Clearwater Threshers Announce 2026 Coaching Staff
Published on February 6, 2026 under Florida State League (FSL)
Clearwater Threshers News Release
The Clearwater Threshers will announce a new-look coaching staff for the 2026 season, featuring three returning members from last season's group. Aaron Barrett will replace Marty Malloy for the first time since 2021 as the Threshers manager, and Chris Heintz and Desmond Jennings return from the 2025 Florida State League Second Half Champion coaching staff. The pitching staff features two new faces to Clearwater, but Matt Ellmyer and Alex Concepción bring a combined 15 years of coaching experience to the Phillies staff, and Strength Coach Joseph Miranda returns to Thresherville for his third season to join new Athletic Trainer Sara Binkley. After the opening weekend in Fort Myers, the Threshers will begin their 2026 season at BayCare Ballpark on April Seventh with a six-game series against the Tampa Tarpons.
Aaron Barrett: Manager
Aaron Barrett retired after throwing 1.0 inning in a July Fourth game for the IronPigs in 2022 and has been coaching in the Phillies' farm system ever since. He finished the season as a bullpen coach in Lehigh Valley, and he has served as Philadelphia's Minor League Rehab Pitching Coordinator ever since. With most of his tenure in the Phillies minor league coaching staff coming in the Florida Complex League, Barrett gets his first managerial job in his fifth year in the Phillies farm system. Barrett was an accomplished player before transitioning to the coaching staff, drafted three times before signing with the Washington Nationals as a ninth-round pick in 2010. He spent parts of four major league seasons in the Nationals' bullpen, coming out of the pen in 95 major league games for Washington. Though he was not on the playoff roster, he earned a World Series win with the club in 2019.
Shawn Williams: Bench Coach
For the first time since 2018, Shawn Williams is back in the dugout for the Clearwater Threshers. Williams was the Threshers' skipper for the 2017 and 2018 seasons in Clearwater, earning the Florida State League Coach of the Year Award and leading the Threshers to the postseason in the 2018 season. Shawn begins his 13th season in the Phillies Organization with stops at every level except for Triple-A since beginning his managerial career as an assistant coach for the Williamsport Crosscutters in 2014. He has been a manager since the 2015 season with the Lakewood (now Jersey Shore) BlueClaws and has compiled a total record of 559-554 across his eleven minor league seasons as a manager. Most recently, Williams served as the manager for the FCL Phillies, a position he held for the past three seasons. Before becoming a manager, Shawn was a minor league catcher for four years in the Tampa Bay Rays system, spending his final two seasons in the minors playing for the Charlotte Stone Crabs in the Florida State League.
Matt Ellmyer: Pitching Coach
In his third season in the Phillies Organization, Matt Ellmyer is making his third stop in the Phillies farm system. After finishing a stellar pitching career at Wofford College, Ellmyer began as a player development associate with the Phillies for the 2021 season and returned to minor league baseball with the Texas Rangers in 2022. After serving as the Rangers' Arizona Complex League Pitching Coach, Ellmyer returned to the Phillies organization in 2023. He served as a Pitching Coach with Jersey Shore in 2024 and Lehigh Valley last season. In 2025, his ace starter, Mick Abel, earned the Eastern League Pitcher of the Year after making 13 of his 18 minor league starts with the Iron Pigs.
Alex Concepcion: Assistant Pitching Coach
In his eleventh season as a coach in the Phillies' farm system, Alex Concepcion will be on a coaching staff above rookie ball for the first time in his career. Following six seasons as a pitcher in the Phillies farm system, where he reached as high as Triple-A, Concepcion joined the Phillies Dominican Summer League Staff in 2016 following his retirement as a player. He was the pitching coach for two seasons on DSL Phillies White and was the pitching coach for DSL Red from 2019 until 2024. Last season, Alex was promoted to the pitching coach in the Florida Complex League, his first year stateside in a coaching role. In addition to his work with the Phillies, Concepcion has worked in various pitching coach roles for the Leones del Escogido in his home country of the Dominican Republic. Since officially joining Leones as their pitching coach after the 2023 Dominican League season, Concepcion has helped Escogido win a Dominican League title as well as the 2025 Caribbean Series title.
Chris Heintz: Hitting Coach
Returning for a fourth straight year, Chris Heintz enters his sixth season as the Threshers' hitting coach and ninth overall in the Phillies organization. Heintz served as hitting coach for the Threshers in 2019 and 2020 and as an assistant hitting coordinator for the Phillies before returning to the Threshers staff in 2023. His experience in coaching extends to the NCAA level, serving 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. Chris 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: Position 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 Position and Assistant Hitting coach for the Threshers for the second straight season. 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 and served as the assistant hitting coach for the Threshers last season in his first season of coaching professional baseball.
Sara Binkley: Athletic Trainer
In her third season in professional baseball, Sara Binkley will serve as Clearwater's head Athletic Trainer after serving as Assistant Athletic Trainer in Double-A Reading in 2025. This season will be Binkley's second in the Phillies' Organization after she spent 2024 as a seasonal Athletic Trainer in the Orioles Organization from 2023 to 2024. She did her undergraduate years at the University of Delaware, serving as a Student Assistant Trainer for all her four years as a Blue Hen. She finished her schooling at the University of South Carolina, where she was a Graduate Assistant AT for the Gamecocks.
Joseph Miranda: Strength & Conditioning Coach
Joseph Miranda returns to Clearwater for his third season with the Threshers and fourth overall in the Phillies Organization. Last season, Joseph was the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Phillies' High-A Affiliate in Jersey Shore after serving two seasons in the same role with the Threshers in 2023 and 2024. Joe earned his degrees from Maryville College and George Washington University before beginning his career in baseball with the Colorado Rockies Organization in 2014. He has spent time with five different major league organizations and is entering his eleventh season in professional baseball. Last season, Joseph worked in Double-A Reading after spending two seasons and a stint in the Arizona Fall League with the Threshers Coaching Staff.
To purchase tickets for the Phillies Spring Training, please email [email protected] 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...Visit our website at threshersbaseball.com for information on tickets and promotions for the upcoming minor league season.
Florida State League Stories from February 6, 2026
- Clearwater Threshers Announce 2026 Coaching Staff - Clearwater Threshers
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