Kevin Long has been hired by the Phillies as hitting coach for the 2022 major league coaching staff, the club announced today.

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

Long, 54, most recently served as hitting coach for the Washington Nationals for the past four seasons (2018-21). Over the last four years under Long, the Nationals led the majors in on-base percentage (.338) and led the National League in batting average (.259). In that same span, Washington had the second-lowest strikeout rate (20.8%) in the majors and the fourth-highest walk rate (9.5%).

Before joining Washington, Long spent three seasons as hitting coach with the New York Mets (2015-17) and prior to that he served as hitting coach for eight seasons with the New York Yankees (2007-14), where he worked under Joe Girardi for seven years (2008-14). Long has two World Series championships on his resume, 2009 with the Yankees and 2019 with the Nationals.

A native of Van Nuys, Calif., Long was originally selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 31st round of the 1989 draft. He played eight seasons (1989-96) in the Royals’ minor league system when he combined to slash .273/.350/.365 over 671 games. After his playing career, Long managed for two seasons from 1998-99, first with Wilmington in the Carolina League (86-54) and then with Spokane in the Northwest League (44-32). He guided each club to a first-place finish and was named Northwest League Co-Manager of the Year in 1999.