McRae named New Hampshire Fisher Cats' bench coach

Mike McRae (Niagara Falls, Ont.), shown here in his duties as pitching coach at Rutgers last season, has been named bench coach of the Toronto Blue Jays’ double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Photo: Rutgers Athletics

February 12, 2026

By Chris Jared

New Hampshire Fisher Cats

MANCHESTER, N.H. – New manager John Tamargo Jr. will lead the Fisher Cats in 2026, the Toronto Blue Jays announced on Thursday.

Along with Tamargo Jr., Toronto announced six new faces joining New Hampshire’s coaching staff and eight returnees.

In 2025, Tamargo Jr. steered the FCL Blue Jays to their first Florida Complex League title. Toronto elevated 2025 Fisher Cats manager Brent Lavallee (North Delta, B.C.) to director of position player development across all Blue Jays farmhands.

Tamargo Jr. played his college ball with the University of Florida and was drafted by the New York Mets in the 1996 draft. Son of former big-leaguer and minor league manager John Tamargo, John Jr. spent eight years in the minors and played for the Binghamton Mets in the Eastern League from 1999 to 2001. He joined the Blue Jays’ system in 2010 and served two years as hitting coach for Toronto’s former Class-A affiliate, the Lansing Lugnuts. Tamargo Jr. managed the Lugnuts from 2012 through 2014 before spending 2015 with the Dunedin Blue Jays in the Florida State League, again as hitting coach. In 2016, he managed the Vancouver Canadians and spent three summers with the DSL Blue Jays in the Dominican Summer League from 2017 through 2019.

Mitch Huckabay returns to New Hampshire for his fourth season in 2026 as hitting coach, also his fourth year in the Blue Jays’ coaching ranks. Prior to his time with Toronto, Huckabay first served as a graduate assistant at Southern Arkansas State before he joined LSU-Shreveport's staff in 2018 and 2019. Other collegiate stops for Huckabay include Vernon College (TX), Northeast Texas CC and Sam Houston State.

Pitching coach Austin Bibens-Dirkx returns to New Hampshire for his second season. In 2025, the former big-leaguer Bibens-Dirkx joined New Hampshire’s staff and became the first individual to both pitch in a Fisher Cats uniform and go on to lead the pitching staff. In 2025, Bibens-Dirkx oversaw a New Hampshire pitching effort that nailed down 13 shutout victories, third-most in the Eastern League and fourth-most across all double-A clubs. Throughout his 12 years in the minors, Bibens-Dirkx appeared in 49 games for New Hampshire between 2013 and 2015 before making his MLB debut in 2017. Bibens-Dirkx brings 17 seasons of experience across nine different levels of baseball from his playing days to his current chapter of coaching.

New bench coach Mike McRae is a veteran that joins Toronto’s organization for the first time in 2026. McRae, who most recently served as Rutgers’ Associate head Coach/pitching Coach since July 2024, has stacked over 25 years of collegiate experience at the NCAA-DI level. Aside from Rutgers, McRae coached at William & Mary, VCU, Canisius, Niagara, Maine and Winthrop. A native of Niagara Falls, Ont., McRae coached the Canadian Junior National Team at the 1996 and 1997 World Championships and was a guest coach for the Blue Jays at spring training in 1997. Former New Hampshire bench coach Jake McGuiggan was elevated to Outfield & Baserunning coordinator in the Blue Jays’ organization.

New Hampshire newcomers include Luis Silva (position coach), Robelin Bautista (assistant pitching/bullpen coach), Katie Reyes (athletic trainer) and Nathan Sarro (technology cssistant). Bautista most recently served a similar role with the High-A Vancouver Canadians a season ago and spent 2023 and 2024 as pitching coach with the Dominican Summer League Blue Jays. Silva played four years in the Rangers' organization before finishing his playing days between Dunedin and Lansing in 2017. He has been in Toronto’s coaching ranks since 2018, including last year with Tamargo Jr. in the FCL as a position coach.

Reyes joins New Hampshire returner Matthew Beauregard as the team's athletic trainers for 2026. Roelvis Vargas, who spent 2024 and 2025 with the Fisher Cats as the team’s athletic trainer, will be with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons in the same role. Bailey Forst (head strength & conditioning coach) and Edwin Ortiz (assistant strength & conditioning coach) both return to New Hampshire’s staff, along with Sabrina Weissman (nutritionist).