Tigers Add Four Coaches to Major League Coaching Staff

• Ryne Eubanks named Head Athletic Trainer

The Detroit Tigers announced four new members of the Major League coaching staff for the 2023 season. Michael Brdar (Major League Hitting Coach), Keith Beauregard (Major League Hitting Coach), James Rowson (Assistant Major League Hitting Coach) and Robin Lund (Assistant Major League Pitching Coach) will all join the Tigers coaching staff in 2023. Additionally, Ryne Eubanks has been named the club’s new Head Athletic Trainer.

Brdar joins the Tigers after spending the 2022 season as the hitting coach with the San Diego Padres. Prior to his time with the Padres, Brdar worked in the San Francisco Giants player development system for two seasons, first as an assistant hitting coordinator in 2020 and as the Minor League hitting coordinator in 2021. Brdar began his coaching career as a program assistant at the University of Michigan in 2018-19.

Brdar played two seasons for the Wolverines in 2016-17 after beginning his collegiate career at Diablo Valley (CA) College. In his two seasons at Michigan, Brdar combined to hit .284 (118×415) with 19 doubles, three triples, four home runs and 53 RBI. He was selected by St. Louis in the 36^th round of the 2017 MLB Draft and played one season of rookie ball for the GCL Cardinals.

Beauregard spent the previous four seasons in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, most recently as the Minor League Assistant Field Coordinator in 2021-22 and as a Minor League hitting instructor in 2019-20. Prior to joining the Dodgers, Beauregard was an assistant coach at Santa Clara University for five seasons and at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell for two seasons.

Beauregard played collegiately at Saint Anselm College, where he set many program records that still stand today, including setting the record for career hits (223), singles (148), doubles (46) and triples (15), while ranking second in career RBI (102). He played professionally for three seasons with the Worcester Tornados of the Can-Am League.

Rowson comes to Detroit after spending the previous three seasons as the bench coach for the Miami Marlins. Rowson, who has 20 seasons of coaching experience at the professional level, was the hitting coach for the Minnesota Twins for three seasons prior to going to Miami. In 2019, the Twins offense finished the season with a Major League record 307 home runs. They also led the Majors in RBI (906), ranked second in runs (939), hits (1547), batting average (.270) and slugging percentage (.494).

Rowson’s professional coaching experience also includes two separate stints as the Minor League hitting coordinator for the New York Yankees (2008-11; 2014-16), three seasons with the Chicago Cubs (2011-13), first as the Minor League hitting coordinator before being promoted to the Major League hitting coach in 2012. He spent his first six seasons in professional coaching from 2002-07 as hitting coach at the Single A and Rookie levels.

Selected by Seattle in the ninth round of the 1994 MLB Draft, Rowson spent three Minor League seasons in the Mariners’ (1995-96) and Yankees’ (1997) organizations before playing for Cook County in the Independent Heartland League in 1998.

Lund recently completed his fourth season at the University of Iowa, including the last three as the Hawkeyes pitching coach. During his tenure at Iowa, Lund coached five All-Americans, two Big Ten Pitchers of the Year and one Big Ten Freshman of the Year. In 2022, Iowa had one of the best pitching staffs in the country, ranking second nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (6.88), third in strikeouts per nine innings (11.2), fourth in ERA (3.72) and fifth in WHIP (1.29). The staff led the Big Ten in virtually every pitching category during the season and finished the year with a school-record 609 strikeouts.

Prior to his time at the University of Iowa, Lund was a volunteer hitting coach for the University of Northern Iowa softball program in 2018. Lund, who holds his doctorate in exercise science, was an associate professor in the department of kinesiology at UNI from 2002-18. His main teaching responsibilities were in the areas of biomechanics, anatomy, statistics, and research methods. Lund’s research was focused primarily on improving athletic performance.

Eubanks recently completed his third season as an assistant athletic trainer for the Arizona Diamondbacks and his ninth season overall in the organization. Before joining the Diamondbacks Major League training staff, Eubanks was the Minor League Medical Coordinator (2019) and Assistant Minor League Medical Coordinator (2018). Prior to the 2018 season, he was the athletic trainer for Double A Jackson (2017), Double A Mobile (2016), Short Season A Hillsboro (2015) and AZL Rookie D-backs (2014).

Eubanks graduated in 2012 from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology-Exercise Science and earned a master’s degree in athletic training from the University of Arkansas in 2014.

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