The Augusta GreenJackets, in conjunction with the Atlanta Braves, have recently announced the coaching staff for the upcoming 2025 season.
Wynston Sawyer is returning to the CSRA for his second season as manager, after earning his first role as skipper in 2024, according to a press release from the GreenJackets.
Sawyer is joined by a pair of returners from last year’s staff – pitching coach Elvin Nina and strength coach Jake Wynn – as well as a handful of newcomers, such as co-hitting coaches Garrett Wilkinson and Ruben Gotay, coach Brad Stoll and athletic trainer Dan Gaertner.
Sawyer will lead the charge for 2025 after managing the GreenJackets in 2024, his first managerial gig at any level.
The California native came to Augusta after a season with the FCL Braves, where he served as coach, working primarily with the catchers.
After being drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 8th Round of the 2010 MLB Draft, Sawyer spent over a decade in Minor League Baseball as a player, with additional stops in the Dodgers, Twins and Yankees systems.
No stranger to SRP Park, Nina also began year three of his second stint with the GreenJackets, according to a press release from the GreenJackets.
Nina returned to Augusta last year following two seasons with the FCL Braves, having originally been on the GreenJackets’ staff in the same role in 2021.
“The well-traveled coach came to the Braves’ system after four years with the GCL Pirates of Pittsburgh’s organization, and half a dozen more between the Helena Brewers and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers under Milwaukee’s umbrella,” according to a GreenJackets’ press release.
This year marks a homecoming of sorts for Wilkinson, who returns not only to the team where he began his coaching career, but also the area he grew up in.
The Evans, GA native starred at Evans High School before a lengthy collegiate career that spanned time at East Georgia State College, Gordon State College, Florida A&M and Mercer University.
He began his coaching career with a video and hitting analytics role for the ‘Jackets in 2021, followed by stops with the FCL Braves, Rome Braves, and Mississippi Braves, the last two of which he was the hitting coach.
Joining Wilkinson to work with the hitters, Gotay will begin his first year as a coach in the Braves organization, having spent last year coaching in the Mexican League with the Caliente de Durango.
“Gotay brings a wealth of additional experience coaching in MiLB, having spent 2023 with the Indianapolis Indians, 2021-22 with the Greensboro Grasshoppers, and 2018-19 with the Clearwater Threshers,” according to a GreenJackets’ press release.
The Puerto Rican product played professionally for 17 seasons, including parts of four years in the majors with the Royals, Mets and Braves.
This marks the first-year coaching in professional baseball for Stoll, following nearly 20 years of coaching at Lawrence High School in Kansas.
During his time with the Chesty Lions, Stoll won a 6A State Championship in 2009 and saw two former players go on to play in Major League Baseball: Garrett Cleavinger and Bryce Montes de Oca.
Stoll’s additional experience lies in the Cape Cod League, where he was an assistant with the Falmouth Commodores from 2009-15 and again in 2024.
Gaertner will serve as the team’s Athletic Trainer for 2025, marking his first year in Augusta and 4th with the Braves after one summer in the FCL and two with the Gwinnett Stripers.
Wynn will return to the GreenJackets for the second consecutive season, having previously worked at Stony Brook University on Long Island.
The GreenJackets will begin their 2025 campaign on Friday, April 4, as they host the Columbia Fireflies of the Kansas City Royals organization at 7:05 p.m.
The ‘Jackets will face 10 of the 11 other teams in the Carolina League over the course of the year’s 132-game slate, including 66 home dates at SRP Park.
Single-game tickets and the promotional schedule are set to be announced soon, with information to follow at greenjacketsbaseball.com.
