Craig Albernaz

Craig Francis Albernaz (born October 30, 1982) is an American professional baseball coach for the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB). He currently serves as their bench coach. He played college baseball for Eckerd College. Albernaz signed with the Tampa Bay Rays as a free agent in 2006. He was formerly the bullpen and catching coach for the San Francisco Giants.

High school, college, and playing career
Albernaz attended Somerset Berkley Regional High School in Somerset, Massachusetts.

He attended Eckerd College ('05), where he played college baseball as a pitcher and catcher. As a catcher, he threw out 61% of attenoted base stealers, and his arm was regularly clocked at 1.85 seconds to second base.

Albernaz was undrafted out of college and signed with the Tampa Bay Rays as a free agent in 2006. He played as a catcher in the Rays organization from 2006 through 2013. He spent his final season in 2014 in the Detroit Tigers organization. In his minor league career, five season of which he played in AAA, he throw out 44% of attempted basestealers (145 of 184).

Coaching career
Albernaz began his coaching career in 2015. He served as a coach for the Princeton Rays in the Appalachian League in 2015 and for the Hudson Valley Renegades in the New York-Penn League in 2016. He started the 2017 season as the third base and catching coach of the Durham Bulls in the International League, before serving as the manager of Hudson Valley. He served as the Bowling Green Hot Rods manager in the Midwest League in 2018. He was named the 2018 Midwest League Manager of the Year. Albernaz spent the 2019 season as one of the Rays minor league field coordinators.

On December 11, 2019, Albernaz was hired by the San Francisco Giants as their bullpen and catching coach.

On November 10, 2023, the Cleveland Guardians hired Albernaz to be their bench coach.