Joe Girardi’s interesting history with new Phillies hitting coach

Phillies manager Joe Girardi has a dramatic history with his new hitting coach Kevin Long

The Philadelphia Phillies are hiring Kevin Long as their new hitting coach, and the veteran coach has an interesting history with Phillies manager Joe Girardi.

When Girardi managed the Yankees, Long served as their hitting coach from 2007-2014. They won the 2009 World Series together, and Long has since worked with the Mets (2015-17) and Nationals (2018-21), helping the latter win their first championship in franchise history in 2019.

The Phillies had their first winning season in a decade, and the addition of Long is a clear sign that they intend to build on that success.

At the very beginning of the sticky substance crackdown during the 2021 season, Girardi asked the umpires to check then-Nationals starter Max Scherzer for banned substances even though the ace had already been inspected. Chaos ensued when then-Nationals coach Long began shouting at Girardi from the DC dugout, and the Phillies manager charged the field and was subsequently ejected.

Many thought that Girardi had been trying to fight Scherzer, but a closer look revealed the Long angle.

The manager and his once-again coach have seemingly put the incident in the past, as Girardi raved about Long when the hire was officially announced on Wednesday:

"“I have had a long-standing relationship with Kevin and have seen his work up close and in person for years.I truly believe he is the best in the business and will have a huge impact on our offense.”"

Kevin Long can help the Phillies offense improve in 2022

Long’s resumé speaks for itself, and he should be able to help the Phillies offense improve. As the press release noted, the Nationals led MLB in OBP and led the NL in batting average while he was their hitting coach, and they had the second-lowest strikeout rate and fourth-highest walk rate in the game. Nationals star Juan Soto led MLB with 145 walks this season; he was one of only three players with over 100 walks, and no other player had more than 111.

K-Long – as Girardi calls his hitting coach – and his manager have clearly put the incident from the summer behind them. But there is one good takeaway from the drama: Long had no qualms about calling Girardi out when he disagrees with him, which means that he won’t simply be a Yes Man.

The first official move of the Phillies offseason is a solid, albeit funny upgrade.