Salt Lake Bees Announce 2023 Field Staff

SALT LAKE CITY (Feb. 16, 2023) – Keith Johnson will return to the Salt Lake dugout for the first time since 2018 as manager of the Salt Lake Bees. Alongside Johnson the Los Angeles Angels announced the Bees field staff will consist of hitting coach Joel Chimelis, pitching coach Derrin Ebert, coach Jack Santora, trainer Jonathan Fierro, strength and conditioning coach Henry Aleck, game planning strategist Andrew Hansford, video assistant Brooklyn Tanner and clubhouse manager Cole Filosa.

Johnson will be in his third stint as the manager for the Bees having served in the same role from 2011-2014 and again from 2016-2018. Johnson was most recently the first base coach for the Miami Marlins from 2021-2022, he also served as the manager of the New Orleans Baby Cakes in 2019 and managed in the Arizona Fall League in 2019, winning the league title. Johnson was named the 2013 Pacific Coast League Manager of the year by league peers and Baseball America, leading the team to the PCL Championship series. As a player Johnson was drafted by the Dodgers in the fourth round of the 1992 free agent draft, making his Major League debut in 2000 with the Angels. Johnson then spent the 2002 and 2003 seasons with Salt Lake, playing infield for the Stingers.

Chimelis joins the Angels organization after serving as a hitting coach for the New York Mets Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas and Syracuse since the 2018 season. Chimelis started his coaching career in 2004 as the hitting coach for the Savannah Sand Gnats and has also coached in the Houston Astros system, serving as manager for the 2012 Corpus Christi Hooks. Chimelis had a 15-year professional playing career that began as an 11th round draft pick of the Oakland A’s in 1988 and included a stint in the Pacific Coast League with the Phoenix Firebirds from 1992-95. Chimelis also enjoyed a successful overseas career playing seven seasons abroad for leagues in Mexico, China and Korea.

Ebert comes to Salt Lake after spending 2021 as the pitching coach for the Angels Rookie affiliate in Arizona. The left-hander enjoyed an 11-year professional career after being drafted by Atlanta in the 18th round of the 1994 Draft and made his Major League debut on April 6, 1999, pitching in five games with the National League champion Braves during the season. Eberts coaching career began as the pitching coach for the Arizona League Reds in 2012 and included stops at Billings and Dayton before a season as the Reds Major League pitching coach in 2018. In 2011 Ebert played former Oakland pitcher Mike Magnante in the movie Moneyball.

Santora moves up to Salt Lake after serving as a coach with the High-A Tri-City Dust Devils each of the last two seasons. Santora has been a coach in the Angels organization since 2017, including as the manager of the Orem Owlz in 2019. Santora was drafted by Arizona in the 19th round of the 1999 draft out of UCLA and spent part of the 2002 season with the Tucson Sidewinders in the PCL. Following six years in affiliated baseball, Santora played for four seasons with the Independent Newark Bears of the Atlantic League and 10 seasons in the Italian Baseball League with Rimini and San Marino. As a member of the Italian National team Santora won European Baseball championships in 2010 and 2012 and was a member of three Italian World Baseball Classic teams and is set to coach on the 2023 Italian team this spring.

Fierro returns for a third season as the athletic trainer for the Bees. Prior to joining the Angels organization in 2021, Fierro spent nine seasons with the Chicago Cubs organization including stints at the Major League and Triple-A levels.

Aleck is in his third year as a strength and conditioning coach with the Angels organization having spent 2021 with Tri-City and 2022 with Rocket City. Before joining the Angels, Aleck spent time with High-A Lakewood in the Philadelphia Phillies organization and as a strength and conditioning coach at the University of Texas.

Rounding out the staff Hansford joins the Bees after spending 2022 as the game planning strategist in Rocket City, Tanner is in her first year with the Angels organization and Filosa returns for his fourth season as clubhouse manager.

The Bees begin the 2023 season with a three-game Opening Weekend series against the Sacramento River Cats on Friday, March 31. All three games during Opening Weekend will be played at 1:05 p.m. at Smith’s Ballpark. Single game tickets are available at www.slbees.com beginning on March 1.