PRESS RELEASE: BROOKLYN CYCLONES ANNOUNCE 2022 COACHING STAFF

Former Cyclones All-Star Set to Guide Club 

BROOKLYN, NY – January 6, 2022 – The Brooklyn Cyclones will begin the 2022 season, their second as the High-A Affiliate of the New York Mets, with a new manager.   Luis Rivera will make his debut as Cyclones manager when they kick off the season on Friday, April 8th in Wilmington (DE) against the Blue Rocks.   The 37-year-old is no stranger to Brooklyn, as Rivera was named a New York-Penn League All-Star as a member of the Cyclones during the 2009 season.   The San Juan, Puerto Rico native will become the first former Cyclones player to manage the club. 

Rivera spent the 2021 season as the bench coach for Syracuse (AAA) and last served as a manager from 2015-2017, when he guided the Kingsport Mets (R) of the now defunct Appalachian League.   Rivera has also served as a hitting coach with Binghamton (AA) and Columbia (A) during his time with the Mets organization, which began in 2010. 

Joining Rivera on the Brooklyn coaching staff will be Richie Benes (Hitting Coach), AJ Sager (Pitching Coach), Chris Newell (Bench Coach), Austin Dayton (Athletic Trainer) and Drew Skrocki (Performance Coach). 

Benes, 43, is a native of the Bronx and served as a coach with the Cyclones throughout the playoffs during their Championship season in 2019.   He enters his fourth year in the organization and previously served as a coach in the Mets Dominican Academy as well as with the Complex League in 2021.   Prior to joining the Mets organization, he was the hitting and infield coach at St. Peter's University in Jersey City, NJ.   Benes was selected in the 23rd round of the 1996 First Year Player Draft out of Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx and played two years of affiliated ball with the Kansas City Royals.   

Sager begins his first season with the Mets organization after serving as the Minor League Pitching Coordinator with the Detroit Tigers for the previous eight seasons.   The 56-year-old spent 20 seasons with the Detroit Tigers organization, including six seasons as the pitching coach with Toledo (AAA).   He pitched professionally for 12 seasons from 1988-1999, logging time in the San Diego, Colorado, Detroit and Cincinnati organizations.   In 123 lifetime Major League appearances with the Padres (1994), Rockies (1995) and Tigers (1996-98), Sager posted a 12-15 record, with five career saves and a 5.36 ERA.   He also served as a color analyst for the University of Toledo football network for eight seasons (2000-07). 

Chris Newell enters his third season with the Mets organization after serving as a manager with the Complex League Mets in 2021 and being tabbed as the Kingsport Mets (R) manager in 2020 prior to the cancellation of the Minor League season.  Before joining the Mets organization, he served as manager of the Birmingham-Bloomfield Beavers in the United Shore Professional League from 2016-19.   He also worked as a scout for the Tampa Bay Rays (1999-2005) and the New York Yankees (2006-2016). 

Rounding out the staff will be Austin Dayton (Athletic Trainer) and Drew Skrocki (Performance Coach). 

Full and partial season tickets, as well as group and premium tickets for the 2022 Cyclones season are available now. You can reach the box office by calling or texting 718 – 37 – BKLYN. Single game tickets will be made available in the weeks ahead.