Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders Announce Field Staff

Shelley Duncan’s first SWB field staff features five returnees from the 2022 staff and three newcomers

The New York Yankees have announced the field staff for each of their minor league affiliates. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders Manager Shelley Duncan will be joined in the dugout by Pitching Coach Graham Johnson, Hitting Coach Trevor Amicone and Athletic Trainer Jimmy Downam, each of whom returns for their second season at Triple-A.
José Javier joins the field staff this season as the club’s new Defensive Coach. Additionally, Ryan Williams is the new Strength & Conditioning Coach and Sullivan Lyons will be the team’s new Video & Travel Assistant.

Jim Billington and Nick Loeffelholz both return to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the same roles they held last season. Billington is the RailRiders’ Home Clubhouse Manager while Loeffelholz is the Advance Scouting Analyst.

New York announced Manager Shelley Duncan’s return to the organization on January 20. Duncan was drafted by the Yankees and appeared in 905 games while a Yankees’ farmhand. 2023 marks the fifth season in Duncan’s managerial career and the first at Triple-A for the 2009 International League Most Valuable Player.

Johnson, 37, served as the RailRiders Pitching Coach in 2022, providing tutelage to a staff that finished with an International League-best 3.89 ERA and the third-most strikeouts. He spent several seasons in the Houston Astros organization as a pitching coach in the lower levels of Minor League Baseball before joining the Yankees farm system last year. Johnson played at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, MO, before becoming a graduate assistant at Lindenwood University, completing his Master’s of Education with an emphasis in strength and conditioning degree in 2010. After a stint with Western Illinois University, he joined the staff at Morehead State. Johnson was the pitching coach for the Eagles from 2012-17 and also served as an assistant head coach, overseeing field maintenance and the academic development of all student-athletes involved in the baseball program.

Amicone, 35, also returns to the role he held in 2022 with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The RailRiders hit .249 last season with 173 home runs, though the club had the second-best batting average and fourth-best on-base percentage over the final 95 games of the 150-game slate. Amicone joined the Yankees organization in 2020 and spent last season with New York’s Dominican Summer League team. The Sandy, Utah, native has served as an assistant coach and camp coordinator for the Dixie State baseball program as well as the head baseball coach at Woods Cross High School in Utah. He has also worked privately with hitters at the professional, college, high school and youth levels. His father, Marc, is the General Manager of the Salt Lake Bees in the Pacific Coast League.

Javier, 30, will serve as the Defensive Coach for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was initially signed by New York as a non-drafted free agent in 2010 and played six seasons in the Yankees’ minor league system. 2023 will be Javier’s seventh season as a coach in the organization, having spent time at each level, including serving as the Defensive Coach for the Hudson Valley Renegades last year.
2023 marks Downam’s eleventh season with the Yankees as an Athletic Trainer and his second straight year in Triple-A. He joined the Yankees in 2013 as the trainer for Staten Island and also spent three seasons with Charleston from 2014 through 2016. Downam spent five seasons as New York’s Double-A trainer between time in Trenton and Somerset. He attended Liberty University, where he received his B.S. in Athletic Training in 2009 and an M.S. in sports administration in 2012.
Williams has spent the last two seasons with the Somerset Patriots as their Strength & Conditioning Coach. He is a 2019 graduate of Limestone University and interned at both the University of South Carolina Upstate and Campbell University. Williams also served as a strength & conditioning coach at Cressey Sports Performance before joining the Yankees organization.

Please direct all interview requests to Adam Marco, the Director of Communications for the RailRiders. He can be reached at (570) 558-4637 or via email at amarco@swbrailriders.com.

The RailRiders’ 2023 season begins at PNC Field on March 31 against the Buffalo Bisons. Season ticket memberships, including full, half, partial and flex plans, are available now. Visit www.swbrailriders.com for more information.