Jonathan Reid Cornelius (born June 2, 1970) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player and current

bullpen coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

for the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He played in MLB for all or parts of three seasons between 1995 and 2000 for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

, and

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

Career

Cornelius was born in

Thomasville, Alabama Thomasville is a city in Clarke County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 3,649. Founded as a late 19th-century railroad town, it has transitioned over the course of more than a century into a 21st-century commercial ...

to Ted, a school principal, and Ila Cornelius, a

teacher's aide A teaching assistant or teacher's aide (TA) or education assistant (EA) or team teacher (TT) is an individual who assists a teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate stude ...

. His older brother, Pat, played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

. He maintained a 97.6 grade average at Thomasville High School. He planned to play college baseball at

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

but chose instead to begin a professional career after being taken in the eleventh round of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft by the

and receiving a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $225,000 (). According to his father, it was the largest contract ever given to a high school draftee. He began his professional career with the

Rockford Expos The Rockford Expos was the initial moniker of the minor league baseball teams located in Rockford, Illinois from 1988 to 1999. The Expos were Rockford's first entity in the Midwest League and Rockford teams were minor league affiliates of the Mon ...

of the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

. Cornelius was the Marlins bullpen coach from 2010 to 2016. He was named the pitching coach for the Triple-A

Gwinnett Braves The Gwinnett Stripers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at Coolray Field in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia (with a Lawrencevil ...

prior to the 2017 season. Cornelius was named as the pitching coach for the

Jupiter Hammerheads The Jupiter Hammerheads are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in the town of Jupiter, Florida, Jupiter in Palm Beach County, Florida, and play their home game ...

of the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

organization for the 2019 season. Cornelius was named the bullpen coach for the

on December 13, 2021.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius, Reid 1970 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball coaches from Alabama Baseball players from Alabama Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Calgary Cannons players Charlotte Knights players Colorado Rockies (baseball) coaches Florida Marlins players Harrisburg Senators players Major League Baseball bullpen coaches Major League Baseball pitchers Miami Marlins coaches Minor league baseball coaches Montreal Expos players New York Mets players Norfolk Tides players Ottawa Lynx players People from Thomasville, Alabama Portland Sea Dogs players Rockford Expos players Tucson Sidewinders players West Palm Beach Expos players