ST. PETERSBURG -- First-base coach Chris Prieto and assistant hitting coach Dan DeMent will not return to the Rays’ coaching staff next season, the club announced on Tuesday.

Both Prieto and DeMent joined manager Kevin Cash’s staff prior to the 2022 season. The Rays did not name their replacements, announce any other changes to the Major League coaching staff or address the reason for the changes.

“I am appreciative of the hard work and commitment from Chris and Dan throughout the last two seasons,” Cash said in a statement. “We wish them and their families the absolute best in their next steps.”

Asked last week at the Rays’ end-of-season press conference about potential coaching changes, Cash acknowledged he would discuss the matter with president of baseball operations Erik Neander and general manager Peter Bendix. But Cash lauded the staff as a whole for “keeping the group together” during their 99-win season.

Prieto spent two seasons as Tampa Bay’s first-base coach, while also overseeing the club’s baserunning and outfield work. He worked the previous two years as the organization’s Minor League outfield and baserunning coordinator.

The Rays ranked fourth in the Majors with 160 stolen bases this season, although they were also caught 41 times (tied for third most in MLB), and tied the Cubs atop the Majors according to FanGraphs’ all-encompassing baserunning metric.

This was DeMent’s 15th season as a coach or instructor in professional baseball, all of them with the Rays’ organization. He spent 13 years as a coach in Tampa Bay’s Minor League system, having begun his coaching career with Rookie-level Princeton in 2009, and he most recently served as the system’s hitting coordinator from 2020-21 before joining the big league staff.

Under hitting coach Chad Mottola and assistant hitting coaches Brady North and DeMent, the Rays bounced back from a disappointing 2022 season at the plate to slash .260/.331/.445 in ‘23. Their .776 OPS during the regular season ranked fourth in the Majors, as did their 860 runs scored.

Additionally, the Tampa Bay Times reported that process and analytics coach Jonathan Erlichman will take on another role in the organization so he can spend more time with his family.

Erlichman, known as “J-Money,” has been on Cash’s coaching staff the past five seasons. He moved to the dugout after working his way up in the front office, starting as an intern in January 2013 and eventually serving as the club’s director of analytics from 2017-18.