Phillies name Peter Fatse as new hitting coach, replacing Kevin Long

The Phillies’ 2027 coaching staff is starting to come together, and the first big change is the guy in charge of the bats. Kevin Long is out. Peter Fatse is in.

Peter Fatse spent the last few years as Boston’s hitting coach before the Red Sox cleaned house in April and sent him out the door with Alex Cora and a chunk of the staff. Now he gets a lineup with Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber in it and an offense that badly needs a new voice.

Phillies Hire Peter Fatse As New Hitting Coach

The Phillies have named Peter Fatse hitting coach pic.twitter.com/aE0xwkCoqp

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) October 27, 2026

This all started with Don Mattingly. He took over after the Phillies stumbled to a 9-19 start under Rob Thomson, then went 79-55 the rest of the way and dragged this team into the postseason. That earned him the interim tag removed and a two-year deal. Days later, Dave Dombrowski announced that Long and infield coach Bobby Dickerson wouldn’t be back.

Mattingly called Peter Fatse a great communicator and a strong fit for the organization. The Phillies also brought in Joe Cronin, who worked with Fatse in Boston, as an assistant hitting coach, and kept Edwar Gonzalez in the same role.

An offense that fell off a cliff

Let’s be honest about why Long is gone. From 2022 to 2025, this offense finished in the top eight in baseball in runs every single year. In 2026, it dropped to 19th with 713 runs. It wasn’t just runs, either. The Phillies were middle of the pack or worse in basically everything:

• Runs: 713 (19th)
• Doubles: 246 (16th)
• Home runs: 182 (16th)
• RBIs: 691 (17th)
• Walks: 529 (17th)
• Average: .240 (21st)
• Slugging: .395 (24th)
• OPS: .707 (22nd)

That’s a lineup paying superstar money and putting up numbers like a team with a payroll a third of the size. A .395 slugging percentage with Harper and Schwarber in the middle of the order is hard to even wrap your head around.

Harper and Schwarber held up their end

The two big bats weren’t the problem.

Harper, now 34, slashed .269/.380/.485 with 29 homers, 32 doubles, 87 RBIs, 93 runs and an .865 OPS. That’s a good year. The catch is that most of it came in the first half, and he faded down the stretch. Fatse needs to keep him locked in for six months, not three.

Schwarber did what Schwarber does: .232/.354/.503 with 45 home runs, 20 doubles, 97 RBIs, 95 runs and an .857 OPS. You live with the average because the power is always there.

Then there’s Trea Turner

This is where Fatse earns his paycheck or doesn’t.

Turner slashed .242/.297/.378 with 19 homers, 29 doubles, 21 steals, 58 RBIs, 101 runs and a .675 OPS. A .297 on-base percentage from your leadoff-type guy is a killer.

It’s not like Turner is some cheap flyer. He’s heading into year five of an 11-year, $300 million contract, and he turns 34 next season. At his best, he’s a .300 hitter who goes 20-plus homers and steals whatever he wants.

The Phillies need that guy back, and they need him back now, because this contract is going to look a lot worse if 2026 turns out to be the new normal.

Fatse has a lot of work to do

New hitting coaches aren’t magic. Kevin Long had a long track record too, and this offense still fell apart on him.

But the Phillies have too much talent to finish in the bottom half of the league in runs again. If Peter Fatse can get Turner right and get anything consistent from the rest of the lineup behind Harper and Schwarber, this team is a World Series contender.

If he can’t, it’s going to be a long, expensive 2027.

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