Friday January 27, 2012

Augusta, GA – The 2012 Augusta GreenJackets will look to a proven winner to lead their team. The GreenJackets, in conjunction with the San Francisco Giants, announce that Lipso Nava will return as field manager for the upcoming baseball season.

In addition, Nestor Rojas begins his first full season as Augusta’s hitting coach. For the first time since 2008, the GreenJackets will have a new pitching coach as Mike Caldwell will tutor Augusta’s hurlers. Newcomers Garret Havig and Brad Lawson also join the ballclub as athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coordinator respectively.

Nava returns for his fifth year in Augusta and second as GreenJackets manager. Last season, he helped spark a bounceback from a lackluster first-half performance to lead the GreenJackets to the playoffs for the first time since 2008 as Augusta claimed the second-half Southern Division crown.

Previously, he served as hitting coach for managers Andy Skeels and Dave Machemer. Under Nava’s tutelage, GreenJacket hitters powered the way to a South Atlantic League Championship in 2008. As hitting coach, Nava mentored two SAL RBI champions and routinely had hitters contend for the league’s home run crown. For many of the team’s Latin players, Nava has been a valuable mentor and a comforting figure to young players adjusting to their first full season of baseball in the United States.

Caldwell will spend his first season in Augusta after previously serving as the pitching coach for the Arizona Rookie League Giants, a team based out of the parent club’s minor league operational hub in Scottsdale, Arizona. Over 14 major league seasons in the 70’s and 80’s with the Padres, Giants, Reds and Brewers, Caldwell posted 137 career victories. His best season came in 1978 when he won 22 games for the Brewers and finished second in that year’s American League Cy Young Award voting.

Rojas was elevated from player to coach at midseason last year after injury issues forced him to end his active playing career. He served as a valuable instructor for the team’s catchers and played a role in the second half resurgence of many of the team’s hitters. Rojas spent seven seasons as a player prior to last year – all in the Giants organization.