The SeaWolves are pleased to announce that Erie manager Gabe Alvarez has been named Eastern League Manager of the Year. Additionally, Andrew Magno, Brant Hurter, Colt Keith and Justice Bigbie have been named Eastern League All-Stars. Season-ending awards and All-Stars were voted upon by Eastern League Managers and Broadcasters.
MANAGER
The SeaWolves are pleased to announce that Erie manager Gabe Alvarez has been named Eastern League Manager of the Year. Additionally, Andrew Magno, Brant Hurter, Colt Keith and Justice Bigbie have been named Eastern League All-Stars. Season-ending awards and All-Stars were voted upon by Eastern League Managers and Broadcasters.
MANAGER OF THE YEAR – GABE ALVAREZ
Gabe Alvarez has been named Eastern League Manager of the Year. He is the second Erie skipper to win the award, joining Matt Walbeck who won it 2007. In 2023, Alvarez managed the SeaWolves to a 75-62 regular season record and a first half championship. He’s the only Erie manager to lead the SeaWolves to back-to-back playoff appearances, back-to-back Southwest Division championships and was the first to lead Erie to a league championship series. Erie won 80 regular season contests under Alvarez in 2022, which was his first season coaching at the professional level.
Prior to joining the Tigers organization, Alvarez spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach with the University of Southern California. He also served as the Trojans’ recruiting coordinator and hitting coach before departing for professional baseball.
Alvarez was selected in the second round of the 1995 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the San Diego Padres. After spending three seasons in the Padres Minor League system, he was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 1997 MLB Expansion Draft and then traded to the Tigers. Alvarez began the 1998 season with the Toledo Mud Hens and made his Major League debut with Detroit on June 22, 1998. He split time between Toledo and Detroit from 1998-2000 before being traded to the Padres in July of 2000. His spent the last three seasons of his playing career in the minors at the Double-A level with affiliates of Cincinnati (2001), Milwaukee (2002), and the Chicago White Sox (2003).
EASTERN LEAGUE ALL-STARS
Detroit Tigers No. 2 prospect Colt Keith headlines Erie’s Eastern League All-Stars. Keith appeared in 59 games for the SeaWolves in the first half of the season prior to his promotion to Triple-A Toledo. Keith batted .325 for Erie with 14 home runs, 34 total extra-base hits, and 50 runs batted in. Keith twice won Player of the Week honors in the Eastern League, first for the week ending on April 23 in which he hit 13-for-24 with 21 total bases. He also won the honor for the week ending on May 21. Keith hit for the cycle on May 16, going 6-for-6 with two home runs. Keith was named the Eastern League Player of the Month for May after batting .374 with six home runs and 27 runs batted in.
Left-handed pitcher Brant Hurter was also named an Eastern League All-Star. Hurter posted the best earned run average among qualified Eastern League starters with a 3.28 mark. He also held opposing batters to the best opponent on-base plus slugging in the league among qualifiers at .655, the third-best WHIP mark at 1.19, and the seventh-best opposing batting average at .242. Hurter’s 133 strikeouts ranked fifth in the Eastern League.
Left-handed reliever Andrew Magno represents Erie’s bullpen as an All-Star after posting 2.10 ERA in 36 games. Magno finished tied for third in the Eastern League with 10 saves. He struck out 67 batters in 51 and 1/3 innings and held opposing hitters to a .185 batting average.
Outfielder Justice Bigbie rounds out Erie’s class of All-Stars. After beginning the season with High-A West Michigan, Bigbie joined Erie in June and posted a .362 batting average over 63 games with the SeaWolves prior to a September promotion to Triple-A Toledo. Bigbie had 13 doubles, 12 home runs, and 43 runs batted in with Erie. Bigbie’s tenure with Erie also featured 29 multi-hit games.