Denorfia returning to Hartford for second season with Yard Goats

HARTFORD, Jan. 19, 2022 – Southington native Chris Denorfia will return as the manager of the Hartford Yard Goats, the team announced on Wednesday.

Denorfia, who grew up in Southington, returns to the Yard Goats, the Double A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, for a second consecutive season.

Two players from Denorfia’s 2021 Yard Goats team (right-handed pitchers Ryan Feltner and Julian Fernandez) reached the Rockies. Denorfia, 41, joined the Yard Goats last year after spending the 2019 season with the Chicago Cubs as Quality Assurance Coach on manager Joe Maddon’s staff.

The Yard Goats were last in the Double A Northeast League’s Northeast Division with a record of 39-79.

Denorfia played 10 years in the major leagues with Cincinnati (2005-06), Oakland (2008-09), San Diego (2010-14), Seattle (2014) and the Cubs (2015). In 10 seasons, he batted .272 with 103 doubles, 17 triples, 41 home runs, 196 RBI and 56 stolen bases in 808 games.

Denorfia played for Italy during the 2009 and 2013 World Baseball Classic and batted a combined .387 in eight games across the two tournaments.

The former outfielder graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford before playing at Wheaton College (Norton, Mass.), where he was a NCAA Division III All-American, and drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 19^th round in 2002.

Also returning to Hartford is hitting coach Tom Sutaris.  Denorfia and Sutaris will be joined by new pitching coach and former New York Mets pitcher Blaine Beatty and new bench coach Luis Lopez.  Kelsey Branstetter returns for her second season as Yard Goats trainer and Mason Rook returns for his second season as Yard Goats pysical performance coach