SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Armstrong to Manage Kannapolis in 2016

Published on January 19, 2016 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


Kannapolis Intimidators Field Staff
Kannapolis Intimidators Field Staff
(Kannapolis Cannon Ballers)

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. - Cole Armstrong has been named the 11th manager of the Kannapolis Intimidators, Class A Affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, and will lead a field staff full of new faces for the 2016 season. Armstrong will be joined in Kannapolis by second-year hitting coach and former Intimidators player Justin Jirschele, and Brian Drahman takes over as pitching coach.

"We are excited to welcome a new field staff to Kannapolis," said Intimidators GM Randy Long. "We look forward to Cole Armstrong and his staff fielding a competitive team while serving as an important member of our community throughout the season."

CLASS A KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS

Manager: Cole Armstrong

Pitching Coach: Brian Drahman

Hitting Coach: Justin Jirschele

Trainer: Joe Geck

Conditioning: Bret Kelly

**A complete list of the Chicago White Sox 2016 Player Development Staff is included in the attachment.

Armstrong, 32, enters his third season with the White Sox and second as a manager in 2016. He led the Advanced Rookie Great Falls Voyagers to a 35-39 record in his managerial debut in 2015. The Surrey, British Columbia, native made his coaching debut in 2014 as the hitting coach with the Arizona Rookie League White Sox. Armstrong played 10 minor-league seasons with Atlanta (2003-05), the White Sox (2006-10), the Angels (2011), and Miami (2012), batting .259 (589-2270) with 65 home runs and 314 RBI in his career. The Braves selected Armstrong in the 12th round of the June 2001 First-Year Player Draft.

Armstrong becomes the 11th manager of the Kannapolis Intimidators, which first became a Chiago White Sox affiliate in 2001. He joins a list of former managers that includes Razor Shines (2001), John Orton (2002-03), Chris Cron (2004), Nick Capra (2005), Omer Munoz (2006), Chris Jones (2007-08), Ernie Young (2009-10), Tommy Thompson (2011, '13, and '15), Julio Vinas (2012), and Pete Rose Jr. (2014).

Drahman, 49, enters his ninth season with the White Sox and first in Kannapolis. He served as the Voyagers pitching coach from 2009-15 after making his White Sox coaching career with the Class A-Advanced Winston-Salem Dash in 2008. Last season, Great Falls posted a 4.26 ERA, the second-lowest in the Pioneer League while his staff struck out 567 batters in 635.2 innings of work. In his Major League career, Drahman earned the first Sox win at new Comiskey Park on April 21, 1991. He made 47 big league appearances with the White Sox (1991-93) and Florida (1994), going 3-2 with a 3.54 ERA (22 ER/56.0 IP) and one save in his career.

Jirschele, 25, joins the Intimidators coaching staff three years after playing for Kannapolis. He began the 2015 season as a player in the White Sox system before joining the player development staff as the Great Falls hitting coach. Jirschele, son of Kansas City Royals third base coach Mike Jirschele, spent parts of four seasons in the White Sox minor league system, batting .277 with 70 RBI and 77 runs scored in 184 career games. The former infielder played 15 games with Kannapolis in 2013 before earning a promotion to Class A-Advanced Winston-Salem. He reached as high as AAA Charlotte in both 2014 and 2015 as a player.

Joe Geck will serve as the head trainer for Kannapolis in 2016, his 24th season in the White Sox organization and his first with the Intimidators. He has served as the trainer with AAA Charlotte, AA Birmingham, and Winston-Salem. During the White Sox affiliation with Class A Hickory, Geck was named the South Atlantic League's All-Star Athletic Trainer in 1994.

Bret Kelly rounds out of the Intimidators' field staff as the team's strength and conditioning coach in 2016. He is in his second season with the White Sox and first with Kannapolis after serving as the Great Falls strength coach in 2015. Prior to joining the Sox, Kelly spent parts of 2014-15 as an assistant strength and conditioning coach in the athletic department for Saint Louis University.

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Kannapolis Intimidators Field Staff
Kannapolis Intimidators Field Staff
   



South Atlantic League Stories from January 19, 2016


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