Hartford Yard Goats Coaching Staff Set  to Return for 2023 Season 

*Hartford Yard Goats Coaching Staff Set to Return for 2023 Season *

(Hartford, CT) The Hartford Yard Goats Baseball Club, the Double-A Eastern League affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, has been informed by the Rockies that the entire coaching staff from last season will be returning to Hartford in 2023. Manager and Southington native Chris Denorfia returns for his third season as Yard Goats manager, and will again be joined by the coaches that helped guide the club to the most wins in franchise history last season, hitting coach Tom Sutaris, pitching coach Blaine Beatty (pronounced Bee-tee) and bench coach Luis Lopez. Coy Coker will begin his first season as Athletic Trainer and Mason Rook returns as Physical Performance Coach.

Denorfia played 10 years in the Major Leagues with Cincinnati (2005-06), Oakland (2008-09), San Diego (2010-14), Seattle (2014), and the Cubs (2015). The former outfielder graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford before playing at Wheaton College (Norton, MA), where he was a NCAA Division III All-American, and drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 19th round in 2002.

“We are extremely excited that Chris is returning to manage the Yard Goats for another season in Hartford,” Yard Goats General Manager Mike Abramson said. “It is nice to work with someone who knows our community so well, and is so supportive of our fans and partners. Chris is really the complete package and we can’t wait to get going in 2023.”

Denorfia, 42, managed the Yard Goats to a franchise record 77 wins last season and had four players from the 2022 club reach the Major Leagues. In the past two seasons under his watch, nine Yard Goats have made their MLB debuts. He was appointed Yard Goats manager in 2021 after spending the 2019 season with the Chicago Cubs as Quality Assurance Coach on manager Joe Maddon’s staff. After his playing career, Denorfia joined the Cubs front office as a Special Assistant to the President/GM in 2018. In 10 seasons in the Majors, he batted .272 with 103 doubles, 17 triples, 41 home runs, 196 RBI and 56 stolen bases in 808 games. He was part of the Cubs 2015 Playoff Roster and appeared in all three rounds helping Chicago advance to the NLCS. Denorfia played for Italy during the 2009 and 2013 World Baseball Classic and batted a combined .387 in eight games across the two tournaments.

Denorfia enjoyed his best season in the Majors in 2013 when he batted .279 with 21 doubles, 10 homers, and 47 RBI for the San Diego Padres, and led the club with 132 hits. He had a walk-off, pinch-hit a home run off Aroldis Chapman of the Reds on July 29th. In June of 2012, he had a career-high 12-game hitting streak. Denorfia made his MLB debut with the Reds on September 7, 2005 against the Brewers.

Sutaris will begin his sixth season in the Rockies organization and his third as the Yard Goats Hitting Coach in 2023. He was the Hitting Coach at High-A Lancaster in the California League in 2018 and 2019. Sutaris was the assistant coach at the University of Incarnate Word in 2017 after serving as the special assistant for the University of Texas baseball team from 2014-2017. He played professionally in the Frontier League from 1993 through 1996 for the Ohio Valley Redcoats. The Toms River, NJ native graduated from Lynn University in 1993.

Beatty begins his second season at Hartford as the Yard Goats pitching coach and his fifth season in the Rockies organization. He was the pitching coach at Triple-A Albuquerque in 2021 and served in a similar role at Grand Junction in 2019. Prior to coming to the Rockies, he was a longtime pitching coach in the Baltimore Orioles organization from 2006-2018 and spent two seasons at Double-A Bowie. He spent three seasons in the New York Mets organization from 2003-2005 and was a pitching coach in the Pittsburgh Pirates system from 1998-2002. Beatty was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 9th round in 1986 from Baylor University in Texas. He made his Major League debut in 1989 with the New York Mets and appeared in seven MLB games from 1989-1991.

Lopez begins his second season at Hartford as the Yard Goats bench coach and his second with the Rockies organization. Previously, Lopez served as a hitting coach in the Boston Red Sox organization (2008-11), was the Minor League infield coordinator for the Atlanta Braves (2012-17), and the manager of the GCL Tigers (2018-19). The Cidra, Puerto Rico native began his career at 17 years old in the Padres organization and played professionally from 1988-2005. He appeared in parts of 11 big league seasons with San Diego (1993-94, ’96), New York-NL (1997-99), Milwaukee (2000-02), Baltimore (2002, ’04), and Cincinnati (2005).