Phillies former pitching coach Bob McClure joining Twins
Former Philadelphia Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure was reportedly hired by the Minnesota Twins as their senior pitching adviser.
Unsurprisngly, Bob McClure will not return to the Phillies as their pitching coach in 2018. He instead will join the Minnesota Twins as their senior pitching adviser. The news was reported by La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune.
According to Neal, the Twins created this position so that the same pitching philosophies are being preached in both the minor and major-leagues. He pointed out McClure’s aptitude for using the Trackman radar system and other modern ideas to help pitchers develop.
McClure was Philadelphia’s pitching coach since 2014. In the last four years, they ranked 25th in ERA (4.42), 24th in fielding-independent pitching (4.28) and WHIP (1.37), and 18th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.51).
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Granted, much of those struggles can be attributed to the talent pool McClure had to work with. For almost his entire tenure, he had to work with journeymen, rookies, and the occasional Jeff Francouer inning. Aaron Nola and Cole Hamels were the only truly good pitchers McClure had.
McClure joins former hitting coach Matt Stairs in finding a job somewhere else after manager Pete Mackanin was fired.
Bench coach Larry Bowa, first base coach Mickey Morandini, and Mackanin have jobs in the organization. What Juan Samuel’s future entails is up in the air, but it’s hard to imagine him going anywhere after he interviewed for the manager position.
The only person from the 2017 staff to remain onboard next year is assistant pitching coach Rick Kranitz. With only two more coaches allowed to be hired and the team still needing a bench and first-base coach, it appears Kranitz is set to be the pitching coach next year.
Next: Morandini not returning to coaching staff
Dusty Wathan was hired to be the third-base coach after spending a decade managing in the minor-leagues. The team also hired former Cubs hitting coach John Mallee to fill the position here with 28-year-old Pedro Guerrero set to be his assistant. Jim Gott will be the bullpen coach.