Tied for the worst record (9-19) in baseball with the Mets, the Phillies are not playing well in any area. Offensively, they are nowhere near where they’ve been in recent seasons, and it has people wondering what type of changes, if any, could be on the horizon.
One change that appears unlikely for now regards the hitting coach. Kevin Long, with the Phillies since 2022, probably isn’t going anywhere.
The Athletic’s Matt Gelb noted on Sunday the Phillies signed Long to a three-year contract during the offseason. He was a coaching free agent and “entertained robust interest from rival clubs,” Gelb wrote.
Manager Rob Thomson, whose own job security is questionable right now, had strong praise for Long following the Phillies’ 6-2 loss to the Braves Sunday, a day in which Philadelphia recorded just two hits.
“Kevin’s one of the best in the game,” Thomson said to reporters, including Gelb. “There’s a couple of Hall of Famers out there that will tell you that.”
The Phillies have been a top-ten scoring team in every season since Long became hitting coach. This year, though, their horrible start has them 28th in runs (102), only ahead of the Giants (97) and Mets (92). They are hitting .219/.294/.362 as a team.
The only hitters the Phillies have been able to count on this season are Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. Brandon Marsh (.795) and Edmundo Sosa (.721) are the only other hitters with an OPS over .700. Everyone else has had rough stretches or has been straight up bad.
Trea Turner, batting .230 with a .658 OPS, has fallen off lately. Bryson Stott’s second-half success from last season has not transferred over to this season. Stott has a .541 OPS. Alec Bohm is 180th among qualified hitters with a .412 OPS. That is dead last.
Those three are just the tip of the iceberg for the Phillies’ scuffling lineup.
Pacing a 52-win season, the Phillies are in a major funk. One that, if it continues another week or two, could lead to major changes. Whatever those changes would look like, don’t be certain any of them would be the firing of Long, whose reputation both within the Phillies organization and across baseball is very high.
