Gaynor, Sierra Return to Newly Minted 2023 Mussels’ Coaching Staff

January 19, 2023 – Florida State League (FSL) – Fort Myers Mighty Mussels News Release

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Minnesota Twins announced the Mighty Mussels’ coaching and support staff for the 2023 season Thursday, with five staff members returning from last year’s First Half Division Championship team.

Returning (5)

Brian Meyer – Manager Jared Gaynor – Pitching Coach Rayden Sierra – Hitting Coach Chase Thompson – Head Athletic Trainer Byron Oliver – Coordinator of Baseball Technology

New Additions (4)

Richard Salazar – Pitching Coach Luis Reyes – Assistant Hitting Coach Asja Morello – Assistant Athletic Trainer Sarah Szuba – Strength & Conditioning Coach

For more on Meyer, visit this morning’s article.

Salazar joins the Mussels from High-A Cedar Rapids while Reyes spent 2022 with the FCL Twins.

2022 Mussels bench coach Takashi Miyoshi has been assigned to Double-A Wichita, while pitching coach Carlos Hernandez will spend the 2023 season with High-A Cedar Rapids.

Morello and Szuba will become the first female staff members in 31 years of Fort Myers franchise history.

Rayden Sierra – Hitting Coach (3rd Season)

Sierra returns to the Mighty Mussels after joining the Twins’ organization in 2021. He coached first base and served as the team’s Assistant Hitting and Development Coach in 2021 before becoming the Mussels’ hitting coach in 2022.

Prior to joining the Twins, Sierra was the hitting and outfield coach for Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers. Before his time in Southwest Florida, Ray coached at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tennessee.

Sierra played for Broward College (Fla.) and Cumberland University (Tenn.) before playing professionally. He hit .245 for the Schaumburg Boomers (Frontier League) in 2019. He was born and raised in Andres Boca Chica, Dominican Republic and currently resides in Fort Myers with his wife, Melanie and his newborn daughter, Viviana.

Jared Gaynor – Pitching Coach (2nd Season)

Gaynor is back to lead the Mussels’ pitchers for the second consecutive season. In 2022, Fort Myers led the Florida State League in ERA (3.51) and WHIP (1.21) while issuing the fewest walks in the circuit. In 2021, his FCL Twins staff finished fourth out of 18 teams in strikeouts, racking up 544 punchouts in 476 innings (10.3 K.9).

The 30-year-old spent five years coaching and four years playing professionally upon graduating from George Mason University (Fairfax, Va.) in 2014. The left-hander pitched for six different independent…