TORONTO – High performance assistant director Clive Brewer is leaving the Toronto Blue Jays to join Major League Soccer side Columbus Crew, according to two industry sources, the latest change in the baseball club’s HP department since the season’s end.
Brewer joined the Blue Jays in 2016 working alongside high performance head Angus Mugford, helping to build the unit from the outset. The Blue Jays aren’t directly replacing his position, hiring Brandon Stone, a senior sports physiologist with the United States Olympic Committee, to work as their sports science co-ordinator.
Ahead of this season, Dehra Harris was hired as an assistant director, high performance operations, responsible for bringing learning theory to player plans and staff development. She’s now the No. 2 person in the department.
Brewer’s departure follows that of head athletic trainer Nikki Huffman, who left last week to train athletes independently. Marcus Stroman later tweeted that he was "crazy excited" to have her "back in my circle."
The Blue Jays are expected to begin a search for her replacement in the coming weeks. They have two good internal candidates in assistant athletic trainers Jose Ministral and Voon Chang, who have deep ties to the organization.
Other recent changes to the club’s high-performance department include the hiring of former Canadian national team player Jimmy Van Ostrand to work in mental performance with the big-league club, freeing up mental performance head Ben Freakley to focus on his duties in Dunedin, Fla.
Assistant physical therapist Scott Peters was promoted to medical research co-ordinator, as well.
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