By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Former Philadelphia Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure has a new gig.
According to Mike Berardino of The St. Paul Pioneer Press, the 65-year-old is joining the Minnesota Twins organization:
In other moves, Bob McClure, who spent nearly a decade as Paul Molitor’s teammate with the Milwaukee Brewers, has been named to the newly created role of senior pitching adviser for the Twins, according to a person with direct knowledge. McClure, 65, was dismissed after three years as Philadelphia Phillies pitching coach following prior stints in the same role with the Boston Red Sox (2012) and Kansas City Royals (2006-11).
In his third and final season as the Phillies pitching coach, the Phillies posted a 4.55 ERA, the 18th best number in the league. One criticism of him throughout his career is that some veteran pitchers have regressed under his tutelage. That did happen in 2017, as Jeanmar Gomez and Jeremy Hellickson regressed after career years in 2016. To be fair, McClure was also the pitching coach during the aforementioned 2016 season.
Perhaps more concerning was a lack of development from some of the team's young starters. While Aaron Nola had a breakout 2017 season, Jerad Eickhoff posted a 4.71 ERA and a 4.30 FIP, just a year after posting a 3.65 ERA and 4.19 FIP in nearly 200 innings. Vince Velasquez talked about wanting to be a No. 1 starter in Spring Training, before going 2-7 with a 5.13 ERA and 5.52 FIP in just 15 starts. McClure can't be blamed for the fact that Velasquez seems to be injury prone, though it didn't reflect well on him that Velasquez continued to struggle pitching to contact, and consequently, pitch deep into games.
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The Phillies haven't formally named a pitching coach under new manager Gabe Kapler. However, the team seems to be focused on finding his bench coach currently and did announce that assistant pitching coach Rick Kranitz would return in 2018. Given that Kranitz has served as a pitching coach for three different major league teams, it would be a minor shock if he wasn't the pitching coach in 2018.
With McClure gone, it appears that Kranitz may be the only notable holdover from Pete Mackanin's coaching staff in 2018. Mackanin will serve as a special advisor to general manager Matt Klentak, while former bench coach Larry Bowa will be a senior advisor to Klentak. Former hitting coach Matt Stairs will serve in the same role for the San Diego Padres. Mickey Morandini, who had been the team's first base coach the past two seasons, was named a club ambassador earlier this week. Wall of Famer Juan Samuel, who has served in a variety of different roles since the 2011 season, may be the only other person retained. His name hasn't surfaced in the team's search for a bench coach, but that role, as well as first base coach, remain open. Samuel was the only person on Mackanin's staff to be interviewed for the team's managerial vacancy that ultimately went to Kapler.
