JERSEY SHORE – Four-year major league development coach with the San Diego Padres Keith Werman has been named the 15th manager of the Jersey Shore BlueClaws.
As the season is set to open on April 8, Werman will lead the BlueClaws in their second year as the Phillies High-A affiliate.
Joining Werman this year will be pitching coach Brad Bergesen, hitting coach Ari Adut, bench coach Pat Listach, athletic trainer Steve Torregrossa, and strength & conditioning coach Vanessa Escanilla.
Werman was a coach for AAA El Paso in 2017 and previously spent three years with the Hokkido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan as international operations coordinator. He played at the University of Virginia, where he helped the Cavaliers reach the Collège World Series in both 2009 and 2011.
“It’s really exciting. There are a lot of great people within the organization and I’m really looking forward to having a chance to manage some young men and work with a great coaching staff and go out there and compete,” Werman said.
Bergesen returns where he previously served as the pitching coach in 2018. Last year, he was the pitching coach for AA Reading after two years with High-A Clearwater. Bergesen pitched in the major leagues for four years with the Orioles (2009-11) and Diamondbacks (2012).
Last year, Adut was as a hitting coach in the Florida Complex League. It was his first in the Phillies system after he spent 2020 as a hitting coach for the Yankees Dominican Summer League team and five years as an assistant coach at Los Angeles Valley College in California.
After spending two seasons managing Aceros de Monclava in the Mexican League, Listach joins the Phillies for the first time. He won the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1992 with the Brewers and played parts of six major league seasons with the Brewers and Astros. In addition, he spent four seasons managing AAA Tacoma in the Mariners system while also coaching in the Cubs, Dodgers, and Nationals organizations.
Torregrossa spent last season with AAA Lehigh Valley as assistant athletic trainer and joins the BlueClaws for the first time in 2022. He spent 2020 with High-A Clearwater and 2018-19 with short-season Williamsport.
Escanilla becomes the first female member of the BlueClaws coaching staff. Her first two years were spent with the Gulf Coast/Florida Complex League Phillies after joining the organization in 2019.
Returning to the Florida Complex League is manager Chris Adamson and BlueClaws hitting coach Rafael DeLima. Last year’s pitching coach Matt Hockenberry will be the pitching coach in AA Reading.
Marty Malloy, 2017-2018 manager, will manage Low-A Clearwater while Shawn Williams, 2015-16 manager, will once again manage AA Reading.
