Jacksonville welcomes back Brown as skipper

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In conjunction with the Miami Marlins, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp have announced their on-field staff for the 2023 season. Daren Brown returns as Jacksonville’s manager for the second consecutive season. The Jumbo Shrimp staff will also feature holdovers Jeremy Powell (pitching coach) and Jose Ceballos (defensive coach). Eric Reigelsberger will serve as the club’s athletic trainer with Tim Rodmaker as the strength & conditioning coach. Greg Colbrunn will take over as the team’s hitting coach while Victor Di Diego will be the team’s video manager.

In Brown’s first season with Jacksonville in 2022, the Jumbo Shrimp with an 80-69 (.537) record, placing third in the International League East Division. After stellar performances throughout the season, the Jumbo Shrimp saw 12 players from their 2022 roster make their major league debuts. Brown also juggled a franchise-record 79 players, including Jacksonville highs for both pitchers (39) and starting pitchers (25).

A native of Holdenville, Okla., Brown is currently in his third stint as a Triple-A skipper. He piloted Triple-A Tacoma in the Seattle Mariners’ organization from 2007-13 and again in 2019, tallying 494 victories, which marks the most wins for any manager in Rainiers franchise history. Brown led Tacoma to consecutive division titles in 2009 and 2010, and during that latter season, helped the Rainiers win the franchise’s first outright Pacific Coast League Championship since 1969. Over this time period, Brown also earned a pair of call ups to the Mariners’ coaching staff, including a stint as the club’s interim manager for the final 50 games of the 2010 season.

After working as Seattle’s baserunning coordinator in 2014 and bunting and baserunning coordinator in 2015, Brown steered Double-A Jackson to a 84-55 (.604) record and Southern League Championship in 2016. He skippered Double-A Arkansas during the 2017-18 seasons before returning to Tacoma for the 2019 campaign. In 2021, Brown managed the Kinsport Axmen, a summer collegiate baseball team in the Appalachian League.

The son of former major leaguer Paul Brown, who pitched for parts of four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1961-63 and 1968, Daren was selected in the 29th round of the 1989 draft out of Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He pitched for five seasons in Toronto’s organization from 1989-93, reaching as high as Double-A Knoxville. From 1994-99, Daren served as a player-coach (1994-97) and player-manager (1998-99) for Amarillo of the independent Texas-Louisiana League. He retired as a player following the 1999 season, which saw Brown win the circuit’s Manager of the Year and Amarillo take the league championship, and managed the Dillas for one more season.

Powell enters his 11th season in Miami’s organization and his fifth as the club’s Triple-A pitching coach, including his third year with the Jumbo Shrimp. In 2022, Powell guided the Jacksonville staff to top-five rankings in the International League East in shutouts (1st, 12), ERA (T-3rd, 4.19) and saves (T-5th, 38). His tenure with the Marlins began with the GCL Marlins (2012-13) before rising to Low-A Greensboro (2014-15), High-A Jupiter (2016-17) and Triple-A New Orleans (2018-19). Powell’s coaching career commenced in 2010 with the Diamondbacks as a pitching coach for the amateur development summer scout teams.

Originally drafted by the Montreal Expos in the fourth round of the 1994 draft out of Highlands High School (Calif.), Powell pitched for the Expos from 1998-2000. He also played in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball from 2001-08, compiling a 3.97 ERA and recording 10-plus wins in four campaigns. Powell’s playing career concluded with Triple-A Indianapolis in the Pirates’ farm system in 2009-10.

After worked the last three years as a hitting consultant for the Marlins in their minor league system, Colbrunn will join the 2023 season as the Jumbo Shrimp’s hitting coach. Prior to his time with the Marlins, he spent 2017-18 seasons as a minor league hitting coordinator for the New York Yankees.

