Craig Bjornson

Craig M. Bjornson

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.
• School Arizona Western Junior College, Nicholls State University
• High School Tucson High School

• Born February 14, 1969 in Tucson, AZ USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Craig Bjornson spent three seasons in the minors as a pitcher, then coached for over two decades.

Undrafted out of college, Bjornson signed with the Houston Astros. He was 3-4 with a 3.71 ERA between three stops in 1991. In 1992, Craig was 4-8 with a 3.70 ERA for the Asheville Tourists and 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA for the Auburn Astros. He ended his playing career with the 1993 Quad Cities River Bandits, going 0-6 with three saves and a 5.08 ERA.

Bjornson started his coaching career in 1998 with the Pima Community College Aztecs. In 1999 Bjornson joined the professional coaching ranks in the Montreal Expos player development system. He was the pitching coach for the Vermont Expos in 1999 and the GCL Expos in 2000-2001. He spent the next year as the pitching coach for the Spokane Indians in the Kansas City Royals organization. During these years, Bjornson also worked as a pitching coach in the Venezuelan League with Pastora de los Llanos (1999/2000 - 2002/2003). He returned to the Vermont Expos in 2003 before moving to the High-A Brevard County Manatees for the 2004 season. Bjornson returned to Vermont for a third time in 2005, this time under the new Washington Nationals umbrella. He moved westward in 2006 when the Los Angeles Dodgers hired him to coach Ogden Raptors pitchers for three seasons. He next worked in the Colorado Rockies chain from 2009-2011 as the pitching coach for the Casper Ghosts.

Bjornson rose to a major league coaching staff for the first time in 2012 when the Houston Astros named him their bullpen coach to replace Jamie Quirk. Dennis Martinez took over the position in 2013 and Bjornson spent the year as a minor league pitching instructor working with rookie level teams. The demotion only lasted one year. Bjornson returned as bullpen coach in 2014 and stayed until the end of the 2017 season when the Astros won their first World Series title.

After Astros bench coach Alex Cora was named manager of the Boston Red Sox for the 2018 season, Bjornson followed him to Boston and served as the Red Sox bullpen coach. Cora and Bjornson added another World Series ring that year. Bjornson was let go after the 2020 season. He returned to the major leagues in 2022 when he was hired by the New York Mets to be their bullpen coach, but stayed for just one season.

Bjornson returned to the minors as pitching coach for the Gwinnett Stripers in 2023. The Braves may have named Bjornson a Minor League Roving Pitching Instructor in 2024, but this could not be verified.