(Jacob Resnick/MetsMinors)
The Mets announced Wednesday that they’ll keep their Triple-A coaching staff intact for the 2019 season as their affiliation moves from Las Vegas to Syracuse. Leading the charge once again is Tony DeFrancesco, who joined the fold last offseason after leaving the Houston Astros organization.
In 2018, DeFrancesco led the 51s to a 71-69 record, good for a third-place finish in the Pacific Coast League Southern Division. The Seton Hall alumnus has spent 15 years as a manager at the Triple-A level, although this will be his first job outside of the PCL since 2002. Last season, DeFrancesco sent nine players to the major leagues to make their debuts, including Jeff McNeil and Luis Guillorme.
DeFrancesco’s immediate staff, consisting of pitching coach Glenn Abbott and hitting coach Joel Chimelis, also remains intact. Abbott, one of the top instructors in the organization, enters his ninth season with the Mets. Every pitcher that has come up through the system and reached the major leagues has had Abbott’s hands on them, whether at Las Vegas, Binghamton, or during Spring Training.
Chimelis, who joined DeFrancesco from Houston, oversaw a 51s offense in 2018 that tied for the league lead in home runs (173) and held the outright lead in doubles (313). This season will be his 16th as a professional coach, which followed a 14-year playing career in the minor, independent, and Mexican leagues.
The trio will be joined in the dugout by bench coach Benny Distefano, who has held various roles within the organization for the past nine seasons. After four years as the minor league outfield coordinator, he will be joining a team on a regular basis for the first time since 2014, when he served as the Brooklyn Cyclones’ hitting coach. Distefano holds a notable spot in baseball history as the most recent left-handed catcher in the major leagues. Typically a first baseman/outfielder, he caught three games for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1989.
The first game in Syracuse Mets history will take place on April 4, when the team hosts the Pawtucket Red Sox at NBT Bank Stadium.
