Kai Correa’s Career Path Leads to New York

Kai Correa‘s previous job title was a mouthful. He was the Cleveland Guardians’ major league field coordinator/director of defense, baserunning and strategy for the last two seasons. Next year just call him bench coach.

The Mets hired the 36-year-old Correa to join Carlos Mendoza‘s staff. John Gibbons, the bench coach for Mendoza’s first two seasons in New York, resigned on Oct 3.

David Stearns said the Mets next year would emphasize “run prevention,” a term he uses that covers pitching and defense. Last year with Correa, the Guardians were seventh in runs allowed per game (4.01) and 18th in defensive efficiency (.698), a stat that measures the percentage of balls in play that are converted into outs. The Mets were 18th in runs allowed (4.41) and 25th in defensive efficiency (.688).

In 2024, the Guardians were third in runs allowed per game (3.86) and tied for third in defensive efficiency (.709). The Mets were 15th (4.30) and 10th (.704).

Correa was the Giants’ bench coach from 2020-23 when Gabe Kapler was the manager and he served as interim manager for three games when Kapler was fired at the end of the 2023 season. The Giants went 295-248 in four years under Kapler, including a 107-win season in 2021. (Correa went 1-2 in his three-game, season-ending stint, so he has a managerial win under his belt.)

Correa was born in Hilo, Hawaii and helped lead Waiakea High School to two top-three state finishes. He played second base, shortstop and third for the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., from 2007-2011. As a player, he was known for his defense, and that is the same as a coach. Both colleges he coached at set their school records for fielding percentage under his tutelage.

Puget Sound, a university of about 1,700 undergraduates with a Division III baseball program, has had several alumni rise up the ranks of professional baseball. Craig Driver, a teammate of Correa’s, was the first base coach for the Cubs from 2020-2023. Bryson Nakamura, 36, who also played with Correa, is the current performance and data integration strategist for the Marlins.

“The vast majority of the classes are smaller and are in boardroom settings – and if you didn’t come strapped in, having done the reading and willing to hold your position, you were going to get bulldozed,” Correa said in a 2021 article for a university publication.

“And in higher-level baseball, you have a ton of meetings, discussion and debates with really bright people, from front-office employees to coaches and players and scouts.”

Correa coached at his alma mater for four years after graduating, then spent four years coaching at the University of Northern Colorado. Correa also spent time in the summer as the head coach for the 17U Northwest region USA National Team Identification Series squad. Cleveland hired him in 2018 to be the infield coach of its Arizona Complex League team. He joined the Giants before the 2020 season.

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