Manchester, N.H. – Welcome to Manchester (again), Cesar!
On Monday, the Toronto Blue Jays announced the 2021 New Hampshire Fisher Cats coaching staff, led by Manager Cesar Martin.
After leading the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays to a first-place finish (80-55) in 2019, Martin and Pitching Coach Jim Czajkowski will make the move to New Hampshire this year.
Dunedin won division titles in the first and second half 2019, and led the Florida State League with a .339 on-base percentage, 165 stolen bases, 220 doubles and 4.5 runs per game. On the mound, the D-Jays ranked third in ERA (3.29), second in shutouts (19), and second in fewest walks allowed (369).
Martin, 41, was voted 2019 Florida State League Manager of the Year for his work at the Advanced-A level. Following the 2019 season, Martin was named Manager of the Scottsdale Scorpions in the prestigious Arizona Fall League, where he worked with Fisher Cats infielders Cullen Large, Logan Warmoth, and Kevin Smith.
Like 2018 Fisher Cats Manager and current Blue Jays Major League Coach John Schneider, Martin has steadily risen through the Blue Jays organization over the last few years. He managed the Class-A Lansing Lugnuts for two seasons, and earned a promotion to Dunedin after an 80-60 campaign in 2018.
Martin was named as the Fisher Cats’ manager for 2020 before the season was ultimately cancelled.
Czajkowski, 57, returns to New Hampshire for the first time since 2014, when he helped develop current major league pitchers like Aaron Sanchez, Matt Boyd and Daniel Norris. The 2014 Fisher Cats ranked third in the Eastern League in team ERA (3.73).
Born in Parma, Ohio, Czajkowski has spent the last six seasons as pitching coach for the Short Season-A Vancouver Canadians (2015, 2017-18) and Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays (2016, 2019).
After a 12-year professional career that included five MLB games with the Colorado Rockies in 1994, Czajkowski became the pitching coach of the Rookie-Level Danville Braves in 2000. He remained in the Braves system until 2011, when he joined the Blue Jays organization as the Vancouver Canadians pitching coach (2011-2013).
Matt Hague, 35, will make his minor league coaching debut as Fisher Cats Hitting Coach. The Bellevue, WA native was slated to work with the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays last year before the cancelation of the MiLB season due to COVID-19. Hague was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the ninth round of the 2008 MLB Draft out of Oklahoma State, and played in 43 career MLB games with the Pirates and Blue Jays.
Former Fisher Cats catcher Chris Schaeffer will join the staff as a position player coach. Schaeffer, 33, spent parts of four seasons in the Blue Jays farm system, including two games with New Hampshire in 2013.
Four new faces round out the staff: Athletic Trainer Luke Green, Strength & Conditioning Coach Casey Callison, Dietitian Kara Terry, and Mental Performance Coach Rob DiBernardo.
The Fisher Cats open the 2021 season on Tuesday, May 4 with a six-game road trip against the Sea Dogs (Red Sox) in Portland, Maine, before returning home for Opening Night on Tuesday, May 11 against the Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees) at Delta Dental Stadium.
Single-game tickets for games in the month of May will go on sale on Monday, March 15.
