Former Detroit Tigers catcher Lance Parrish will manage the team’s Midwest League affiliate next year.

Parrish takes the reins of the West Michigan Whitecaps after four seasons at the helm of the Erie SeaWolves, Detroit’s Double-A affiliate in the Eastern League. He also has managed in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, including the Great Lakes Loons in 2007. (That was Great Lakes’ inaugural season, and the team included Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jensen and Carlos Santana. They went 57-82.)

Parrish’s coaching experience also includes six seasons with Detroit’s major-league club, from 1999 to 2001 and 2003 to 2005. He played 1,988 games over 19 seasons in the big leagues, was named to eight MLB All-Star teams, and won six Silver Slugger awards and three Gold Glove awards.

(He is not to be confused with fellow former major-leaguer Larry Parrish, who managed the Whitecaps to a 69-70 record in 2013. They are not related, and neither played in the Midwest League.)

Parrish replaces 2017 Whitecaps skipper Mike Rabelo, who was named the Midwest League Manager of the Year after leading West Michigan to an impressive 91-45 record during the regular season. (The 2017 Whitecaps recently were named the best team in Minor League Baseball this year, via fan vote and MiLB staff selection.) Rabelo will manage the High-A Lakeland Flying Tigers next year.

Andrew Graham replaces Parrish as manager of the SeaWolves. He managed the Whitecaps from 2014 to 2016, winning the Midwest League championship title in 2015. He was skipper of the Flying Tigers in 2017.

The 2018 season will be the Whitecaps’ 25th.

The West Michigan Whitecaps’ “25 Seasons” logo.