The White Sox announced the promotion of manager Omar Vizquel to their Class AA affiliate in Birmingham, Ala., and promoted Justin Jirschele to fill Vizquel’s chair at advanced Class A Winston-Salem.
In his first season as a manager, Vizquel — who built a Hall-of-Fame caliber resume as a three-time All-Star and an 11-time Gold Glove shortstop as a major leaguer — was named Carolina League manager of the year after leading Winston-Salem to an 84-54 regular-season record. Justin Jirschele, 28, takes over at Winston-Salem after his second season managing at Class A Kannapolis.
“With Omar you look at how he matched up with the team that he had last year,” said Sox director of player development Chris Getz, who is returning for his third season. “Last year was pretty heavy with priority players. We felt that those priority players developed well. They took a lot of steps forward. It made a lot of sense to move some of those players up with Omar, as well as [hitting coach] Charlie Poe.
“[Vizquel] created a great culture at Winston-Salem, those guys responded and we expect something similar to happen in Birmingham at a higher level.”
Vizquel collected 2,877 during his playing career with the Mariners, Indians, Giants, Sox, Rangers and Blue Jays. He finished as baseball’s all-time leader in games played (2,709) and fielding percentage (.985) among shortstops.
“He has such a passion for the game but he also has a passion for instruction,” Getz said. “He’s a great communicator. When he walks in the room he’s going to command the room just based on his history. But he’s such a genuine person, therefore he can build relationships very quickly and get buy-in very quickly. It kind of showed last year in the progress that was made with a lot of those players.”
Vizquel’s promotion was first reported in December.
Mark Grudzielanek returns for a third season at AAA Charlotte, where pitching coach Steve McCatty is back for a fourth season. Charlotte hitting coach Frank Menechino, the Miami Marlins hitting coach from 2014-18, is one of two coaching staff newcomers to the system along with Wes Helms at Birmingham. Menechino played seven seasons in the majors with Oakland (1999-2004) and Toronto (2004-05) and Helms played 13 seasons with Atlanta (1998, 2000-02), Milwaukee (2003-05), Florida (2006, ’08-11) and the Phillies (2007).
Matt Lisle was named to a newly added position as hitting analytics instructor, focused on the player development side.
PLAYER DEVELOPMENT INSTRUCTORS
Director of Player Development: Chris Getz
Field Coordinator: Doug Sisson
Director of Minor League Pitching Instruction: Kirk Champion
Assistant Pitching Coordinator: Everett Teaford
Assistant Pitching Coordinator: J.R. Perdew
Hitting Coordinator: Mike Gellinger
Hitting Analytics Instructor: Matt Lisle
Catching Coordinator: John Orton
Outfield/Baserunning Coordinator: Aaron Rowand
Leadership and Development Coordinator: Ben Broussard
Strength and Conditioning Coordinator: Dale Torborg
Medical Coordinator: Scott Takao
Physical Therapist/Rehab Coordinator: Derek Garris
ASSISTANTS TO PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
Assistant, Player Development: Rafael Santana
Assistant, Player Development: Tommy Thompson
Assistant, Player Development: Rod Larson
Assistant, Player Development: Graham Harboe
Rehab Pitching Coach: Brian Drahman
Education Coordinator: Erin Santana
Latin/Cultural Development Coordinator: Anthony Santiago
ARIZONA OPERATIONS
Facility Manager: Joe Lachcik
Minor League Clubhouse and Equipment Manager: Dan Flood
Assistant Minor League Clubhouse Manager: Bryant Biasotti
Latin Education Assistant: Grant Flick
CLASS AAA CHARLOTTE
Manager: Mark Grudzielanek
Pitching Coach: Steve McCatty
Hitting Coach: Frank Menechino
Coach: Guillermo Quiroz
Trainer: Josh Fallin
Conditioning: Shawn Powell
CLASS AA BIRMINGHAM
Manager: Omar Vizquel
Pitching Coach: Richard Dotson
Hitting Coach: Charlie Poe
Coach: Wes Helms
Trainer: Corey Barton
Conditioning: Tim Rodmaker
CLASS A WINSTON-SALEM
Manager: Justin Jirschele
Pitching Coach: Matt Zaleski
Hitting Coach: Jamie Dismuke
Trainer: Hyeon Kim
Conditioning: George Timke
CLASS A KANNAPOLIS
Manager: Ryan Newman
Pitching Coach: José Bautista
Hitting Coach: Cole Armstrong
Coach: Ryan Johansen
Trainer: Joe Geck
Conditioning: Goldy Simmons
ADVANCED ROOKIE GREAT FALLS
Manager: Tim Esmay
Pitching Coach: John Ely
Hitting Coach: Cam Seitzer
Trainer: Carson Wooten
Conditioning: Tyler Gniadek
ARIZONA ROOKIE LEAGUE
Manager: Ever Magallanes
Pitching Coach: Felipe Lira
Hitting Coach: Gary Ward
Coach: Louis Silverio
Trainer: Scott Johnson
Conditioning: Daniel Cobian
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ACADEMY
Field Coordinator: Guillermo Reyes
Complex Operations Coordinator: Manuel Santana
Assistant, Administration: Carolina Santos
Manager: Ángel Rosario
Pitching Coach: Leo Hernández
Hitting Coach: Ángel González
Assistant Pitching Coach: José Brito
Assistant Hitting Coach: Charlie Romero
Outfield Coach: Julio Ramírez
Trainer: José Del Villar
Conditioning Coach: Pedro Gómez