Zaleski, Timke return to Winston-Salem; Jirschele, Dismuke, Kim join Dash’s on-field staff
By Winston-Salem Dash | January 15, 2019 1:28 PM
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Jan. 15, 2019) – In conjunction with the Chicago White Sox, the Winston-Salem Dash have announced that Justin Jirschele, who played for the Dash in 2014 and 2015, will manage the team in 2019. Jirschele is the 48th manager in Winston-Salem’s franchise history, and he is the first former player in the Dash era (2009-present) to become the team’s skipper.
Hitting coach Jamie Dismuke, pitching coach Matt Zaleski, athletic trainer Hyeon Kim, and strength and conditioning coach George Timke will join Jirschele in the home dugout.
Jirschele replaces the reigning Carolina League Manager of the Year in Omar Vizquel, who has been promoted to manage the Birmingham Barons, the White Sox Double-A affiliate. Charlie Poe, who served as the Dash’s hitting coach for the last four years, will join Vizquel in Birmingham as the team’s hitting coach. Meanwhile, longtime athletic trainer Josh Fallin and assistant coach Guillermo Quiroz will work with Triple-A Charlotte this year in the same positions.
Only 28 years old, Jirschele served as the manager of the Low-A Kannapolis Intimidators for the last two seasons, guiding the franchise to playoff appearances in both 2017 and 2018. In his two years at the helm in Kannapolis, Jirschele finished with an overall record of 142-132 (.518). As the youngest manager in Minor League Baseball, Jirschele was named the White Sox Minor League Coach of the Year in 2017.
The Wisconsin native began his coaching career in 2015 as the hitting coach for rookie-level Great Falls and spent the 2016 campaign in the same role for the Intimidators.
Before joining the coaching ranks, Jirschele, the son of Kansas City Royals third base coach Mike Jirschele, played in the White Sox system from 2012-2015. He batted .277 with 70 RBIs and 77 runs scored in 184 career Minor League games. Jirschele recorded a .315 average with the Dash in 2014, and he played two games in Winston in 2015. Jirschele reached as high as Triple-A in his career, logging stints with the Charlotte Knights in 2014 and 2015. Chicago signed him in 2012 as a non-drafted free agent out of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
For the second straight year, Zaleski will instruct the Dash’s pitching staff. Under Zaleski’s tutelage, 10 Dash pitchers were promoted within the White Sox system by season’s end, including the team’s entire Opening Day rotation of Dane Dunning, Bernardo Flores, Dylan Cease, Ricardo Pinto and Jimmy Lambert. Spending half his season under Zaleski’s mentorship, Cease was named MLB Pipeline’s 2018 Pitcher of the Year. As a team last year, Winston-Salem finished fourth in the Carolina League in ERA (3.66) and strikeouts (1,119).
Dismuke, who played nine seasons (1989-1997) in the Minors with Cincinnati, Detroit and Toronto, comes to Winston-Salem after spending the previous four seasons as a hitting coach in the White Sox system. Serving on Jirschele’s staff with the Intimidators, Dismuke helped four players – Tate Blackman, Craig Dedelow, Luis Gonzalez and Laz Rivera – reach the South Atlantic League All-Star Game last year. Dismuke began his coaching career with the Cincinnati Reds in 1999 in Chattanooga, and he spent 10 seasons as a coach in the Reds system before spending the next six years as a hitting coach in the Braves organization (2009-14).
Prior to joining the Dash, Kim was the athletic trainer for the Great Falls Voyagers last year. A graduate of Troy University and Auburn University at Montgomery, Kim worked for Select Medical from 2010-2017 as an Outreach Athletic Trainer.
Timke returns to the Dash for his fourth year with the club. During his first season with Winston-Salem in 2016, Timke earned the Carolina League’s Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year award, as announced by the Professional Baseball Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society (PBSCC). The Suffern, N.Y., began his White Sox tenure with Great Falls in 2013 before working in Kannapolis in 2014 and 2015. His professional career began with the Royals’ organization in 2009.
“Justin Jirschele is one of the brightest young minds in the game, and we are thrilled to have him lead us in our 10th season at BB&T Ballpark,” Dash President C.J. Johnson said. “Justin and Matt both played for Winston-Salem during their careers and have a unique connection to our community and fan base. We are confident that their leadership, along with Jamie, George and Hyeon, will give our team a great chance to return to the playoffs in 2019.”
Baseball returns to Winston-Salem on Thursday, April 11. A full schedule has been released and single-game tickets will go on sale later this month. For more information, call the Dash (336) 714-2287 or visit wsdash.com.
