The Vancouver Canadians are running it back with almost the entire coaching staff from the 2025 season.
José Mayorga returns as manager for a second straight season after leading the club to a 75-win season in 2025. Before returning to Vancouver, Mayorga will be in charge of Team Panama at the World Baseball Classic and are in Pool A with Canada when the tournament starts on Friday, March 6 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Canada will play Panama on Sunday, March 8.
Also back in the Lower Mainland are bench coach Matt von Roemer, pitching coach Eric Yardley, hitting coach Jonathan Davis and position coach Petr Stříbrcký. Davis, a former Toronto Blue Jay and Canadians outfielder, returns as hitting coach after replacing Ryan Wright (2022-2024), who left halfway through the 2025 campaign to take an assistant coaching job with Gonzaga University.
The newcomer to the coaching ranks is assistant pitching coach Tommy Caulfield, who was with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats in the same role last year. Caulfield was coaching at Saint Mary’s College of California for two seasons. He had played at Skyline College, Chicago State and the University of San Francisco before spending time in independent ball at the Pioneer, Frontier and Atlantic Leagues.
The athletic and support staff will also have many familiar faces from 2025, including athletic trainer Dalton Holemo, strength and conditioning coach Joe Cardona, assistant strength and conditioning coach and Vancouver’s own Noah Or. Mental performance coach Juan Garcia and technology and coaching assistant Owen Ruddock are also back. The newcomers are athletic trainer Callista Tsangarakis and dietitian Kat Musial.
Around the Nest
2019 Vancouver skipper Casey Candaele is back again to manage the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons for a sixth straight year. Position coach Chris Schaeffer (2011), athletic trainer Roelvis Vargas (2022-2023) and dietitian Stephanie Boville (2024) are other Canadians’ alumni.
John Tamargo Jr. is the new skipper in New Hampshire, one decade after serving as C’s manager in 2016. Pitching coach Austin Bibens-Dirkx (2023-2024), assistant pitching coach Robelin Bautista (2025), head strength and conditioning coach Bailey Forst (2024) and athletic trainer Katie Reyes (2023-2025) also have Vancouver ties.
C’s alumni at Low-A Dunedin are Ashley Stephenson (2023-2024) as bench coach while Nash Knight (2016) is the hitting coach and Andy Fermin (2013) is the position coach. Head athletic trainer Luke Greene (2019, 2025), assistant athletic trainer Rob Shifrin (2024) and strength and conditioning coach Zane Hunt (2024-2025) also have YVR on their baseball resumes.
North Delta, BC native Brent Lavallee will not be in a dugout in 2026, but he remains with the Toronto Blue Jays organization as he is now the director of position player development. He managed New Hampshire in 2025 after a three-year run in Vancouver that included a Northwest League Championship in 2023.
The 2026 Northwest League for Vancouver begins in Tri-City on Friday, April 3 and the home opener is set for Tuesday, April 7 when Eugene comes to town as part of the 75th year anniversary for Nat Bailey Stadium.
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