Former Oakland Utilityman Finds First Career Managerial Role in Kannapolis

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CarL Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Former Oakland Utilityman Finds First Career Managerial Role in Kannapolis

January 16, 2025 - Carolina League (CarL)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


KANNAPOLIS, N.C. - In conjunction with the Chicago White Sox and their player development staff, the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers have announced their field staff for the 2025 Carolina League season.

For just the second time since moving to Atrium Health Ballpark, the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers have been dealt a change in their manager position by the Chicago White Sox. Former Oakland A's utilityman Chad Pinder takes over as the newest skipper of the Cannon Ballers in 2025.

The Kannapolis managerial job is the first of its kind for Pinder, who was drafted in 2013 by Oakland after a standout career at Virginia Tech. The Richmond, Virginia native played 553 games in the big leagues for the A's between 2016 and 2022. Pinder accumulated a career .242 batting average, tallying 62 home runs and 197 RBI as the ultimate utility player, playing in at least one game at every position in the field in his six-year career except for catcher. Pinder retired from playing baseball in the middle of the 2023 season after bouncing around to three different organizations in the span of four months.

Pinder has never held a coaching position in baseball before being named manager of the Cannon Ballers, joining Patrick Leyland and Guillermo Quiroz as the third manager of the team since Kannapolis moved to Atrium Health Ballpark. Notably, all three have been firsttime managers in their role as manager of the Cannon Ballers.

Alongside Pinder for his first season in Kannapolis will be bench coach Darius Day, who held the same role in 2024 for the Advanced-A Winston-Salem Dash in his coaching debut. Day was drafted in 2014 by the Texas Rangers, where he had a four-year career in the minors. The Chicago native is well acquainted with the White Sox organization, having graduated from the White Sox Amateur City Elite (ACE) program.

Romero returns for his fourth season as hitting coach for the Cannon Ballers, having helped develop an offense that led the Carolina League in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Romero, who played six years in the minor leagues in the Blue Jays and Angels organizations, has led Kannapolis to lead the Carolina League in RBI in back-to-back seasons, helping keep the Cannon Ballers at the top of the standings.

The pitching staff for the Ballers will see a new leader for the third time in the last five years in Jacob Dorris. The former Texas A&M-Corpus Christi righty signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2015 with the Houston Astros, where over four seasons he compiled a career 3.23 ERA. Dorris reached as high as AAA in 2018 within Houston's organization but saw his time with the team end in June of that season. Dorris spent last season as the pitching coach for the Arizona Complex League White Sox, where he mentored a group of arms to allow the fourth-fewest hits of any group from the ACL in 2024.

Listed below is the entire 2025 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Field Staff:

Manager: Chad Pinder

Bench Coach: Darius Day

Hitting Coach: Charlie Romero

Pitching Coach: Jacob Dorris

Trainer: Tilly DeLeon

Performance Coach: TBA

Season ticket packages and 10-game mini plans for the 2025 season are available now!

Come see your defending Carolina League South Division champion Kannapolis Cannon Ballers in their fifth season at Atrium Health Ballpark. Call the Cannon Ballers ticket office at (704) 932-3267 or visit kcballers.com for more information and to secure your seats today.

Check out the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from January 16, 2025


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