Giants Announce Their New Development Staff
With minor league spring training officially set to start on Saturday, the Giants announced their 2022 minor league staff on Thursday. Not surprisingly, the team rewarded the successful seasons in Eugene and San Jose by moving many of those staff members up to higher assignments.
From Eugene, Dennis Pelfrey moves up to take on the reins at Double A Richmond ā where he will no doubt see many familiar faces from his charges in High A last year. Pelfrey, who won a championship in his first year managing in affiliated ball, is clearly a rising star in the organization. Heāll be joined on his staff with the Squirrels by two members of Lenn Sakataās championship staff in San Jose: pitching coach Paul Oseguera and hitting coach Danny Santin.
Sakata, himself, will not be with the Giants this year, as he might have wanted to take his championship season into retirement after a long, successful minor league career. Another long time member of the organization, Jose AlguacĆl, is also absent from this yearās staff. Augie, as heās affectionately known, will work in the Washington Nationals organization this year, continuing to coach on the East Coast where he makes his home.
Replacing Pelfrey in Eugene will be Carlos Valderrama, who has been coaching in the Giantsā system since 2014, including having been the manager of the DSL Giants during their championship season in 2015. Valderrama was one of the Giantsā two ACL managers in 2021. Valderramaās 2021 hitting coach, Giants Great Travis Ishikawa, will also be moving up, taking over in San Jose, where heāll be joined by first year coach (and former Giant) Dan Runzler, who takes over as pitching coach. Like so many of the Giants recent coaching hires, Runzler comes to the organization from Indy ball, where heās been a member of the Milwaukee Milkmanās staff.
As with players, the Giants are looking to reward staff they felt performed well in 2021, moving many staff ā from Managers to Strength & Coordination coaches ā up to greater challenges. Other staff member who are moving up include new Richmond Strength and Conditioning coach Matt Jordan (with Eugene last year), new San Jose Strength and Conditioning coach Chris Harms (who held the same position last year in the DSL), and new San Jose Fundamentals Coach Jeremiah Knackstedt (Fundamentals Coach in the ACL last year and, once again, an Indy League coach prior to that).
At the top of the organization, the Giants return most of the 2021 Sacramento staff. Manager Dave Brundage has been a long time Triple A manager, working in the Braves system for many years, and is adept at handling the many challenges of that level (a level where virtually nobody wants to be, as John Feinstein memorably captured in his great book, Where Nobody Knows Your Name, highly recommended read). In addition to Brundage, pitching coach Garvin Alston and hitting coach Damon Minor also return to Sacramento.
Full Staff Announcements
Sacramento
Manager: Dave Brundage
Pitching: Garvin Alston
Hitting: Damon Minor
Fundamentals: Jolbert Cabrera
Trainer: David Getsoff
Trainer: Brian Reinker
S&C: Eric Wood
Cabrera is another holdover from the 2021 Sacramento staff and has been a coach in the organization since 2016. Getsoff has been in the Giants organization even longer ā this is his 14th year in the org. Reinker, on the other hand, is new to the Giants, having been with the Angels for most of this century. Wood comes to the Giants from San Diego, where heās been a Strength & Conditioning coach for a decade.
Richmond
Manager: Dennis Pelfrey
Pitching: Paul Oseguera
Hitting: Danny Santin
Fundamentals: Gary Davenport
Trainer: Chris Walsh
S&C: Matt Jordan
In addition to his fine work as pitching coach in San Jose last year, Oseguera was originally drafted by the Giants in 2006 and spent four years in the organization, including working as a starter for championship teams in San Jose in both 2007 and 2009. Santin came to the Giants from the Milwaukee Brewers organization (where Kyle Hainesā brother has worked in recent years) prior to serving as San Joseās hitting instructor last year. Davenport has spent virtually his entire professional life in the Giants organization, as did his father Jimmy before him. Walsh has been a trainer in the Cardinals organization for the last four years, while Jordan spent 2021 as Pelfreyās Strength and Conditioning coach in Eugene.
Eugene
Manager: Carlos Valderrama
Pitching: Alain Quijano
Hitting: Cory Elasik
Fundamentals: Eliezer Zambrano
Trainer: Tim Vigue
S&C: Nick Fajardo
This is the most stable staff in the Giants full season clubs with Quijano, Elasik, Vigue and Fajardo all returning to the roles they played last year. Zambrano, who has been an institution in Richmond for the last 12 years, moves to the West Coast to handle fundamentals. Valderrama moves up to High A following 14 years as manager in the DSL, AZL, and Low A (with Augusta).
San Jose
Manager: Lipso Nava
Pitching: Dan Runzler
Hitting: Travis Ishikawa
Fundamentals: Jeremiah Knackstedt
S&C: Chris Harms
Nava begins his 15th year in the Giants organization and his 5th as a manager (6th if you include his stint as Acting Manager of San Jose in 2015). Ishikawa, the hero of 2012, gets his first full season assignment as coach, as does Knackstedt, who was the Fundamentals Coach in the ACL last year. Harms has been with the Giants for the last two seasons. Prior to that he was a Graduate Assistant for the University of Hawaii.
