a .804 OPS in 3104 plate appearances. Pitching coach Marty Reed will join Gwinnett after spending the last two seasons as Mississippi's pitching coach. He coached in the Minors for the Dodgers from 1999 to 2008 and played in the Minors for the Angels, compiling a 4.49 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP in 704.1 innings.
The rest of the coaching staffs after the jump:
After five seasons managing his hometown Myrtle Beach Pelicans, Rocket Wheeler will move up to AA to manage the Mississippi Braves. He coached in the Blue Jays' system from 1985 until 2002 and has been a manager in the Braves system since, spending his first three seasons with Rome. As a player, he spent 6 seasons as a utility man in the Blue Jays' chain, hitting .276 with a .694 OPS in 2600 plate appearances. Hitting coach Garey Ingram will return for his second season with Mississippi, and second in the Braves organization. He coached in the Dodgers' organization from 2002 until 2008, before spending a year in the Giants system in 2009. As a player, Ingram appeared in 82 games Major League games over three seasons with the Dodgers, hitting .261 with a .685 OPS. In 13 Minor League seasons, he hit .279 with a .790 OPS, playing in the Dodgers and Red Sox systems. After serving as a roving pitching coach in 2010, Mike Alvarez will join Mississippi in 2011 as their pitching coach. He has been with the Braves since 1998, serving as the pitching coach for nearly every team in the system, and even working as the team's pitching coordinator. Before coming to the Braves he spent thirteen seasons coaching in the Kansas City organiation, where he played his professional baseball, compiling a 3.26 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP in 547 innings.
Former Major League third baseman Luis Salazar will join the Braves in 2011 to manage their newest affiliate, the High A Lynchburg Hillcats. In 13 season with the Padres, White Sox, Tigers, and Cubs, the right handed hitter had a .261 average and a .673 OPS in 4375 plate appearances. Salazar took the 2010 season off from baseball, but prior to that he had been coaching and managing since 1996 in the Brewers and Dodgers' systems, even spending 2001 on Milwaukee's Major League staff. In a surprising move, Bobby Moore, who makes his home in Rome, will move up to Lynchburg next season. He has been coaching in the Braves system since 1997 at various levels, and is the only hitting coach in Rome Braves' history. As a player, he played 18 games in the Major Leagues with the Royals in 1991, going 5-14 with 3 stolen bases. As a Minor Leaguer he had a solid ten year career, playing his last three seasons in AAA for the Braves, hitting .279 with a .685 OPS in 3327 plate appearances. After spending 2010 with Gwinnett, Derek Botelho will move to Lynchburg in 2011. He coached in the Reds organization from 1991 to 2002 and has been with the Braves since, coaching at various levels. Botelho had a 12 year Minor League career with the Phillies, Cubs, Royls, and Cardinals' systems, compiling a 4.11 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP in 1487.2 innings.
After spending the last six seasons with Danville, where he led his players to two league championships, Paul Runge will move up to manage the Rome Braves in 2011. Rungo has been coaching and managing in the Braves organization since 1993, and before that the utility infielder played in 183 Major League games for the Braves over 8 seasons, hitting .232 with a .644 OPS in 411 plate appearances. Carlos Mendez spent the last three years with Runge as his hitting coach in Danville, and will move up to Rome to join him for the upcoming season. The first baseman and catcher played 26 games in the Majors for the Orioles in 2003, going 10-45 with 5 RBI. He played 16 seasons in the Minors, the last three of which he played AAA for the Braves, and hit .296 with a .757 OPS in 5606 plate appearances. Derrick Lewis also spent the last three seasons with Danville as the team's pitching coach, and he'll also join Runge in Rome in 2011. He was the Gulf Coast League Braves pitching coach from 2004 to 2007 after a seven year career in the organization where he had a 4.05 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP in 676.1 innings.
