LAKEWOOD – Another season of excitement and entertainment is on tap at the ShoreTown Ballpark, the home of the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, the Philadelphia Phillies’ affiliate which competes in the South Atlantic League, a High-A circuit.
And it will be a special season as the BlueClaws are in their 25th year.
Jersey Shore will play its first three regular-season games on the road. The BlueClaws’ first home regular-season game will be played Tuesday, April 7, against the Brooklyn (N.Y.) Cyclones of the New York Mets’ minor-league system at 6:35 on Opening Night at the Jersey Shore. The BlueClaws will play 132 regular-season games, including 66 at home.
A 25th Anniversary Commemorative Ticket Giveaway will take place Saturday, April 11, when Jersey Shore hosts the Cyclones at 4 p.m. Tickets will go to the first 1,100 fans through the turnstiles.
The BlueClaws’ home cap will have a 25th anniversary patch. The logo, in the shape of a beach badge, contains the team’s surfing crab logo, says 25th anniversary across the top and the seasons 2001 and 2026 are listed on each side of the pin. The BlueClaws began play in 2001.
As part of the celebration, Jersey Shore is collecting fan photos and stories from the team’s first 25 years. They will be posted throughout the season on the video board beyond the outfield fence, on the team’s website and on its social media pages.
Voting to choose the BlueClaws’ 25th Anniversary All-Time Team has begun. Fans will be able to vote for one position group each week. The first group was catchers. Voting began Jan. 26. Infielders, outfielders, starting pitchers and relief pitchers will be chosen in the coming weeks.
The BlueClaws will be known as the Jersey Shore Locals for each Sunday home game. The team is 92,598 fans from reaching the nine million mark for home regular-season games.
“The BlueClaws’ 25th anniversary season is about the fans who have made the BlueClaws a truly special place for a quarter century,” third-year Jersey Shore general manager Bob McLane said at the team’s 2026 Media Day Season Kickoff Luncheon at the Blue Wave Bar. “It’s a great milestone for the team. It has a lot of rich traditions. I am pumped to get it all started.”
Jeff Morgan of Pro Sports Catering unveiled new food items on tables and counters.
Several cap designs were unveiled. They were designed by Tinton Falls resident Danielle Britton, a Monmouth Regional High School graduate.
The BlueClaws have a new manager in Mycal Jones, who was on the 2025 coaching staff of the Reading (Pa.) Phillies.
Jones replaces Greg Brodzinski, who managed Jersey Shore to 209 wins over the last three seasons and a postseason appearance in 2023. He’s the Complex Coordinator at the Phillies’ Player Development Center in Clearwater, Fl., this year.
“My goal is to become a bench coach in the major leagues,” Jones said. “This is a good route to get there. I am real excited. Greg gave me the rundown on what to expect. He is a good friend. It’s on me to put a winning team on the field. I have gone from level to level in the minor leagues as a player and staff member. I am excited and looking forward to get rockin’.
“I usually deal with outfielders and baserunners. Now, I have 30 guys to deal with. I have to develop a relationship with our pitchers. I want the team to play the right way and aggressively. If we do that, we will have some fun.”
Left-hander Mavis Graves will pitch for the BlueClaws. He’s the 27th prospect in the Phillies’ system as per MLB Pipeline. Chosen by the Phillies in the sixth round in 2022 out of Taylors High School (S.C.), he posted a 2.63 earned run average in the final two months in Lakewood last season.
Gabriel Barbosa, a righty, pitched for Brazil in the recent World Baseball Classic and returns to the BlueClaws after making four starts in 2025 when he allowed three earned runs in 23 1/3 innings. Four returnees from last season’s club will play in the infield.
Philadelphia third-round selections Devin Saltiban (2023, Hilo High School in Hawaii) and John Spikerman (2024, the University of Oklahoma) return from the 2025 season. Both are outfielders.
Jones is a veteran member of the Phillies’ organization. He was scheduled to be a Clearwater (low Single-A level) coach in the 2020 season, wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic. He was on the staffs of the Florida Complex League (rookie level) Phillies (2021), Reading (2022), Clearwater (2023-2024) and Reading (2025). The Atlanta Braves’ fourth-round draft choice in 2009, he played in their system through 2015.
