Eastern League Champion and Manager of the Year Gabe Alvarez returns
The Erie SeaWolves, in conjunction with their parent club the Detroit Tigers, today announce the team’s 2024 field staff.
Gabe Alvarez, who led the SeaWolves to their first ever Eastern League Championship, returns to the club to lead the 2024 squad. Alvarez enters his fourth season in the Tigers organization and third with Erie. In two seasons with the SeaWolves, Alvarez has led the team to a record of 155-120, back-to-back overall first place finishes in the Southwest Division, back-to-back Southwest Division titles and the franchise’s first league championship. He was named the 2023 Eastern League Manager of the Year, becoming in the second manager in team history to receive the honor.
Alvarez becomes only the third manager in SeaWolves history to lead the team for three or more seasons, joining Chris Cron and Lance Parrish.
Joining Alvarez’ staff will be Pitching Coach Juan Pimentel, Hitting Coach CJ Wamsley, Bench Coach Matt Malott, Athletic Trainer Bryce Hietpas, Strength & Conditioning Coach Paul Synenkyj, Information Assistant Alex Rodriguez and Dietician Associate, Erie native, Amanda Johnson.
FIELD STAFF BIOS
GABE ALVAREZ – MANAGER
Gabe Alvarez, the 19th manager in SeaWolves history, returns to Erie for his third season after leading the club to it’s first Eastern League championship in 2023.
Prior to joining the Tigers, Alvarez spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach with the University of Southern California. He also served as the Trojans’ recruiting coordinator and hitting coach before departing for professional baseball.
Alvarez was selected in the second round of the 1995 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the San Diego Padres. After spending three seasons in the Padres Minor League system, he was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 1997 MLB Expansion Draft and then traded to the Tigers. Alvarez began the 1998 season with the Toledo Mud Hens and made his Major League debut with Detroit on June 22, 1998. He split time between Toledo and Detroit from 1998-2000 before being traded to the Padres in July of 2000. His spent the last three seasons of his playing career in the minors at the Double-A level with affiliates of Cincinnati (2001), Milwaukee (2002), and the Chicago White Sox (2003).
JUAN PIMENTEL – PITCHING COACH
Juan Pimentel returns to the Tigers organization for his third season and second as the Erie pitching coach.
Prior to joining Erie last season, Pimentel spent the 2022 season as the pitching coach for the Tigers Single-A Affiliate Lakeland. Pimentel spent one season as a co-pitching coach with the Dominican Summer League affiliate of the Seattle Mariners before joining the Tigers.
Pimentel is a native of the Dominican Republic and played collegiately at Indian River State College and the University of Central Florida. After graduating UCF in 2017, he returned to Indian River State as a pitching coach before taking on the same role at the University of Delaware for two years prior to his role with the Mariners.
CJ WAMSLEY – HITTING COACH
CJ Wamsley enters his fifth season with the Tigers and first with the SeaWolves. He spent the previous two seasons with Single-A West Michigan in the same role. In 2021, he served as the developmental coach with Triple-A Toledo.
Prior to joining the Tigers he was an assistant coach on the staff at Ohio University for five seasons (2015-19), following a three-year stint with Troy University where he worked with the club’s catchers, outfielders and hitters. His division one coaching career began at Morehead State University, where he was an assistant coach.
Wamsley was a four-year letterwinner at Western Kentucky University, where he played on
the baseball team. Over his 68-game college career he batted .299/.379/.421.
MATT MALOTT – BENCH COACH
Matt Malott returns to the Erie coaching staff in 2024, his third season in the Tigers organization and second serving as the Erie bench coach.
Malott spent the 2022 season as the development coach for the Tigers Single-A affiliate in Lakeland. Prior to joining the Tigers, he spent a year and a half as the player development coach and owner of Objective Baseball, LLC.
Prior to that position, Malott was a development coach with the Kansas City Royals, which was then interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Before and during his time in professional baseball, he worked as the varsity pitching coach at Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego since August, 2015.
He played collegiately at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California, where he was a starting pitcher.
SeaWolves Managerial History
| Scott Little | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1995 | 34-41 | .453 | |||||
| Whitey Richardson | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1996 | 30-46 | .395 | |||||
| Marty Brown | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1997 | 50-26 | .657 | |||||
| Tracy Woodson | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1998 | 26-50 | .347 | |||||
| Garry Templeton | Anaheim Angels | 1999 | 81-61 | .570 | |||||
| Don Wakamatsu | Anaheim Angels | 2000 | 46-96 | .324 | |||||
| Luis Pujols | Detroit Tigers | 2001 | 84-58 | .592 | |||||
| Kevin Bradshaw | Detroit Tigers | 2002-03 | 124-159 | .438 | |||||
| Rick Sweet | Detroit Tigers | 2004 | 80-62 | .563 | |||||
| Duffy Dyer | Detroit Tigers | 2005-06 | 123-160 | .434 | |||||
| Matt Walbeck | Detroit Tigers | 2007 | 81-59 | .561 | |||||
| Tom Brookens | Detroit Tigers | 2008-09 | 139-144 | .491 | |||||
| Phil Nevin | Detroit Tigers | 2010 | 66-76 | .465 | |||||
| Chris Cron | Detroit Tigers | 2011-13 | 200-225 | .470 | |||||
| Lance Parrish | Detroit Tigers | 2014-17 | 262-303 | .463 | |||||
| Andrew Graham | Detroit Tigers | 2018 | 63-77 | .450 | |||||
| Mike Rabelo | Detroit Tigers | 2019 | 77-61 | .558 | |||||
| Arnie Beyeler | Detroit Tigers | 2021 | 64-55 | .538 | |||||
| Gabe Alvarez | Detroit Tigers | 2022-23 | 155-120 | .563 |
SeaWolves Ticket Memberships, Paw Pack flexible ticket books, group and hospitality outings are now available for the 2024 season by visiting SeaWolves.com or by calling 814-456-1300.
