Alfonzo Returns As Cyclones Manager

Edgardo Alfonzo.

Mets icon Edgardo Alfonzo, will return as manager for the 2019 season, his sixth year with the Cyclones organization and third as manager. “Fonzie” will be joined on the bench by hitting coach Delwyn Young, pitching coach Josué Matos and coach Endy Chávez.

Chávez is known for authoring one of the best moments in Mets history when he reached over the left field fence to rob Scott Rolen of a grand slam in the seventh game of the 2006 NLCS. This will be his first season as a coach.


Alfonzo, 44, spent 12 years in the Major Leagues with the Mets, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Angels and Toronto Blue Jays. Fonzie spent eight years in Queens with the Mets and ranks among the all-time franchise leaders in home runs, RBI, total bases, extra-base hits, batting average, runs scored, hits, and at-bats. In 2000, the National League All-Star hit .324 with 25 home runs, 40 doubles and 94 RBI while helping the Mets reach the World Series for the first time since 1986. Edgardo’s brother, Edgar, served as the Cyclones manager in 2001, 2007-08 and has more wins (146) than any other manager in franchise history. His nephew, also named Edgar Alfonzo, pitched for the team in 2004 and 2005.
Young, 35, begins his second year in the Mets organization and his first with Brooklyn after spending the 2018 season as the hitting coach with the Kingsport Mets (R) of the Appalachian League. Young played five seasons in the major leagues from 2006 – 2010 for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates. In 344 career games, he batted .244 (183-710) with 37 doubles, and four triples. Delwyn spent the entire 2011 season with Lehigh Valley (AAA) in the Phillies organization and played with Camden of the Atlantic League from 2012-2013 and with Sugar Land from 2014-2016. He was originally selected in the fourth round of the 2002 MLB Draft out of Santa Barbara City College.
Matos, 41, enters his fourth season as a pitching coach in the Mets organization and his first with the Cyclones. Josué spent the 2015 season with the GCL Mets and was the pitching coach with the Kingsport Mets in 2017 and 2018. Prior to joining the Mets organization served as a pitching coach at Interamerican University of Puerto Rico from 2010-2013. During his playing career, Matos pitched in the minor leagues with the Mariners, Blue Jays and Phillies from 1997 – 2005, reaching Triple-A.
The 2019 season will be Endy Chávez’s first as a coach after ending his more than two decade long playing career. The 41-year-old played parts of 13 seasons in the Major Leagues with the Mets, Royals, Expos, Nationals, Phillies, Mariners, Rangers and Orioles. Most recently, the Valencia, Venezuela native played in the Independent Atlantic League with the Somerset Patriots in 2018, hitting .287 (100-349) in 87 games. Chávez spent three seasons with the New York Mets, from 2006 – 2008, appearing in over 130 games in two of those three seasons.
Rounding out the staff will be Vanessa Weisbach (Athletic Trainer) and John Perry (Strength & Conditioning Coach). Weisbach, 32, spent the 2018 season with the Kingsport Mets after working the previous two seasons as an athletic trainer at the Mets minor league complex in St. Lucie, FL. Perry, 28, enters his second season with the Mets organization after serving in the same role with Kingsport in 2018.
The Cyclones will open the 2019 schedule on Friday, June 14th vs. Staten Island.