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Phillies Add Bryan Price as Pitching Coach Under Joe Girardi

By Matt Rappa

CINCINNATI, OH - MARCH 30: Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price looks on in the fifth inning of the game against the Washington Nationals at Great American Ball Park on March 30, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Nationals won 2-0. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH - MARCH 30: Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price looks on in the fifth inning of the game against the Washington Nationals at Great American Ball Park on March 30, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Nationals won 2-0. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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The Philadelphia Phillies have hired Bryan Price as pitching coach, the first addition to new manager Joe Girardi’s staff.

With the World Series and 2019 season officially over, the Philadelphia Phillies have made their first official offseason move.

On Thursday, the Phillies hired Bryan Price as pitching coach, replacing the recently dismissed Chris Young, according to The Athletic’s Matt Gelb.

Price reportedly turned down offers from at least two other teams, the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres, Gelb adds. He will coach Team USA — which includes Phillies prospects Spencer Howard, Alec Bohm, and Connor Seabold — in the Olympic qualifier that opens this Saturday in Mexico, The Inquirer’s Scott Lauber notes.

Price, 57, spent parts of five seasons as Reds manager from 2014 to 2018, and was on the Reds coaching staff for four seasons prior as pitching coach under former Phillies managerial candidate (and then-Reds manager) Dusty Baker.

As Reds manager, Price posted a 279-387 (.419) record; he was let go after just 18 games this past season, with the Reds starting the season with 15 losses over their first 18 games.

And, before joining the Reds coaching staff in October 2009, Price spent the previous 10 seasons as pitching coach for the Seattle Mariners (2000-2005) and Diamondbacks (2006-2009). Also in 2009, he spent time working for the Phillies as a minor league pitching consultant, according to the Phillies’ press release. He also was a pitching coach in the Mariners’ minor league system from 1989 to 1997, before serving as their pitching coordinator in 1998 and 1999.

While with the Diamondbacks in 2007, Baseball America named Price Major League Coach of the Year after his staff posted a National League fourth-best 4.13 ERA. The Diamondbacks appeared in the NLCS that season. A year prior, Brandon Webb won the National League Cy Young Award through Price’s guidance.

One year later, Diamondbacks starters under Price led the majors with 95 quality starts, ranked second in wins (65), and ranked fourth in ERA (3.95), Arizona’s lowest team ERA since 2003.

As SportsRadio 94 WIP’s Joe Giglio notes, Pryce has ties to several current free agent pitching arms while he was with the Reds: Aroldis Chapman, Homer Bailey, Edison Volquez, Tony Cingrani, and Jared Hughes. Hughes appeared in 25 games with the Phillies in 2019 and posted a 3.91 ERA spanning 23 innings. Of the 90 batters he faced, Hughes struck out 20, walked eight and allowed 16 hits (seven home runs).

It will be interesting to see how Price can improve the Phillies’ pitching staff which struggled for a good portion of the 2019 season. With injured players returning, and likely free agent additions as well, Price will have a new-look Phillies staff to work with as the team looks to make the postseason for the first time since 2011.

The Phillies will next look to fill their hitting coach vacancy.

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