Yucarybert De La Cruz named St. Lucie Mets manager

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (February 7, 2024) – The St. Lucie Mets are excited to announce their coaching staff for the 2024 season. Yucarybert De La Cruz will become the 22^nd manager in club history. He will be joined on the staff by pitching coach Jordan Kraus, hitting coach Alejandro Diaz, bench coach Jeremy Cologna and development coach Bree Nasti.

De La Cruz, 33, begins his eighth season working in the Mets organization and his second season in St. Lucie. He was the team’s bench coach in 2023. Prior to joining St. Lucie in 2023, De La Cruz was the manager of the Dominican Summer League Mets 2 team for five seasons.

De La Cruz was a Mets minor league player before beginning his coaching career. He signed with the Mets in 2009 and played for five years in the organization, reaching as far as High-A St. Lucie in 2013.

“I am super excited to be the St. Lucie Mets manager this year,” De La Cruz said. “We’re going to develop each player and help them to reach their maximum potential. The end goal is to help them reach their dream getting to MLB.”

Pitching coach Jordan Kraus begins his second season in the Mets organization. He was the development coach for Triple-A Syracuse in 2023. Before joining the Mets, Kraus was a pitching and strength and conditioning coach at Cressey Sports Performance in Hudson, Mass.

Kraus played six years in Independent League baseball and was a Frontier League All-Star in 2017. He served as an assistant coach at Ashland University (Ohio) in 2016. Kraus played collegiate ball at Wheeling Jesuit University (W. Va.) from 2010-2013.

Alejandro Diaz begins his first season as the St. Lucie hitting coach. He served a complex hitting coach for the FCL Mets in 2023. From 2021-2022 Diaz was the hitting coach for the DSL Mets 2 team. Diaz spent 2019 with the Dominican Republic instructional team as an intern manager and the 2018 season as the DSL infield coach intern.

Diaz signed with the Mets as a player in 2013 and spent nearly five seasons in the farm system.

Jeremy Cologna begins his second season in the Mets organization and his first as the St. Lucie bench coach. Cologna was the development coach for Double-A Binghamton in 2023. Prior to his tenure with the Mets, Cologna spent two seasons at Missouri State University as a volunteer assistant coach. He was the program’s first base coach, assisted with offensive development and game planning and worked with the Bears’ catchers.

Cologna was a pitcher and a catcher at Avila University from 2017-2018. He began his collegiate baseball career at St. Charles Community College.

Bree Nasti starts her second season in the Mets organization and first with St. Lucie as development coach. Nasti joined the Mets in 2023 as the organization’s Complex League development coach. Nasti came to the Mets after serving as the bench coach of the Elizabethton River Riders of the Appalachian League in 2022.

Nasti has a wealth of college softball experience. She spent four seasons on the Providence College softball staff and was the head coach at Division II Adelphi University from 2013-2018. She guided Adelphi to two Division II Women’s College World Series appearances in 2015 and 2016.

Adam Devery will be St. Lucie’s head athletic trainer. Devery begins his fourth year in the Mets organization and his first in St. Lucie. Devery was a minor league reconditioning athletic trainer in 2023, the FCL Mets trainer in 2022 and a DSL Mets trainer in 2021.

Devery graduated from the University of Evansville in 2019 and worked in Evansville, Ind. as a physical therapist assistant and a high school trainer before coming to the Mets.

Trent McMaster will be the St. Lucie strength and conditioning coach. McMaster begins his second season in the Mets organization and his first in St. Lucie. In 2023 McMaster was a performance associate with the FCL Mets and the DSL Mets. Before joining the Mets he was the Exos Sports Performance Director in Kansas City (Kan.) from 2021-2022.

McMaster was the hitting coach and outfield coach at the University of Central Oklahoma from 2018-2020. McMaster played collegiate baseball for Coffeyville Community College (2014-2016) and Kansas State (2017-2018).

The associates on the 2024 staff include Benji Seashore-Hobson (Baseball Analytics Associate), Jessica Edelman (Player Development Associate), Amanda Gallone (Athletic Training Associate) and Paola Gonzalez Espiet (Nutrition Associate). All are in their first year with St. Lucie.

The St. Lucie Mets open their season April 5^th at Clover Park against the Daytona Tortugas. Ticket information and promotions will be announced in the coming weeks.