By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Though an official announcement is yet to come, multiple outlets reported Sunday evening that the Philadelphia Phillies plan to hire Los Angeles Dodgers director of player development Gabe Kapler as their next manager. When Game 5 of the World Series started Sunday evening, we didn't know that Kapler was going to be the next manager of the Phillies. The game, which ended up being over five hours long, gave plenty of time to speculate on what his coaching staff may look like.
I wrote immediately after reports began to surface that the Phillies were hiring Kapler that former Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez could be a fit as the club's next hitting coach. Who will be Kapler's pitching coach? Here's a preliminary look at some potential candidates:
Rick Kranitz
The 59-year-old has been with the Phillies since 2015, serving initially as the bullpen coach and more recently as the assistant pitching coach. The Phillies may want to go with an external hire for pitching coach, but there's reason to think they may at least consider Kranitz. He was extremely successful as Joe Girardi's pitching coach for the then Florida Marlins in 2006, as he was named the major league coach of the year by Baseball America. Kranitz wasn't especially successful in his three-year stint as Baltimore Orioles pitching coach, but also didn't have much pitching talent to work with. He's well connected to general manager Matt Klentak and president Andy MacPhail, having spent the last two seasons in Philly with them, having spent three years in Baltimore with them and was in the Cubs organization when MacPhail presided over their front-office.
Dave Righetti
Righetti was recently reassigned to a special assistant role in the Giants front-office, after 17 years as the team's pitching coach. He worked under Dusty Baker, Feliple Alou and Bruce Bochy. During his tenure with the team, the Giants appeared in four World Series and won three of them. Under his tutelage, Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner and Matt Cain, among others, all became elite starting pitchers. On what is likely to be a staff that is thin on major league coaching experience, Righetti may be the ideal candidate to be Kapler's pitching coach.
Rich Dubee
If Kranitz isn't a familiar enough name, here's as familiar of a name as you'll find. Dubee was the Phillies pitching coach from 2005-2013. In addition to a four-year stint as the Marlins pitching coach at the turn of the century, Dubee spent the past two seasons on Brad Ausmus' coaching staff with the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers parted ways with Ausmus after the season, and new manager Ron Gardenhire elected not to keep Dubee as the pitching coach, as he tabbed former Chicago Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio as his new pitching coach. The Tigers pitching didn't perform especially well under Dubee – they had the worst team ERA in the majors in 2017 – but on a staff that may not be especially experienced, he has extensive major league coaching experience.
John Farrell
Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia seemed to indicate that Farrell, who interviewed for the team's managerial vacancy, finished third in the sweepstakes. The 55-year-old former Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays manager never seemed to fit the bill of a young, analytically driven manager that the Phillies seemed to be searching for. Perhaps part of interviewing him was to get him intrigued with the situation in Philadelphia, potentially hoping that he would be interested in becoming the pitching coach for the next manager. Farrell doesn't need to work in 2018, as he still will be being paid by the Red Sox. But some coaches can't imagine taking a year off, even if they are paid to do so. He didn't end up getting the Nationals managerial job, and it's unclear if he's a candidate for the New York Yankees vacancy. He has been connected to some more successful teams, such as the Cubs or Cleveland Indians. He may end up elsewhere, but he's certainly someone that should be considered for this position.
Aaron Sele
The 47-year-old, who had a 15-year major league career, was once the Dodgers minor league pitching instructor. More recently, he's been a player personnel special assistant for the Dodgers, working under Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi. That, of course, is the same front-office that Kapler has spent nearly three years working in.
Rick Helling
Helling would be an outside-the-box-choice for pitching coach, but that may not turn Kapler off. Helling, who had a 12-year major league career, was Kapler's teammate for two seasons with the Texas Rangers. Helling has been a player services special assistant for the MLB Players Association for nearly a decade. He doesn't appear to have any coaching experience, however.
Bill Simas
Kapler has spent nearly three years as the Dodgers director of player development, so he's extremely familiar with the team's minor league system. That may bode well for Simas, who has quickly ascended up the latter as a pitching coach in the Dodgers minor league system. Simas pitched in six major league seasons. If major league coaching experience isn't a litmus test for Kapler's pitching coach, Simas could be a name to watch.
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The Phillies will have a manager that's lone managing experience came in Single-A a decade ago. He was still a very good candidate, as Ibanez is for hitting coach, another candidate that lacks experience. Kapler should be able to have a heavy say in who makes up his coaching staff. But while the Phillies have correctly embraced the increasing analytical presence in today's game, there does need to be some experience added to Kapler's coaching staff.
That doesn't necessarily have to come at pitching coach, but it wouldn't be the worst idea. It would, of course, need to be a pitching coach that is comfortable with a more progressive approach to how to use starting pitchers and a bullpen. For what it's worth, Rick Honeycutt, the Dodgers pitching coach, has worked well with their pitching staff and allowed Dave Roberts to still manage each pitcher's workload in the way that he sees most effective. So a veteran pitching coach like Righetti shouldn't necessarily be ruled out.
Beyond the need for for a veteran coach on Kapler's staff, it's simply important that he picks a pitching coach that will work well with a young pitching staff. Aaron Nola thrived for periods of 2017, it's important that he continues to develop. Vince Velasquez, Ben Lively and Nick Pivetta are among the other young starters at the major league level that the new pitching coach will need to get the most out of. And perhaps most importantly, the next pitching coach will likely still be here when Sixto Sanchez, Adonis Medina, JoJo Romero, Franklyn Kilome and Ranger Suarez join the rotation.