Colbrunn moved into coaching in 2006 as the hitting coach for the Charleston RiverDogs, then a Yankees affiliate in the South Atlantic League, until 2010. He was named the manager of the RiverDogs for the 2010 season before moving back into the hitting coach role again for the 2011-12 seasons. Following his six-year stint in the Yankees’ organization, he was added to John Farrell’s staff as a hitting instructor for the Boston Red Sox for 2013 and 2014 seasons. During the Red Sox championship 2013 campaign, the Red Sox led the majors in runs scored (853), runs per game (5.27), slugging (.446), OBP (.349), OPS (.795), total bases (2,521) and extra-base hits (570).

Prior to his coaching career, Colbrunn was selected by the Montreal Expos in the sixth round of the 1987 draft out of Fontana High School (Calif.). He played with the Double-A Jacksonville Expos in both 1989 and 1990 before debuting in the major leagues with Montreal in 1992. During his 13-year big league career with the Expos, Marlins, Twins, Braves, Rockies, D-backs and Mariners, Colbrunn hit .289 with a .799 OPS. He has won two World Series titles, first with the 2001 Diamondbacks and later while coaching the 2013 Red Sox.

The 2021 Marlins’ Staff Member of the Year, Ceballos returns as Jacksonville’s defensive coach for the fifth time in six years. The 2023 season will mark his 11th campaign in Miami’s system. Last season while guiding Jacksonville’s defense, Ceballos helped the Jumbo Shrimp to a league-high 149 double plays. The club also ranked fourth in caught stealing percentage (24.5 percent).

A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Ceballos played in the Marlins’ organization from 2007-13, reaching as high Double-A Jacksonville for a one-game stint in 2012. He began coaching with the Marlins in 2014 with Greensboro. After two seasons with the Grasshoppers, Ceballos spent the 2016 campaign as a coach with Jupiter before joining the Jumbo Shrimp’s staff from 2017-19.

The 2023 season will mark the ninth year for Reigelsberger in professional baseball and his second consecutive season in Jacksonville. He spent the prior three seasons as the Marlins’ athletic training coordinator following campaigns with High-A Jupiter (2019), Low-A Greensboro (2018) and Short Season Class A Batavia (2015-17). Reigelsberger joined the Marlins’ organization in 2015 after two years at Wichita State University, where he served as a graduate assistant athletic trainer. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from Central Methodist University (Fayette, Mo.) and his Master of Education in Sport Management from Wichita State.

Rodmaker is also part of the Jacksonville staff for the second year in a row. Prior to joining the Marlins’ organization, he spent 15 seasons in the Chicago White Sox organization as a strength & conditioning coach. He most recently served in the same role with High-A Winston-Salem in 2021 (also 2013) and Double-A Birmingham from 2015-20. He also logged time with Low-A Kannapolis from 2007-09 and 2011-12 and Rookie-level Great Falls in both 2010 and 2014. An Indiana native, Rodmaker interned at DePaul University as its strength & conditioning room assistant before joining the White Sox.

A native of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Di Diego enters his second season in the Marlins’ organization and his second year in professional baseball. Prior to joining the Jacksonville staff, he spent the 2022 season as the video manager for Low-A Jupiter. Di Diego graduated with his MBA in Business/Sport Business Management from the University of Central Florida in 2019.

The Jumbo Shrimp will begin their 2023 campaign on the road as they take on the Gwinnett Stripers at 7:05 p.m. on Thursday, March 31 at Coolray Field. Season tickets, mini plans, and group outings for the 2023 season are on sale now. Visit www.jaxshrimp.com or call the Jumbo Shrimp at (904) 358-2846 for more information.

ABOUT THE JUMBO SHRIMP: The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp offer affordable family fun at 121 Financial Ballpark. Their inaugural season garnered the Southern League’s Don Mincher Organization of the Year, Promotional Trophy and Jimmy Bragan Executive of the Year, won by general manager Harold Craw. The club added its second Promotional Trophy in three years following the 2019 season. The 2021 season marked the return of Triple-A baseball in Jacksonville. To experience the excitement with the terrific value of ticket and group options, call the Jumbo Shrimp at (904) 358-2846 or visit www.jaxshrimp.com.