With the minor-league season finished, the Phillies are making several changes to their minor-league coaching staff with more possibly on the way.
After a season of disappointment at the major-league level, many are expecting significant changes to the Phillies coaching staff. Hitting coach John Mallee was fired in mid-August, and he may be the first of several needing a new job after this season.
While the rest of the major-league season needs to play out before any changes to the coaching staff, changes are already underway in the minor-league system. Amateur scouting director Johnny Almaraz stepped down from the position earlier this month. Several coaching staff firings have already taken place, and more could be on the way.
Meghan Montemurro of The Athletic (subscription required) reported Monday that the team has let go of four minor-league coaches: baserunning/bunting coordinator Rob Ducey, Triple-A pitching coach Steven Schrenk, Low-A Lakewood manager Mike Micucci and Gulf Coast League coach Charlie Hayes.
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Micucci was in his first year of managing the BlueClaws and finished the year with a 58-80 record, third-worst in the South Atlantic League and worst in the Northern division. Micucci had the second-youngest team in minor-league baseball as Philadelphia tends to assign players to Lakewood aggressively.
Schrenk is not a surprising name to see among those losing their job. Numerous pitchers have faltered upon reaching Triple-A in recent years, such as Tom Eshelman, JoJo Romero, Enyel De Los Santos, and Jose Taveras. The organization as a whole has struggled to produce pitchers despite emphasizing developing them and acquiring them via trade.
More firings may be on the way as well. Jay Floyd of Phoul Ballz tweeted that “a lot of turnover” is on the way in Philadelphia’s minor-league system. He did not want to cite any specific people, so they didn’t have to find out via the media that they lost their job. What leads me to believe that more names may be on the way out is that Floyd tweeted this after Montemurro’s article was released (entirely speculation on my part and my part alone).
After a season that left more questions than answers, expect plenty of shakeups throughout the organization.