The Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League have promoted hitting coach Kyle Gaedele to field manager beginning with the 2026 season, marking him as just the seventh skipper in the franchise’s history.
Gaedele steps in for Steve Brook, who wraps up a highly successful four-year run as manager that saw the Grizzlies reach the postseason in each of the last three seasons (2023–2025). Brook is not leaving the club; instead, he will shift into the newly created role of Director of Baseball Operations, where he will focus on player acquisition and continue to support the on-field staff, including the new manager he once coached.
A native of the Chicago suburbs now living in Arizona, the 36-year-old Gaedele has spent the past three seasons as Gateway’s hitting coach and has been a driving force behind one of the Frontier League’s most potent lineups. In both 2023 and 2024, he also served as a player-coach, returning to the batter’s box after a five-year absence from competitive play. His impact was immediate: in just 37 games during the 2023 stretch run, Gaedele slashed .286/.386/.571 with 11 home runs and 32 RBIs, providing crucial veteran leadership that helped the Grizzlies capture their first West Division crown in 16 years.
Gaedele’s Frontier League roots run deep. He originally broke into the league in 2016 as an outfielder under then-River City Rascals manager Steve Brook, posting All-Star-level numbers after a five-year minor-league career in the San Diego Padres system. Selected in the sixth round of the 2011 MLB Draft out of Valparaiso University, Gaedele reached Double-A San Antonio before transitioning to coaching.
