Great Lakes Baseball is home to a number of renowned professional instructors, including current major and minor league hitting and pitching instructors. Our staff employs their numerous years of professional baseball playing and coaching experience to provide lessons tailored to meet individual player needs.
Bruce Fields
Director of Hitting Instruction
Coach Fields is a graduate of Lansing Community College where he then broke into the major leagues joining the Detroit Tigers in 1986. After retiring from MLB, he joined the Detroit Tiger Baseball organization as a coach and hitting instructor. Coach Fields has held multiple coaching positions with various Major League Baseball organizations and is currently the minor league hitting coordinator for the Cleveland Indians Baseball Team. His son, Daniel Fields, was recently drafted by the Detroit Tigers in 2008.
Ken Howell
Director of Pitching Instruction
Coach Howell is a graduate of Tuskegee University and was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1982 where he pitched in the MLB for seven years. After retiring from the MLB he became a pitching coach for various minor and major league teams. Recently Coach Howell was named Bullpen Coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Barbaro Garbey
Hitting & Fielding Instructor
Coach Garbey was a member of the 1984 Detroit Tigers and is a former Tigers hitting coach. He is currently the AA hitting coach for the Chicago Cubs.
Jordon Banfield
Owner - Hitting & Pitching Instructor
Coach Banfield brings his experience as a head coach in the Ann Arbor Public School District to the athletes at Great Lakes Baseball Academy. Prior to coaching in the Ann Arbor School District, Coach Banfield played for the Ann Arbor Braves, a local travel team that won two national titles, and was a member of the Michigan All-State baseball team in 2004. Coach Banfield recently graduated from the University of Michigan majoring in Sports Management. He currently is manager of the Ann Arbor Travelers a premier youth baseball team in the nation.
Trevor Brewster
Owner - Hitting & Pitching Instructor
Coach Brewster attended Colorado State University where he played in NCBA for four years. After college he played on the Northern Colorado Bandits semi-pro team for two years. He returned home to become a member of the Ann Arbor Pioneer coaching staff where he has coached for the last five years and was on the staff for the 2004 State Championship Team.
Bobby Malek
Hitting Instructor
Coach Malek attended Michigan State University where he was an outfielder for the baseball team. During his time at MSU, he was an All-American as well Big Ten Player of the Year. Coach Malek was a fourth round draft pick of the New York Mets in 2002 and is currently a hitting coach for a minor league affiliate.
Chris Yates
Hitting & Pitching Instructor
Coach Yates is a former player for the Houston Astros organization.
