Garvin Alston

Garvin James Alston

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 185 lb.
• School Florida International University
• High School Mount Vernon (NY) High School
• Debut June 6, 1996
• Final Game June 18, 1996
• Born December 8, 1971 in Mount Vernon, NY USA

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Biographical Information

Garvin Alston pitched in the majors for the Colorado Rockies in 1996, a team which played in a ballpark highly favorable to hitters - the team ERA was 5.60. In 6 games, all of them in June, he pitched 6 innings, and finished 4 games. Alston was drafted in the 10th round of the 1992 amateur draft, and was a starter in the minors from 1992 through part of 1994, when he became a reliever. His peak save total in the minors was 14 in Triple A ball in 1996.

After his playing career ended, Alston joined the Oakland Athletics organization and coached in their minor league system for many years. He started as the pitching coach for the Kane County Cougars in 20005-2006 before moving up a level with the Stockton Ports in 2007-2008. Following the 2008 season Alston served as the pitching coach for the Phoenix Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League. Alston left on-field coaching in 2009 to work as the A's pitching rehabilitation coordinator, a position he held through 2014. During this period he returned to the Desert Dogs in 2010. Alston spent his final year in the A's player development system as the minor league pitching coordinator.

The next four years of his coaching career entailed considerable movement. He received his first major league coaching assignment in 2016 as bullpen coach of the Arizona Diamondbacks, but he stayed only one year. He then began 2017 as minor league pitching rehab coordinator for the San Diego Padres, but on June 19th, he was hired by the Oakland Athletics as their bullpen coach, replacing Scott Emerson who had been promoted to pitching coach. Oakland did not retain his services after the season so in 2018, he moved to the Minnesota Twins as pitching coach. This position only lasted a year as well and Alston did not coach in 2019.

The San Francisco Giants hired Alston to be pitching coach of the San Jose Giants in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. He moved up to the Sacramento River Cats as pitching coach in 2021 and remained there through the 2023 season. Alston returned to the major leagues in 2024 when he was named bullpen coach for the Giants.

He is a cousin of Dell Alston. His son, Garvin Alston Jr., pitched for Arizona State University, University of South Carolina Aiken, and in the minor leagues in the Chicago White Sox and Washington Nationals' chains.