The San Diego Padres announced Monday additions to new manager Bob Melvin’s coaching staff.
San Diego hired former Nationals manager Matt Williams as its third-base coach, while rounding out the staff with some other additions that were made official: Ryan Christenson as bench coach, Ruben Niebla as pitching coach, Michael Brdar as hitting coach, David Macias as first-base coach and outfield instructor, Francisco Cervelli as catching coach and Herberto Andrade as bullpen catcher.
Cervelli’s name is a familiar one to New York Yankees fans. The catcher, a 13-year MLB veteran, spend his first seven seasons in the Bronx, making his debut in 2008. He hit .278 in 250 regular-season games with the Yankees and picked up a World Series ring backing up Jorge Posada in 2009.
After the 2014 season, New York traded Cervelli to the Pittsburgh Pirates for left-hander Justin Wilson.
Cervelli later played for the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins, calling it a career after the 2020 season. Per The Athletic, Cervelli “made seven documented trips to the concussion injured list, six of them in his last four seasons, according to a log on his MLB.com profile.”
In September, Cervelli hinted at a career in coaching, telling The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel, “I think I’m going to come back in baseball at some point. I would love to do TV, and at some point, I would love to be a manager. I think I’d be a good manager.”
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Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com.