Cedar Rapids Kernels announce 2023 coaching staff

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Cedar Rapids Kernels have had some Cedar Rapids guys play for them in fairly recent years.

There was Marion High School graduate Alex Dvorsky and Cedar Rapids Washington grad Chad Christensen. Remember them?

Now they’ve got a C.R. guy on their coaching staff. Technically an Ely guy.

Corbin Day will be hitting coach for the 2023 Kernels, the club and parent club Minnesota Twins announced Thursday. Day is a Cedar Rapids Prairie graduate who played collegiately at Kirkwood Community College and Mount Mercy University.

He has been an assistant coach at Kirkwood.

Brian Dinkelman will return as manager of the Kernels for a third consecutive season. Dinkelman led Cedar Rapids to the playoffs his first two seasons, including a Midwest League Western Division first-half championship last season and a 73-58 overall record.

Co-pitching coaches for the 2023 Kernels will be Jonas Lovin and Carlos Hernandez. Lovin enters professional baseball after a stint as pitching coach for Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, while Hernandez is a former major-league pitcher.

Yeison Perez will be a hitting and development coach for Cedar Rapids. He was a coach last season for the Rookie-level Florida Complex League Twins.

Blake Kretovics has been announced as the club’s strength and conditioning coach, while Matt Smith and Randy Yang return as trainers.

The Kernels begin the 2023 season April 11 at home against Quad Cities.

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