Rome's old manager, Randy Ingle, will manage the Danville Braves in 2011. Ingle has been managing in the Braves organization since 1990, spending the last five seasons with Rome. The former second baseman had a nine year career in the Minors with the Braves, hitting .238 with a .606 OPS in 2032 plate appearances. After coaching in the Astros organization the last three season, DJ Boston will join the Braves as Danville's hitting coach in 2011. The first baseman had a 16 year Minor League career, playing in the Blue Jays, Pirates, Athletics, and Rockies organiazions, along with stops in two different independent leagues and the Mexican League, hitting .273 with a .773 OPS in 6074 plate appearances. Gabe Luckert will join Danville as the pitching coach after spending two seasons with the GCL team. The righthander pitched 3 seasons in the Minors with the Cubs and Giants, compiling a 4.65 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP in 81.1 innings.
Jonathan Schuerholz, the son of legendary Braves general manager John Schuerholz, gets his first managerial post in 2011, as he'll lead the GCL Braves. He spent the last two seasons as a roving infield instructor in the organization after playing six seasons in th organization, hitting .224 with a .601 OPS in 2334 plate appearances. After spending the last four seasons with Myrtle Beach, Rick Albert will serve as the GCL hitting coach in 2011, a team he managed from 1998 to 2001. Albert has been coaching and managing in the Braves organization since 1978 after a six year Minor League career with the team as a shortstop, where he hit .263 with a .691 OPS in 1958 plate appearances. Vladimir Nunez will make his coaching debut in the GCL in 2011 as the teams pitching coach. The righthander piched in part of nine Major League seasons with the Diamondbacks, Marlins, Rockies, and Braves, compiling a 4.83 ERA and 1.42 WHIPin 442 innings. He spent the last three seasons in Atlanta's organizaton, and over 13 Minor League seasons, he had a 4.35 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP in 987.2 innings.
After spending parts of the last four seasons as the Baltimore Orioles Major League manager, Dave Trembley will join the Braves as their Minor League Field Coordinator. His duties include running Spring Training for the entire organization and ensuring that the various affiliate and coaches are living up the the Braves high standards. Trembley never played professionally, but he has been manging in the Minors since 1986 in the Padres, Pirates, Cubs, and Orioles organizations. Tommy Shields serves as the Braves Field Coordinator from 2007 to 2010, but he'll become the Infield Coordinator in 2011. He's been coaching and managing since 1996, spending time in the Orioles and Cardinals systems. As a player, the infielder appeared in 22 Major League games for the Orioles and Cubs, going 6-34. In eight Minor League seasons in the Pirates, Orioles, and Cubs organizations, he hit .284 with a .727 OPS in 3171 plate appearances.Leon Roberts will continue to serve as the Braves Hitting Coordinator, the position he's held for the last few seasons. He has been coaching and managing since 1985, spending 1999 and 2000 as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays Major League hitting coach. The outfielder had an eleven year career in the Majors with the Tigers, Astros, Mariners, Rangers, and Royals, hitting .267 with a .751 OPS in 3066 plate appearances. Dave Wallace returns for his second season with the Braves as the team's Pitching Coordinator. He has been coaching since 1981, serving as the Dodgers Major League pitching coach from 1995 to 1997, the Mets Majors League pitching coach in 1999 and 2000, the Red Sox Major League pitching coach from 2003 to 2006, and the Astros Major League pitching coach in 2007. Wallace even spent time as the Dodgers general manager for part of the 2001 season. The righty pitched in parts of three seasons in the Major League for the Phillies and Blue Jays, compiling a 7.84 ERA and a 2.18 ERA in 20.2 innings. In twelve Minor League seasons he had a 4.11 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP in 708.2 innings. Lynn Jones returns for his third season with the organizaton as the team's Oufield and Baserunning Coordinator. He's been coaching and managing since 1991, spending time on the Major League coaching staff of the Royals and Red Sox, picking up a World Series ring with Boston in 2004. As a player, he wond a World Series ring with the Royals in 1985, and over a eight year career with the Royals and Tigers the outfielder hit .252 with a .629 OPS in 1048 plate appearances. Joe Breeden has been the Braves Catching Coordinator since 2007 and he'll return in that capacity in 2011. He has coached and managed since 1988, spending time in the Royals, Yankees, and Reds Minor League systems, and serving on the Major League staffs for the Marlins and Blue Jays. He played two seasons in the Minors for the Expos, hitting .216 with a .486 OPS in 407 plate appearances.