Phillies Making Several Coaching Staff Changes Under Don Mattingly

The Philadelphia Phillies' offseason started sooner than they had hoped, losing to the Atlanta Braves in the National League Wild Card Round.

After a disappointing end to what was a trying season, the Phillies began their offseason work. The No. 1 priority on their to-do list was finding a new manager, and they wasted little time getting that process started.

When Alex Cora turned them down for a second time, attention turned to Don Mattingly, who was the interim manager in place of Rob Thomson. He was officially named the manager of the team, agreeing to a two-year deal that runs through 2028 to avoid the lame duck status; his original contract ran through 2027 but was for him to be the bench coach.

With Mattingly locked in as the manager, questions remained about the staff. He inherited most of Thomson’s staff, but that will not be the case when the 2027 season starts, with a few moves already being made.

Phillies making multiple changes to coaching staff

According to Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Philadelphia is moving on from at least two coaches: hitting coach Kevin Long and infield coach Bobby Dickerson.

Long was hired originally in 2022 and immediately signed an extension after overseeing some great offensive production. That season, the Phillies advanced to the World Series and had a team wRC+ of 107.

That was a major improvement from the previous decade for the franchise. Long also had a great relationship with Bryce Harper, who overlapped with Long with the Washington Nationals for one season before hitting free agency.

For three seasons after 2022, the Philadelphia offense remained productive. However, the bottom fell out in 2026 despite the cast being virtually the same. Their 92 wRC+ was better than only the Colorado Rockies and Cincinnati Reds, so a move is being made.

Long was signed through 2028, so the franchise will be eating two years' worth of his salary.

For years, the Phillies have prioritized production at the plate over defense. Blaming Dickerson solely for the team’s underwhelming metrics isn’t fair, but a change is being made. It should be noted that when Alec Bohm moved to first base with Luis Arraez at second base and Bryson Stott at third, the overall performance improved, but Trea Turner remained a massive negative at shortstop with the glove.

Along with Long and Dickerson, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported that a change will be made at third-base coach, too. Dusty Wathan moved from third-base coach to bench coach when Thomson was fired. Anthony Contreras took his spot, promoted from his role as Triple-A manager.

Contreras will remain with the club but in a different role.