Casey's back! Candaele set to manage this season as part of 2026 Bisons coaching staff

BUFFALO, NY - The Buffalo Bisons are proud to announce that Casey Candaele, the winningest manager in the team’s modern era, will return to the club for a franchise record sixth season as the Toronto Blue Jays today announced the Herd’s 2026 coaching staff.

Candaele has amassed 327 victories managing the Bisons in less than five seasons, having also spent part of the 2022 season on the Blue Jays coaching staff. Candaele’s impact on the Blue Jays player development system was on full display during the 2025 Major League playoffs as 18 members of Toronto’s World Series roster played for the Bisons during Candaele’s tenure as manager.

Candaele began his tenure by leading Buffalo a Triple-A East Northeast Division championship in 2021, while also earning co-Manager of the Year honors in the league. He is one of just two managers to record more than 300 victories with the team since 1985 (Marty Brown) and the only person in the modern era to be part of a division-winning Bisons club as both a player and a manager.

Candaele’s attitude on and off the field has made him not only a favorite of the players and staff, but also of Bisons fans dating back to his time as a player. The California-native was a member of Buffalo’s 1997 American Association East Division and league championship team, the first championship for the franchise since returning to Triple-A baseball in 1985.

2026 Bisons Coaching Staff

Several members of the coaching staff are returning from last season, including pitching coach Drew Hayes, bench coach Cesar Martin, position coach Chris Schaeffer, as well as assistant hitting coach Trevor Cho and assistant pitching coach Henry Leake. They will also be joined by several returning members of the training and high-performance staff in 2026.

Matt Young joins the coaching staff this season and will serve as the Herd’s hitting coach. Jason Schwartzman returns to Buffalo and takes over as athletic trainer. Taylor Whitley will once again serve as head strength and conditioning coach and will be joined by Zach Kollar. Also, Stephanie Boville is back with the Bisons as team dietician for 2026.

They are joined by athletic trainer Roelvis Vargas and technology assistant Alec Schulte, who were added to the Bisons coaching staff for the 2026 season.

Hayes has served a key role in developing many of the young pitching prospects in the Blue Jays organization in the last several years. This season marks the third for Hayes in Buffalo, after serving as pitching coach for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (AA) in 2022 and 2023.

Martin was promoted to Buffalo last season after leading the Fisher Cats for four seasons from 2021 through 2024. He was named the Florida State League Manager of the Year in 2019, his lone season managing the Dunedin Blue Jays where the team won 80 games. He has coached at all levels of the Blue Jays organization, including in Gulf Coast League (2015-2016) and Midwest League (2017-2018).

Cho and Leake return in their respective roles for the 2026 season. Both started their coaching careers in the Blue Jays organization last season. Cho spent several seasons in the Northwest League before joining the Herd in 2025. He also previously worked as a graduate manager for Missouri State. Leake pitched two seasons for Boston College, winning seven games in 17 total appearances between the 2022 and 2023.

Schaeffer played in Toronto’s minor league system from 2011 to 2014, before joining the organization as a full-time coach in 2017. Before joining the Bisons last season, he previously served as bench coach for the FCL Blue Jays in 2024, as well as a coach with Martin and the Fisher Cats from 2021 to 2023. He also represented the Blue Jays in the Arizona Fall League as a coach for the Mesa Solar Sox in 2021.

Schwartzman has been promoted to head athletic trainer after serving as assistant athletic trainer in 2025. He previously worked in the Detroit Tigers organization before joining the Herd. Whitley is returning for the fourth season, and second as head strength and conditioning coach, while Kollar will serve as assistant strength and conditioning coach in back-to-back years. Boville joined the Bisons midway through the 2025 season, remaining with the club through the end of the season after starting the year with New Hampshire.