2021 Carolina Mudcats Coaching Staff

Manager - Joe Ayrault

Joe Ayrault, 49, has led the Mudcats to a 203-212 (.489) record over the last four seasons, and is 500-591 (.458) over nine seasons overall as manager of Milwaukee's Class-A affiliate. He previously managed Milwaukee's Class-A Advanced club, the Brevard County Manatees of the Florida State League from 2012 through 2016 before transferring with the Brewers to the Mudcats and the Carolina League in 2017.

Ayrault's 203 managerial victories are the most on Carolina's all-time managerial wins list. Ayrault enters the 2021 season tied for the most games managed in team history having managed 415 games in Carolina; tying him with current Cincinnati Reds Manager David Bell who managed the Mudcats from 2009 through 2011.

A product of the famed Sarasota High School baseball program, Ayrault is entering his 12th season as a manager in Milwaukee's farm system and 15th season as a manager in Minor League Baseball. Overall, Ayrault owns a 766-891 (.462) career record as a Minor League manager including his time as a manager in the Cincinnati Reds system. He began his managerial career with the Sarasota Reds in 2007 before joining the Brewers in 2010 as skipper of the Pioneer League's Helena Brewers. In 2010, Ayrault went on to earn Pioneer League Co-Manager of the Year honors while leading Helena to a 41-34 record and the Pioneer League championship in his first season at the helm. A former catcher, Ayrault was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the fifth round of the 1990 amateur draft and went on to spend his entire playing career (1990-1997) in the Atlanta organization; reaching the majors with Atlanta in 1996.

Pitching Coach - Fred Dabney

Fred Dabney, 53, is in his first season with the Mudcats and his 18th overall as a pitching coach in the Milwaukee system. Dabney was most recently pitching coach of Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate in 2019, a role that he had since the 2015 season. He was also the pitching coach of other Milwaukee affiliates including the Brevard County Manatees from 2005 through 2011 and the Huntsville Stars in 2004. Dabney first coached in the Texas Rangers system with stints with the Stockton Ports in 2003 (where he worked alongside current Mudcats manager and then-hitting coach Joe Ayrault), Charlotte Rangers in 2001 and 2002, Savannah Sand Gnats in 2000 and GCL Rangers in 1999. Dabney was drafted in the 15th round of the 1988 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox and played nine seasons in the minors, including three at the Triple-A level, before becoming a coach in 1999.

Hitting Coach - Bobby Spain

Bobby Spain, 36, was originally assigned to Carolina in 2020, but is entering his first official season as hitting coach in Zebulon with the Mudcats in 2021. He makes the jump to Low-A Carolina from rookie level Arizona where he served in the same role for the Brewers Blue squad in 2019. The 2021 season will be his third in the Brewers organization. Spain originally joined the Brewers after working as the hitting coach for the independent American Association's Gary SouthShore Railcats from 2016 through 2018. A native of Colorado Springs, Colo., Spain played four seasons of professional baseball including three seasons in the Pirates system from 2007 through 2009 (2007 State College Spikes, 2008 Hickory Crawdads, 2009 West Virginia Power) before finishing his playing career with the Frontier League's Traverse City Beach Bums in 2010.

Coach - Liu Rodriguez

Liu Rodriguez, 44, is in his first season with the Mudcats and his ninth overall with the Brewers. He was most recently assigned as the manager of the Rocky Mountain Vibes in 2019 and again in 2020 before the season was lost due to Covid-19. The Venezuelan born Rodriguez also held coaching roles with Rookie Arizona in 2014, Class-A Wisconsin in 2015 and Rookie Helena from 2016 through 2018. Rodriguez played seven Minor League seasons from 1995 through 2001 and one Major League season in 1999 with the Chicago White Sox.

Athletic Trainer - Matt Deal

Matt Deal is in his third year with the Mudcats and his sixth as a team athletic trainer in the Milwaukee system. His first season in the organization came in 2015 with the Dominican Summer League Brewers and continued with the Arizona League Brewers in 2016. Deal then went on to join the Pioneer League’s Helena Brewers in 2017 and 2018, before joining Carolina in 2019.

Strength & Conditioning Specialist - Jonah Mergen

Jonah Mergen begins his fifth straight year with the Mudcats and 11th overall in the Milwaukee organization. A native of McFarland, WI, Mergen has also worked with the Greeneville Astros and in the strength and conditioning departments at NC State University, UW-La Crosse and the National Strength and Conditioning Association World Headquarters. He first graduated from St. Ambrose University with a dual degree in exercise science and Spanish in 2007, before receiving his master’s from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in human performance in 2009.