The Phillies are going to hire Peter Fatse as their new hitting coach, reports Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic. He will replace Kevin Long, who was let go from the hitting coach position a couple of weeks ago.
Fatse, 39, was drafted by the Brewers in 2009 and played some minor league ball in that club’s system. He wound up in independent ball in 2011 and 2012 but that was the end of his playing career, at least as far as official game action goes.
He then pivoted to coaching. He got a minor league job with the Twins in 2019. After just one season, he was hired away by the Red Sox and given a big league job as assistant hitting coach. After the 2021 season, Boston and hitting coach Tim Hyers parted ways. Fatse was given the promotion to replace Hyers.
It’s always tough to parse out the contributions of a coach from the performance of the players. For what it’s worth, the Red Sox as a team hit .255/.322/.419 for a wRC+ of 104 from 2022 to 2025. The team got out to a slow start in 2026 which led to a mass firing. Manager Alex Cora and several coaches, including Fatse, were let go in April of this year.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski ran the Boston front office from 2015 to 2019. His time with the Sox only overlapped with Fatse for a bit but he developed a strong relationship with Cora. When Cora was fired by the Sox in April, the Phillies tried to hire him but Cora decided to decline and spend time with his family instead. The Phils nonetheless fired Rob Thomson and made Don Mattingly interim manager. At season’s end, they again tried to hire Cora but he turned them down once more.
After being spurned by Cora a second time, the Phils decided to stick with Mattingly, removing the interim tag from his title and signing him to a two-year contract. Though Dombrowski hasn’t been able to get Cora aboard, it’s probably not a coincidence that he’s getting a hitting coach who was working with Cora for many years.
The Phillies had a disappointing season in 2026. They made the playoffs but barely, clinching a spot on the last day of the season. 11 different hitters made at least 130 plate appearances but Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper were the only two to post a wRC+ higher than 102. Regulars like Trea Turner and J.T. Realmuto came in well below expectations. Obviously, the club will want more next year. They are hoping that the switch from Long to Fatse will help them improve.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
