Just ahead of the announcement that Don Mattingly would return as full-time manager, the Philadelphia Phillies let go of veteran hitting coach Kevin Long and will search for a replacement.
Long, who was on the coaching staff before the start of the 2022 season working alongside former manager Joe Girardi, stayed on the staff when Rob Thomson took over in May 2022 and signed a three-year contract extension last offseason.
The veteran hitting coach notably has a close relationship with some of the biggest names in the Phillies’ lineup, including Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner.
But after maintaining continuity among players and staff over the last few seasons, and having earlier exits in the playoffs each of the last four seasons since their World Series appearance in 2022, the front office decided it was time to shake up the voices in the clubhouse.
Let’s look at some potential options to fill the position.
Let’s start with potential in-house options. Lind finished his second season as the hitting coach for Triple-A Lehigh Valley and his third season overall in the organization. In his first season in 2025, the club set numerous franchise records while helping in the development of Justin Crawford and Otto Kemp, who were named IL Post-season All-Stars.
Crawford hit .334 and posted a .441 on-base percentage, both good for the franchise single-season records. Kemp became a Cinderella story in the first month of the season, earning a call-up to the bigs.
Lind also helped lead the ‘Pigs' offense to the most hits (1,290), highest OBP (.363) and most hit by pitches (93) in a season, all franchise highs.
The former 12-year big-leaguer spent time with Toronto, Milwaukee, Seattle and Washington. He won the 2009 Silver Slugger Award after smashing 35 homers while driving in 114 runs with a .932 OPS and played in over 1,000 MLB games.
With Crawford expected to be in the team’s plans next season and the possibility of Aidan Miller or even Bryan Rincon breaking camp with the big-league team, having a familiar face and voice for some of the younger guys could prove to be beneficial.
Livesey had been around a good bulk of the organization’s prospects that helped clinch a championship in Double-A Reading this season in his debut with the Phillies organization. He saw Rincon turn from a glove-first shortstop to an all-around five-tool player and Top 100 prospect in the sport. Rincon had a career year at the plate capped off by being named the Paul Owens Award winner, an award given to the organization’s top minor league player and pitcher.
Rincon set career-bests in doubles (24), home runs (26), RBIs (67), AVG (.267), OBP (.410), SLG (.517) and OPS (.927).
Livesey had the collective Fightins’ perform as one of the top offenses in the Eastern League, ranking second in walks (591), third in OPS (.771) and home runs (177), fourth in SLG (.428) and OBP (.343).
There is also familiarity with the full-time manager, as Livesey was the hitting coach on Don Mattingly’s staff in Miami in 2019.
Before spending most of his big league coaching career with Miami from 2019-23, he also spent time as a coach and manager in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization for two different stints from 2003-05 and 2011-13 while also serving on the Pirates major league coaching staff as the assistant hitting coordinator from 2014-18.
While not an in-house option, Hyers still has connections to the Phillies franchise.
Hyers was the hitting coach for the Boston Red Sox during the World Series run in 2018 when Dave Dombrowski was in charge. Hyers remained in that position until 2021, when Dombrowski moved on to join the Phillies and has continued to serve as a major league hitting coach.
The 55-year-old held the same role with the Texas Rangers from 2022-24, being on the World Series-winning staff in 2023, when the Rangers were the third-highest scoring offense in the league with the third-best team OPS (.791). He also oversaw an offense led by Marcus Semien, who became just the fifth player in MLB history with at least 100 RBIs in the leadoff spot and won a Silver Slugger Award.
He has spent the last two seasons as the hitting coach for NL East rival Atlanta and is certainly familiar with the Phillies hitters and their tendencies.
Thames has been viewed as one of the better hitting coaches in the sport and has extensive experience working closely with some of the game’s brightest stars, including Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. That experience could benefit a Phillies team that has some of the best hitters in the game in Harper and Schwarber.
Thames also has experience coaching in a big market, working his way up the New York Yankees organizational ladder, becoming the team’s hitting coach from 2018-21.
His contract was not renewed for the 2022 season with the Bronx Bombers, and Thames joined Mattingly in Miami as the team’s hitting coach that season. He then joined the Los Angeles Angels for the 2023 season, spent the next two seasons with the Chicago White Sox before joining Kansas City for this past season.
As a player, Thames spent the bulk of his career in Detroit from 2004-09, right in the middle of Dombrowski’s tenure with the Tigers. He became the fastest player in MLB history to hit 100 career home runs, doing so in just his 1,549th at-bat. In his six seasons with the Tigers, the former slugger clubbed 128 homers and drove in 411 runs in 485 games.
Working with people in the past doesn’t mean one wants to do it again, but Thames has connections to both Dombrowski and Mattingly, which makes him an intriguing potential candidate.
The Phillies’ legendary second baseman reportedly turned down a chance to become the team’s new manager, citing that it’s “not realistic” for him to consider where he is currently at with his family. Perhaps Utley would entertain a lesser role?
If Utley accepted the managerial role and his tenure turned sour, it could perhaps tarnish the affection the fans have for the Phillies Wall of Famer. However, having one of the best offensive players in franchise history and most likely an inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame would be a nice addition to the coaching staff.
Utley is a special assistant to the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, and expressed his contentment with his position and situation.
A bit of a shot in the dark, but Posada was one of the best switch-hitting catchers of his era and would bring a winning pedigree and experience playing in a big market to the coaching staff.
The former New York Yankee backstop also has a connection with Mattingly. The Phillies manager spent seven seasons as a special instructor with the Yankees, coaching Posada and others down in Tampa during spring training.
In 2004, Mattingly was named the hitting coach working alongside Posada. In 2007, when Mattingly moved to the bench coach role, Posada put together his fifth and final All-Star campaign.
The 56-year-old, who won five World Series, did not turn down the possibility of managing in the future after serving as Team Italy’s bench coach in this year’s World Baseball Classic. Getting a start as a hitting coach would be a solid building block for the catcher if he does, in fact, want to return to a dugout. Doing so alongside a familiar face could make that transition easier.
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