The Philadelphia Phillies parted ways with hitting coach Kevin Long a few weeks ago, not long after the team’s season ended with a whimper. The club’s offensive slumps under Long had become customary, but the 59-year-old still maintains a stellar reputation around the sport. It wasn’t surprising to hear division-rival New York Mets showing interest in Long, but according to a report by the NY Post's Mike Puma, Long is no longer under consideration, leaving the erstwhile coach in limbo.
Kevin Long was hired as the Phillies’ hitting coach before the 2022 season. He had a stellar track record. He had been the hitting coach for the New York Yankees when they won the 2009 World Series (against the Phillies), and for the Washington Nationals when they won it all in 2019. On top of that, he had a strong relationship with Bryce Harper and became a selling point in the recruitment of All-Stars Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner.
Long and the Phillies got immediate results in 2022, returning to the postseason and making a miraculous run to the National League pennant. The team had a collective .739 OPS that season, good for eighth-best in the sport. The next three seasons brought similar results, with the Phils finishing top-10 in OPS each year. 2026 was different.
The Phillies limped to a dreadful 9-19 start to begin the season, culminating in the firing of skipper Rob Thomson. Long and the rest of the coaching staff were spared the ignominy of a mid-season firing, but the Phillies struggled to hit in 2026. They ranked in the bottom 10 with a .707 OPS, and their putrid 89 OPS+ was dead last in all of baseball.
The Phillies' horrible 2026 at the plate now leads to Kevin Long looking for a job
Long had a contract through the 2028 season, but after his offense underperformed, the Phillies decided to eat the remainder of that deal and move in a different direction. They landed his successor a few days ago: former Boston Red Sox hitting coach Peter Fatse.
Now on the open market, Long engaged in talks with the Mets about taking on a role in their offense. The two sides are familiar with each other; Long had served as the Mets' hitting coach from 2015 through 2017. The Mets made it all the way to the World Series in his first season there, too.
Evidently, there wasn’t a match this time around.
Long's formerly sky-high reputation may not be what it once was after dragging the vaunted Phillies offense into the gutter. Despite his connections with high-profile hitters around the MLB—Juan Soto being one of them—the Mets decided, for whatever reason, he wasn't a fit. This probably won't be the last we see of Long with an MLB team, but the offers he receives may be of less quality than before he came to Philadelphia.
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