Joining Jones on the coaching staff are pitching coach Ryan Buchter, hitting coach Darnell Sweeney, position coach-assistant hitting coach Ryan Wrobleski and position coach Orlando Munoz.
Members of the support staff are mental performance coach Taylor Bertolet, athletic trainer Marissa VanHassel, strength and conditioning coach John Sweeney (no relation to Darnell Sweeney), performance nutritionist Jana Bridgman, manager of clubhouse services and team travel Mackenzie Bourke and video technology associate Shannon O’Neill.
Butcher is in his second season as the BlueClaws’ pitching coach. Last season, 14 pitchers were promoted one level to Reading. The team posted the league’s third best earned run average (3.22) from July 1 through the end of the season. He pitched parts of seven seasons with the Braves, San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals, Sacramento Athletics, Los Angeles Angels and the Arizona Diamondback. The Highland Regional High School graduate posted a 3.16 earned run average through 285 major league games.
Sweeney joins the BlueClaws after serving as a hitting coach with the FCL Phillies in 2024 and 2025. He was chosen by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 13th round in 2012. He was traded to the Phillies in the 2015 deal that sent second baseman Chase Utley to the Dodgers. He played for the Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays and competed in the minor leagues at the independent level through 2024.
Wroblewski joins Jersey Shore for the first time in 2026. The former Dallas Baptist University player was drafted in the 20th round by the Houston Astros in 2022. He played four seasons in their system.
Munoz is in his third season with the BlueClaws. He played six seasons in the Angels’ minor-league system, reaching as high as Triple-A Vancouver.
VanHassel and John Sweeney spent last season at Clearwater. It’s VanHassel’s first season with the BlueClaws while Sweeney returns after serving in the same role in 2024.
Bourke begins her third season with the BlueClaws in her current role. The first-ever female Minor League Baseball home clubhouse manager, she was named the South Atlantic League Home Clubhouse Manager of the Year in 2025.
Former BlueClaws manager Dusty Wathan, who guided the team in 2009, is in his ninth season as the Phillies’ third base coach.
The BlueClaws, formerly the Lakewood BlueClaws, will celebrate New Jersey’s agriculture with a home game Thursday, August 6, against the Frederick (Md.) Keys, a Baltimore Orioles farm club, at 7:05 on Jersey Tomatoes Night. Jersey Shore will become the Jersey Tomatoes.
The Jersey Tomatoes logo is a tomato flying through the sky wearing sunglasses featuring the reflection of the State of New Jersey. The logo will be worn on a green cap. Jerseys will be red and say Jersey Tomatoes across the chest in a green, rustic font with both “O’s” red tomatoes. The Claws Cove, the BlueClaws’ gift shop, has both fitted and adjustable Jersey Tomatoes caps and other apparel.
Jersey Shore will be known as the ShoreTown Beach Badgers on Friday, May 29, at 7:05 when they host Frederick on Beach Badge Giveaway Night.
There will be 14 fireworks shows. One will take place after the home opener. Other post game shows, including July 3 and July 4, will be scheduled throughout the summer.
The Player Development License between the BlueClaws and Major League Baseball runs through the 2030 season. The relationship, which dates back to 2001, is one of the longest standing in Minor League Baseball.
Looking back on 25 years, the stadium was formerly known as FirstEnergy Park. It has 6,588 fixed seats, 16 luxury suites and a 360-degree concourse. The stadium cost $22.2 million to build and was ready for play in less than one year. Payments for the bonds were completed by Lakewood Township in 2009. The American Baseball Company, the team’s original ownership group, contributed $2 million toward the construction cost.
The stadium was heavily financed by the Lakewood Urban Enterprise Zone. The team extended its lease with Lakewood Township for 10 years, assuring its stay at the stadium. Lakewood Township used $17.5 million of UEZ taxpayer funds (state sales tax revenue returned to the municipality) between 2001 and 2010 to pay off the stadium bond. Lakewood Township donated the 57-acre tract at 2 Stadium Way to the BlueClaws.
Jerseyshoreblueclaws.com contributed to this report.
