Phillies Hire Peter Fatse as Hitting Coach to Address Offensive Inconsistency
Boston Red Sox left fielder Alex Verdugo talks with hitter coach Peter Fatse in the dugout during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Tuesday, April 12, 2022, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
The Phillies are hiring a former Boston Red Sox coach to lead their offense. It just wasn’t the one many expected as the season ended.
Peter Fatse, who spent five full seasons as Boston’s hitting coach before being fired alongside Alex Cora in April, will replace Kevin Long as the Phillies’ hitting coach. The hiring comes after president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski pursued Cora for the managerial job in April, only for Cora to decline the opportunity.
Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic first reported the news Monday evening.
Fatse gets the opportunity to reshape a Phillies offense that struggled mightily to maintain consistency throughout the 2026 season and finished 19th in runs scored.
Fatse’s experience in Boston offers a glimpse of what the Phillies hope to accomplish offensively in 2027. The Red Sox reached the American League Championship Series in 2021 before their offense struggled to maintain that level of production in subsequent seasons. Boston continued to cycle through personnel and coaching adjustments during Fatse’s tenure, making it difficult for the offense to maintain any level of consistency.
Even though this is what the Phillies struggled with, Fatse comes in with an emphasis on swing decisions, batted-ball quality, and individualized instruction. His approach centers on helping hitters understand their strengths while improving their ability to recognize pitches and attack the ones they can drive. Anyone who spent any time watching the Phillies in 2026 can tell you this was at the core of their struggles.
These are core tenets that the Phillies have been seeking after moving on from Long, who took over the hitting instructor duties in 2022. Dombrowski and manager Don Mattingly have both discussed the need to make better use of analytical information and modern hitting tools while finding coaches who can communicate effectively with both veterans and younger players.
While Fatse was hitting coach for the Red Sox, they were fourth in MLB in batting average, 11th in on-base percentage, and sixth in slugging percentage. This is all while ranking in the bottom third of the league in walk rate at 8% and strikeout rate at 23.2%.
After Fatse was released by the Red Sox, he took a job as a hitting consultant with the Tampa Bay Rays’ research and development group. With the Rays in the middle of a World Series run, the results speak for themselves. He was also a 24th-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2009, and reached High-A ball.
For Fatse, his charge with this offense is straightforward. His task is to help a talented lineup become a more consistent one and prove that the lessons he learned in Boston and with Tampa Bay can translate into better results for the Phils next season in a pivotal year with this aging core trying to maximize their playoff window.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible; we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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