PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies on Tuesday hired Peter Fatse as their new hitting coach.
Fatse most recently worked for the Red Sox, holding the same position from December 2021 until he -- along with manager Alex Cora and other members of the coaching staff -- was let go by Boston in April of this past season.
“I am very excited to add Pete to our staff,” manager Don Mattingly said in a release. “He has a track record of being a great communicator who prioritizes collaboration, and we truly feel that with his skill set and approach, he is a great fit for the organization.”
Philadelphia also hired Joe Cronin as an assistant hitting coach and retained Edwar Gonzalez in the same position.
Fatse will take the place of veteran hitting coach Kevin Long, after the club announced earlier this month that neither Long nor infield coach Bobby Dickerson would return next season.
Those moves were announced by president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski at his end-of-season press conference on Oct. 16 -- one day after the Phillies removed the interim tag and gave Mattingly a two-year contract to be their manager.
As for Fatse, the former utility player was selected in the 24th round of the 2009 Draft by the Brewers. He spent two seasons in the Brewers' organization before pivoting his career when he opened Advanced Performance Academy in 2010.
Fatse later returned to professional baseball when he joined the Twins' organization as their Minor League hitting coordinator prior to the 2019 season. Following that season, he took a job with the Red Sox as their assistant hitting coach -- a role he held for two seasons before being promoted to hitting coach.
Fatse will be tasked with helping a Phillies offense that dropped off significantly last season. After ranking seventh in MLB in runs in 2022 (747), eighth in '23 (796), fifth in '24 (784) and eighth in '25 (778), the Phils ranked 19th (713) in that category this past year.
Cronin served in a variety of roles for the Red Sox for parts of the past six years, most recently as a hitting strategy coach on Boston’s Major League staff from 2025 through the beginning of the 2026 regular season.
Gonzalez, who has been a part of the Phillies organization since 2023, spent his first three years in the club’s player development department before joining the big league coaching staff for the 2026 season.
The lineup will almost certainly look a bit different next season, but the club believed a new voice and a different approach could also provide a boost.