Clearwater Threshers Announce 2025 Coaching Staff
With the minor league season on the horizon, the Philadelphia Phillies have announced the 2025 Field Staff for the Clearwater Threshers. The reigning FSL West First Half Champions return three members of their 2024 coaching staff, including manager Marty Malloy for his fifth year at the helm. Pitching coach Tyler
With the minor league season on the horizon, the Philadelphia Phillies have announced the 2025 Field Staff for the Clearwater Threshers. The reigning FSL West First Half Champions return three members of their 2024 coaching staff, including manager Marty Malloy for his fifth year at the helm. Pitching coach Tyler Higgins and Position Coach Nerluis Martinez highlight the new additions to the dugout, joining Hitting coach Chris Heintz and Pitching Coach Gustavo Armas. Marissa VanHassel rejoins the squad as the Athletic Trainer after a year away and John Sweeney joins the Threshers as their Strength and Conditioning Coach. The Threshers will host the Daytona Tortugas for their inaugural home series of 2025, beginning the six-game set on Tuesday, April 8th.
Marty Malloy: Manager
Marty Malloy returns as the Threshers manager for his fifth season, marking his ninth overall in the Phillies organization. He previously managed the Lakewood (now Jersey Shore) BlueClaws from 2017-18 and served as the Phillies’ minor league infield coordinator from 2020-21 before rejoining the Threshers in the second half of the 2021 season. He joined the Phillies organization after four seasons on the Houston Astros minor league staff. This past season, Malloy managed one of the most successful Threshers seasons in history, with the Threshers going all the way to the Florida State League Finals after a 79-50 record in the regular season, the best in the FSL. Before his managerial career, Marty spent 12 seasons in professional baseball, beginning in 1990 when he was drafted by the California Angels. Two of those seasons were spent in the majors, debuting for the Braves in 1998 and later returning to the bigs with the Florida Marlins in 2002.
Gustavo Armas: Pitching Coach
After serving on the Florida Complex League staff as the Pitching Development Coach in 2023, Gustavo Armas rejoins the Threshers staff as one of two Pitching Coaches in 2025 for his second consecutive season. Armas has spent his entire baseball career with the Phillies, originally signing as an amateur free agent out of his native Venezuela in 2013. He reached Double-A Reading while pitching in the Phillies system over a seven-year career spanning from 2014-2020. Armas has spent time with the Phillies Dominican Summer League and FCL teams in various coaching roles since finishing his playing career.
Tyler Higgins: Pitching Coach
After spending the last two seasons in Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Tyler Higgins makes the move to the Threshers in his second season as a coach. He was the pitching coach for the IronPigs last season and will serve as the pitching coach for the Threshers in 2025. Prior to coaching, Higgins had a long playing career, spending 10 seasons in the minor leagues as well as a stint with the NPB's Orix Buffaloes in Japan. Initially drafted out of high school by the Rangers in 2009, Higgins chose to continue his baseball career at Wayne State University before the Marlins took him in the 23rd round of the 2011 MLB Draft.
Chris Heintz: Hitting Coach
Returning for a third consecutive season, Chris Heintz enters his fifth season as the Threshers hitting coach and eighth overall in the Phillies organization. Heintz served as hitting coach for the Threshers in 2019 and 2020 and an assistant hitting coordinator for the Phillies. His experience in coaching extends to the NCAA level, serving for five years as an assistant coach for the University of South Florida, his alma mater. He was inducted into the USF Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013, where he set multiple program and single-season records during his four-year career as a catcher. Heintz was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 1996 MLB Draft and played parts of three seasons in the major leagues with the Minnesota Twins.
Desmond Jennings: Development and Assistant Hitting Coach
After a few years away from a long and distinguished playing career, Desmond Jennings returns to the Bay Area as the Development and Assistant hitting coach for the Threshers. Jennings retired from playing in 2017 after 7 years with the Tampa Bay Rays, who drafted Desmond in the tenth round of the 2006 MLB Draft. He primarily played center field for the Rays and had a batting average of .245 with 55 homers and 191 RBIs over his big league career. After his playing days were done, Desmond became a youth baseball coach.
Nerluis Martinez: Position Coach
Nerluis Martinez joins the Threshers in his fifth season with the Phillies Organization, coaching at an affiliate level for the first time since 2021. For the last three seasons, Nerluis has managed the Phillies Red in the Dominican Summer League, compiling a record of 84-83 during his three-year tenure as manager. He began his coaching career with the Phillies in 2021, joining the staff of the Reading Fightin Phils as a Development Coach. Before coaching, Martinez was a player in the Phillies system, signed as an amateur free-agent catcher by the Phillies in 2014. He spent 4 seasons in the Phillies organization, reaching Low-A Lakewood (now Jersey Shore) before finishing his playing career in 2018.
Marissa VanHassel: Athletic Trainer
After a year in the Dominican Summer League, Marissa VanHassel returns for her second season with the Clearwater Threshers. Marissa served as the Associate Athletic Trainer for the Threshers in 2023, her first job in professional baseball following her graduation from the University of South Florida. She graduated with an M.S. from USF in 2023 after receiving her undergraduate degree from Georgia. In college and grad school, she assisted the athletic training staff in multiple sports including cheerleading.
John Sweeney: Strength & Conditioning Coach
John Sweeney is entering his third season as a Strength and Conditioning Coach in the Phillies organization and will serve on his third different coaching staff. Sweeney began in 2023 with the Florida Complex League and spent last season in High-A with the Jersey Shore BlueClaws. John graduated from Siena College in his home state of New York with a bachelor's degree in Health Studies, serving as team manager and the strength and conditioning coach in his final year at Siena. After basketball season, Sweeney went to Massachusetts as the strength and conditioning coach at the College of the Holy Cross.
To purchase tickets for the Phillies Spring Training, please email sttickets@phillies.com or call us at 727-467-4457...The BayCare Ballpark Box Office is open Monday through Friday from 10 am – 5 pm...The box office will be open on Saturdays from 10 am - 3 pm...Tickets will be going to dynamic pricing soon, please contact the Threshers box office for more details...Visit our website at threshersbaseball.com for information on tickets and promotions for the upcoming minor league season.
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