Nick Stanley is returning to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in 2026 as the team’s new manager.
The Milwaukee Brewers, the parent club of the Timber Rattlers, announced Stanley and the rest of his staff for the upcoming season on Feb. 4. Stanley was the team’s hitting coach in 2021 and 2022.
Stanley will be the 13th manager in Timber Rattlers history. He takes over for Victor Estevez, who was the Timber Rattlers manager the past two seasons but is now with the Washington Nationals organization.
Stanley was the manager of the Carolina Mudcats, Milwaukee’s Carolina League affiliate, during the 2024 and 2025 seasons. He began his professional career as a player with the Tri-City Valley Cats in the New York-Penn League as a member of the Houston Astros organization in 2009 and 2010. Stanley started his coaching career for the New Zealand National Team and St. Petersburg College shortly after his playing career ended.
Stanley coached in the Dominican Summer League in 2018, his first season with the Brewers, and the Rocky Mountain Vibes of the Pioneer League in 2019. He moved on from Wisconsin to become the bench coach for the Biloxi Shuckers of the Southern League in 2023 before becoming the manager for Carolina. The Mudcats were 78-51 with a playoff appearance under Stanley in 2024. Last season, Carolina just missed the postseason despite a 68-60 record.Hitting coach Evan Berliner will return in that role for his second season with the Timber Rattlers. Pitching coach Patrick McGuff, coach Liu Rodriguez and associate coach Dalton Stambaugh round out Stanley’s coaching staff. Athletic trainer Lauren Roberts, strength and conditioning coordinator Luis Rios-Reyes, associate athletic trainer Maggie Cannatella, and strength and conditioning associate Bryce Smith are members of the Timber Rattlers support staff for 2026.
Berliner was a hitting coach for the Arizona Complex League Brewers in 2024 before coming to Wisconsin last season. Prior to joining the Brewers, he was an assistant coach at Hillsdale College and at South Dakota State University.
McGuff, a 36th-round pick out of Morehead State University by the Minnesota Twins in 2016, played professionally in the Twins, Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks systems from 2016 through 2019. McGuff was a volunteer assistant coach at the University of South Carolina-Upstate in 2020 and 2021 before he was hired by the Brewers and assigned to Wisconsin for the 2022 season. He spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons with the Nashville Sounds, Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate in the Pacific Coast League. McGuff was the pitching coach for the Arizona Complex League Brewers last season.
Rodriguez has been a coach in the Brewers organization since 2014. This will be his third stint with the Timber Rattlers. He was also in Wisconsin in 2015 and 2022. Rodriguez has coached at every level in the Milwaukee system, including 2025 with Biloxi in the Southern League.
Stambaugh, also a product of Morehead State, is in his first season with the Brewers organization. He was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 30th round of the 2019 draft. Stambaugh pitched for Baltimore’s Gulf Coast League affiliate and was also in the Chicago Cubs system from 2021 through 2023. Stambaugh spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Morehead State before joining Milwaukee’s system.
Roberts, a member of Stanley’s staff with the Mudcats last season, was the Carolina League trainer of the year in 2025. She is a graduate of Pepperdine University and has a master’s degree from the University of Arkansas. Roberts was previously in the Midwest League as the athletic trainer for the Fort Wayne TinCaps in 2023 and 2024. Last year was her first season with the Brewers system.
Rios-Reyes returns to the Timber Rattlers for his second season as the strength and conditioning coordinator. The former baseball player from Barry University in Florida held the same position for both of Milwaukee’s Dominican Summer League affiliates in 2024.
Cannatella and Smith both begin their first seasons with Milwaukee. Cannatella has a degree from St. Louis University and joins the Brewers after spending the last three seasons as the head athletic trainer of the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League. Smith graduated from Marymount University in Virginia where he played baseball. He also played at Ohio University.
The Timber Rattlers open the season at home against the Beloit Sky Carp on Thursday, April 2.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Nick Stanley returns to Wisconsin Timber Rattlers as manager for 2026 season
Reporting by Mike Sherry, Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
