Wolf Pack alum Brett Hayes lands Major League Baseball job on Texas Rangers' staff

Former Nevada baseball catcher Brett Hayes, who spent seven seasons in the big leagues as a player, was promoted Thursday by the Texas Rangers to the team's bullpen coach.

Hayes was previously the team's coordinator of run prevention from 2018-21 following a 13-year professional career with six organizations. His previous job included preparing scouting reports and communicating with players in order to limit runs.

The 37-year-old Hayes will serve behind pitching coaches Doug Mathis and Brendan Sagara, who will both coach from the dugout in 2022 with Mathis shifting from the dugout last season to the bullpen in 2022.

A native of Pasadena, Calif., Hayes played for Nevada from 2003-05 before being a second-round pick (No. 79 overall) of the 2005 draft, one of the highest in program history. Hayes was a freshman All-American, also earning WAC freshman of the year honors in 2003. A three-time all-league pick, Hayes hit .339 for the Wolf Pack with 24 homers and 37 doubles with 156 RBIs in 167 games.

He made his big-league debut in 2009 with the Marlins and also played for Kansas City and Cleveland, last appearing in a big-league game in 2015. In 189 MLB games, Hayes was a .205 hitter with 13 homers and 37 RBIs. Hayes played for the Reno Aces in 2016 before his final season of pro ball in 2017 on the Rangers' Triple-A team, the Round Rock Express.

After retiring, Hayes joined the Rangers as an advanced scout before the promotion to coordinator of run prevention. Texas went 60-102 last season, the third-worst record in the big leagues, but spent more than $550 million in free agency this offseason before the lockout, signing Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jon Gray and Kole Calhoun. Texas ranked 24th out of 30 MLB teams last season in runs allowed per game at 5.03, an area Hayes will try and improve in his new position.