Youth At The Helm: Gómez Giddy For 2024

There will be a new lead man in the dugout for the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2024.

Gilbert Gómez, who spent seven years in the New York Mets organization as a player and served as skipper of the Single-A St. Lucie Mets a summer ago, is set to take over as manager of the Brooklyn Cyclones.

While, Gómez, who turned 32 in March, is set to become the youngest manager in franchise history, the Dominican native already has accrued plenty of success in coaching.

Now in his seventh season as a coach in the Mets’ farm system, Gómez spent this winter as the manager of Tigres del Licey in the Dominican Winter League (LIDOM). Thrust into the role unexpectedly, the 32-year-old became the youngest skipper to win a LIDOM championship and the second youngest to win a game in Caribbean Series history.

“Those experiences only help me become a better coach,” recalled Gómez about his opportunity this winter. “Pressure comes with it. It's one of those things, you have to be ready to receive criticism, receive the praise, and when you win, you’re on top of the game. When you lose people are asking for your head to be to be chopped. It's fun. It's something that makes you better as a coach, but it also makes you resilient.”

While winning is not the be-all and end-all in Minor League Baseball, Gómez is passionate about cultivating a winning atmosphere and culture, in addition to helping players develop on their way to the Majors.

“Winning is something that we want to take a lot of pride in within the Mets’ organization, we want to win in every level that we are,” proclaimed Gómez. “The main thing is to develop the guys, but we’re developing them in a winning atmosphere, in a winning environment.”

Gómez's experience in one of the top winter ball leagues across the globe is one of the many assets gained during his adventures. As a former professional outfielder, he draws on his memories of working hard in the minor leagues to help his players grow.

“You got to show empathy, man. This game is hard,” explained Gómez. “I’ve been on an 0-for-20 where you hit the ball right on the nose and it’s right at somebody, and you feel every time you go into the box, you’re already down two strikes. There’s not a single player in baseball that has not gone through those things and us as coaches are no different. So, the fact that I was able to do it not too long ago helps me connect with the guys.”

Gómez has a strong connection to baseball, which extends beyond his own career. He comes from a large baseball family, with his younger brother, Dariel, having played for the Mets’ Double-A Binghamton team last season. Meanwhile, his older siblings, José and Héctor, work in baseball as a scout for the Tampa Bay Rays and a successful baseball reporter, respectively.

“It’s definitely a blessing that we were able to stay in the game and impact the game at such a young age,” stated Gómez about sharing the game of baseball with his family. “Doing it the right way and doing it with the humbleness that our parents have tried to transmit to us.”

Uniting through the game of baseball has enabled the Gómez family to have some “full circle” moments in recent years. Most notably and recently, Héctor pestered Gilbert with questions during Caribbean Series press conferences.

“The questions were solid, they were not easy, but they were coming from a good place,” recalled Gómez with a chuckle. “Everybody else was giving him a hard time, like, ‘Hey, do you know this guy?’ or ‘Of course, you’re going to get the first question.’ I was not expecting it to happen so early in my baseball coaching career, but again, there's some things that you just can't explain.”

The native of Santo Domingo, D.R. will be joined by a few familiar faces on the bench with him in Coney Island. Eduardo Núñez, who serves as the hitting coach, Dan McKinney, the pitching coach, and Regan Saulnier, the development coach, will all be following Gómez from last year’s staff in St. Lucie.

“Familiarity is a big thing, we already know what to expect from each other,” stated Gómez about his fellow staff members. “We're a group that prepares every game, trying to turn every single stump possible to have an advantage during the game. Very resilient group, very responsible group. Early in the ballpark, late getting away from it.”

“I feel that's what the fans can expect. There's a group of coaches that are willing to go the extra mile to get the guys ready and they are going to try to make any adjustment possible to make sure that we're putting the guys in the best position to be successful.”

With 2024 on the horizon and after spending the last several minor league seasons in Port St. Lucie, Gómez is excited about all the new challenges that await in a different environment.

“It’s one step closer to what the guys really want to be, which is the city in New York,” proclaimed Gómez about the team’s proximity to the Major League club. “The crowds are going to be better than we saw in PSL [Port St. Lucie], which I feel the guys are going to like.”

“We’re just trying to build off of what happened last year,” added Gómez about the disappointment for Brooklyn on the final day of the 2023 regular season. “We were close to get to the finals, to get to that championship game. I feel like this is the year that, hopefully, we can break through and play for the championship game at the end of the year. “